This Neurostimulator Makes People Cry
From: Product Design & Development - 01/26/2015

A Stanford University fellow developed implantable neurostimulators to create
tears for people who suffer from dry eye.

The devices, a little larger than a fingernail, work in pairs. One is
inserted into the mucous membrane in the patient’s nasal cavity, and the
other under the skin below the eyebrow, using a large-gauge needle in a
doctor’s office.

Once implanted, the device stimulates the lacrimal gland with
micro-electrical pulses. Patients can then use a wireless controller to
adjust the frequency of their tears.

Dry eye affected about every third patient, and ranged from an inconvenience
to a serious malady that could cause abrasions of the cornea, they said.
Existing treatments showed a high dropout rate and treated symptoms rather
than the root cause.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.pddnet.com/articles/2015/01/neurostimulator-makes-people-cry
http://www.mdtmag.com/news/2015/01/neurostimulator-makes-people-cry

Links:
A Neurostimulator that Makes People Cry
http://www.wirelessdesignmag.com/news/2015/01/photo-day-neurostimulator-makes-people-cry

A Cure for Dry Eye Could Be a Blink Away 
http://www.mdtmag.com/news/2014/05/cure-dry-eye-could-be-blink-away

Stanford Bio-X
https://biox.stanford.edu/

Stanford spinout Oculeve raises $16.6 million in pursuit of dry-eye treatment 
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/biotech/2014/03/stanford-oculeve-16-million-dry-eye-treatment.html

Evaluation of the Safety and Effectiveness of the Oculeve Intranasal Lacrimal
  Neurostimulator in Patients With Dry Eye 
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02313454?term=Oculeve&rank=1