KRET in Ryazan produces unique ophthalmological devices allowing to recognise such a dangerous disease as glaucoma in adults and children at the earliest stage.
According to the medical workers, high intraocular pressure does not have any signs and might suddenly lead to development of a chronic disease, glaucoma, that cannot be completely cured, and that leads to irreversible blindness in almost every third patient. Today, this disease is widely spread not only in Russia, but in Europe as well. According to the World Health Organisations (WHO), by 2020 the number of people suffering from glaucoma will reach 80 million people worldwide.
Glaucoma may only be diagnosed at an early stage by timely recognition of high intraocular pressure. Therefore, eye care professionals insist on regular preventive examinations and measurement of intraocular pressure (IOP).
For a long time IOP has been measured using a special device, tonometer, by a contact method. The principle of the technique is quite simple: special weights are installed on an eye under which the eye cornea deflects. The more the area of contact, the higher is the pressure. This IOP measurement method requires anaesthesia, and it is by no means convenient for the doctor or the patient.
A little over 20 years ago the specialists of the Ryazan State Instrument-Making Enterprise (RSIME) fulfilled a dream of eye care professionals – they created a device for measurement of intraocular pressure through the upper eyelid, without any contact with the cornea. The IGD-02 Diathera Indicator allows to perform ophthalmotonometry in a safe and quick manner according to the Maklakov scale without the need to use anaesthesia. The non-conventional method developed by RSIME specialists was patented in Russia, USA and Japan.
This device was successfully developed due to a close cooperation of RSIME with the leading medical institutes and clinics of Russia. Famous Russian ophthalmologist, a member of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences Arkady Nesterov also contributed to the development of the new device.
Over these years IGD-02 Diathera has worked its great way from a simplest device to an innovative digital apparatus. But the operating principle remained the same. As was told by the developers, it is based on the functional processing of acceleration of a rod during its free fall and interaction with the elastic surface of the eye through an eyelid – a dynamic method for controlled mechanical impact on the eye".
The main advantages of this method include high precision of measurements, easy use of the apparatus, no need to use any expendables and anaesthetics, and no risk of infection. Besides, the procedure has been simplified – measurements can be taken in a seated or prone position, and the duration of the procedure is 1-3 seconds.
The new technique and the tonometers from Ryazan were highly appreciated at international contests and won golden medals of the Salon of the Inventions, Technology and New Products in Geneva and Brussels.
Today, RSIME produces a series of devices under various trademarks: Diathera – for supply to Russia and countries of CIS, Diaton – for non-CIS countries. For example, the use of Diathera in Kazakhstan for IOP measurement is included in the anti-glaucoma programme as part of the State Programme for Healthcare Development. Similar projects are being implemented in Belarus as well.
An export version of the device under the Diaton brand is supplied to Italy, Hungary, South Africa and other states. The intraocular pressure measurement procedure using the Diaton device is included into the list of statutory healthcare services covered by the insurance companies in the USA.
