First-year OD student Elise Radcliffe is the winner of the IU School of Optometry’s 2024 Student Innovator Award. Elise’s winning project is “Tracking Tears: The Punctal Plug Monitoring System.”
Elise’s presentation discussed her idea of a new and innovative punctal plug design. Through computer technology wired into the silicone plug, patients will be able to access an app that details the quality of their tear film in real time and throughout the day. By delaying the drainage of tears and assessing the quality through a slow-draining system, this punctal plug will track the tear film while also tracking abnormalities and foreign deposits. In addition, the patient will have the ability to print a Tear Film Report to share their results with their doctor. As the patient tracks their tear quality throughout the day/week on their own, they will know when the best time is to instill medications, and the doctor will have a better idea of how exactly a patient’s dysfunction should be managed.
The award is a $5,000 scholarship for the most creative, innovative, and feasible idea proposal. The scholarship is possible thanks to MyEyeDr. through Jobson’s Rick Bay Foundation for Excellence in Eyecare Education.
This year’s judges panel was Dr. Scott Allison of MyEyeDr. and IUSO faculty members Drs. Nikole Himebaugh, Pete Kollbaum, Todd Peabody, and Neil Pence.
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