Dry Eye Syndrome: A Multifactorial Disease

Dry eye syndrome, a multifactorial disease of the ocular surface, is the leading cause for ophthalmology office visits, affecting around 60 million people in the United States alone. Due to a variety of factors, it is challenging to make a definitive diagnosis in the early stages of the disease. The ocular examination, including the fluorescein break up time and Schirmer’s test has been a critical part of the diagnosis algorithm. But these tests are severely limited owing to their relative invasiveness and lack of specificity. To overcome the limitations of the current gold standards, there is a growing need for the use of noninvasive tear imaging technologies like the thermal imaging.