IPL treatment may soon be available in Australia and New Zealand

[neilw]

A new IPL device has been developed in France specifically for treating MGD. This device has been developed by a company called E-SWIN who are apparently big manufacturers of hair removal and beauty IPL devices.
The MGD device has received C-E approval for use in France (and hence all of the EU, I presume.) I believe there have been some Eyecare practices in France offering IPL for the past couple of months. I do not know any more about the use of the device in Europe, but this device is now heading down under as well.

A company called France Medical in Brisbane are currently in the process of getting TGA approval for the device in Australia. They are calling the device here E-Eye and here is a link to their website. Of course TGA approval is not guaranteed but they are hopeful of a positive result in the next couple of months.

I believe they already have the correct approval to use the device in New Zealand and there is currently a clinical study underway in New Zealand on the device. Information on this can be found on their website.

Dr Jim Kokkinakis in Sydney at The Eye Practice has indicated that once TGA approval is given, he will definitely get one of these machines for his practice. France Medical have also indicated there is an optometrist in Brisbane who is waiting for TGA approval to get a machine too.

I am hoping Eyecare practitioners in other states, especially for us in Victoria, will take this up once TGA approval is given.

I know this post may seem premature, but I think that the more awareness there is about this, the more chance that it can be successfully introduced into Australia. My wife who has had severe dry eye for 4 years and who has tried nearly all available treatments has found that only IPL has resulted in any worthwhile improvement. So we are very excited about getting IPL here as it means we will not have to continue travelling back and forth to the US.

[Spoon]

Hi Neil,

Thanks a million for posting this. Do you know what practice in France currently uses this device? I currently live in London so would probably give it a go. Although from the specs on the website I don't see anything specific about this IPL machine that would make it superior to IPL devices currently used for MGD, do you? The system doesn't seem to enable the energy to be safely directed any closer to the Meibomian glands and there doesn't appear to be any special pulse/energy/wavelength settings that can't be achieved with existing devices. That said, I havent tried IPL yet and if I do I might as well go with this over anything else.

By the way Dr Jim Kokkinakis at The Eye Practice is a brilliant doctor. Aside from having a better understanding of MGD than other doctors & opths I've seen, he's a leader in trying new treatments as they become available.

[neilw]

Hi Neil,

Thanks a million for posting this. Do you know what practice in France currently uses this device? I currently live in London so would probably give it a go. Although from the specs on the website I don't see anything specific about this IPL machine that would make it superior to IPL devices currently used for MGD, do you? The system doesn't seem to enable the energy to be safely directed any closer to the Meibomian glands and there doesn't appear to be any special pulse/energy/wavelength settings that can't be achieved with existing devices. That said, I havent tried IPL yet and if I do I might as well go with this over anything else.

By the way Dr Jim Kokkinakis at The Eye Practice is a brilliant doctor. Aside from having a better understanding of MGD than other doctors & opths I've seen, he's a leader in trying new treatments as they become available.

Spoon
I do not know who is using it in France. I have only been in touch with the company in Australia, France Medical, who are trying to import the machines here. They told me the company in France is called E-SWIN and if you Google them you can see they make skin and beauty IPLs. This new one, called E-EYE has, I believe, been specifically calibrated for use near the eye and is designed only for MGD treatment. They have undertaken clinical studies in France with it and have CE approval (I guess that is like TGA approval here). There is even a study being started in NZ to use it on the upper eyelid (with shields between the lid and the eyeball) although I know that the IPL in the US (as developed by Dr Toyos) is only used on the lower lids. (The studies in France were only on the lower lid.)

I have tried to find out via Google more about the company in France but have not been very successful. If you cannot get the information you want that way I would suggest you contact France Medical in Australia, by phone or email. I have found them helpful and easy to talk to. Their contact details are on their website.
Neil

[Spoon]

Great thanks very much Neil. I will report on how it goes if I get the treatment

[Santaklauzz]

Hi, Spoon,

Did you manage to find a practice that offers IPL in France, UK...?