.jpg)
SteamGoggle
Innovative Moist Heat Dry Eye Treatment
Starting in late high school and continuing through college and my working life, I have suffered through a continuous bout of symptoms related to dry eye, involving a nonstop gritty, scratchy, foreign body sensation in my left eye. After years of finding no relief from current products/treatments on the market, (being a mechanical engineer) I created a new device that finally ended up alleviating my symptoms. The SteamGoggle differs from other products on the market, as it uses a pinpointed approach to deliver effective amounts of sustained moist heat directly to the eyes, all in a safe, easy to use at-home package.
The SteamGoggle is able to provide the most safe and effective moist heat dry eye treatment because it employs the use of ceramic PTC (Positive Thermal Coefficient) electric heaters. This heater differs from normal resistive heaters in that it is able to self regulate its temperature via its internal chemistry, and does not require external regulation controls. As the PTC heater reaches a certain temperature (defined during its manufacture), its resistance increases significantly, leading to a decrease in power consumption and preventing the temperature from rising uncontrollably. This proportional relationship between temperature and current flow continues until the target temperature is reached and all current flow stops (the heater is now essentially an insulator). PTC heaters are well known for their reliability and safety, as well as for being very energy efficient. This in turn, allows the device to rapidly heat to and maintain the desired temperature, all while eliminating the risk of overheating common with other electric heaters.
The SteamGoggle works by having two completely separate plastic cavities on each eye piece of the goggle. On the external cavity, a PTC heater encased in silicone, transfers heat through the plastic lens to the internal cavity that features a raised plastic lattice containing clean water. This heat slowly vaporizes the water to create a therapeutic moist heat environment inside the internal cavity. Completely separating the two cavities eliminates any concern over any interaction between the eye and any of the electronics or heater assembly during a treatment session.
The Steamgoggle lens is injection molded using a thermoplastic resin called Polyethersulfone (PESU), which is known for being a high performance replacement for Polycarbonate (which contains BPA). Polyethersulfone was chosen as it has a high resistance to heat, is BPA free and is commonly used in household/industry food preparation and cooking applications. It is also known for being used in catering gear, water filtration membranes as well as the internal components used in espresso machines. Switching to this high performance resin approved for cooking and food contact eliminates any concern of BPA leaching that is common with polycarbonate at higher temperatures.