Research and Development of Eye Drop Administration Aid for General Population

Abstract

Objective: To research and develop an eye drop administration aid for general population by using the eye drops guide (EDG) as a model. Method: The research process was divided into 2 parts: 1) Development of an eye drop administration aid for general population using the EDG tool as a model 2) testing safety and efficacy of the developed eye drop aid in 20 healthy volunteers in laboratory setting with the comparison with instruction for eye drop recommended by Thai Pharmacy Council. Result: The study identified some gaps informing the opportunity to improve the EDG, i.e., increasing the pocket by pulling down lower eyelid and adding a side compartment to fit the size of eye drop container. These issues led to the invention of a new tool--the NU eye drops guide (NUEDG). By using the NUEDG, 10 out of 20 volunteers were able to instill eye drops at the eye pocket, and distance between the tip of the dropper and the eyes was constant (20.97 mm). By using the instruction recommended by Thai Pharmacy Council, 7 out of 20 volunteers were able to place the eye drops at the eye pocket. The distance between the tip of the dropper and the eye was between 14.57-56.12 mm (median = 30.21 mm). There was no contact of tip of the dropper with any part of the eye with both methods. For the visceral bulging effect, the mean values for the ocular bulge area using the NUEDG and the recommendations of Thai Pharmacy Council were 3.14±0.12 cm² and 1.41±0.34 cm², respectively. This difference was statistically significant. Conclusion: The NUEDG is a new aid for eye drop administration, which was preliminarily examined in laboratory setting and found to be moderately effective and very safe.