Diana Parker and her husband, Luca Conte made a generous donation to the Department. Diana requested that the donation be used to expand the Department’s existing program of eye pressure monitoring with the newest FDA approved
iCare HOME2 tonometer devices. Diana appreciated the ability to take her eye pressure at home and the additional devices doubled the department’s ability to advance glaucoma care with eye pressure monitors at home.
Traditionally, treatment for patients with glaucoma includes eye pressure data measured during office hours, typically between 8am and 5pm. However, clinical research has shown that some patients have peak eye pressure outside of these hours. Such limitation on detecting these peak eye pressures may contribute to the
progression of glaucoma.
“I feel patients need to take an active role in their healthcare and it’s difficult to do that without tools and one of those tools is the home tonometer.” -Diana Parker
The Department launched “real world” eye pressure monitoring with a technology called iCare HOME in 2020. Patients are trained to use this device for measuring their eye pressures about six times throughout the day over several weeks. This data provides a comprehensive picture of eye pressure fluctuations and helps establish baseline fluctuations before and while on treatment. Glaucoma specialists use this data to determine if treatment adjustments are needed to decrease large eye pressure fluctuations. In the end, low pressure fluctuations will help save eyesight and decrease glaucoma-related blindness.