Healthcare hydrogel product developer Nexgel has developed a proprietary hydrogel eye patch to treat amblyopia, also known as lazy eye.
The patch is expected to be on the market for ophthalmologists and optometrists in the beginning of 2023.
Nexgel's patch is intended to be gentler on the skin than traditional eye patches and does not include chemicals or painful adhesives.
"The most effective eye patches for the treatment of amblyopia are placed directly on the skin covering the eye, however, traditional eye patches for amblyopia are difficult to adjust and remove, pulling at and irritating the thin skin around the eye," Leonard Nelson, MD, co-director of the pediatric ophthalmology department and director of the strabismus center at Philadelphia-based Wills Eye Hospital, said in an Oct. 20 press release. "Nexgel's unique hydrogel technology is the innovation that pediatric ophthalmologists have been waiting for."