Methods and apparatuses for determining contact lens intolerance in contact lens wearer patients based on dry eye tear film characteristic analysis and dry eye symptoms

An apparatus for diagnosing contact lens intolerance on an ocular tear film of a patient, comprising:

• a light source configured to illuminate the ocular tear film of a patient without a contact lens disposed on a patient's eye;
• an imaging device configured to capture in at least one first image of the ocular tear film without the contact lens disposed on the patient's eye, optical wave interference of specularly reflected light from the ocular tear film, when the ocular tear film is illuminated with the light source;
• and
• a computer control system configured to:
• isolate at least one contact lens-based region of interest in the at least one first image where the contact lens is present on the ocular tear film;
• convert the at least one contact lens-based region of interest in the at least one first image into at least one contact lens-based color-based value;
• compare the at least one contact lens-based color-based value to a lipid layer-contact lens layer optical wave interference model;
• and
• determine a contact lens-based tear film characteristic of the at least one contact lens-based region of interest of the ocular tear film based on the comparison of the at least one contact lens-based color-based value to the lipid layer-contact lens layer optical wave interference model.

A method for diagnosing contact lens intolerance in a patient, comprising:

• illuminating an ocular tear film of a patient having a contact lens disposed on a patient's eye with a light source;
• capturing in at least one first image of the ocular tear film with the contact lens disposed on the patient's eye, optical wave interference of specularly reflected light from the ocular tear film, when the ocular tear film is illuminated;
• isolating at least one non-contact lens-based region of interest in the at least one first image where the contact lens is not present on the ocular tear film;
• and
• determining a non-contact lens-based tear film characteristic in the at least one non-contact lens-based region of interest of the at least one first image.

An apparatus for diagnosing contact lens intolerance in a patient, comprising:

• an illuminator configured to illuminate an ocular tear film of a patient having a contact lens disposed on a patient's eye;
• an imaging device configured to capture in at least one first image of the ocular tear film with the contact lens disposed on the patient's eye, optical wave interference of specularly reflected light from the ocular tear film, when the ocular tear film is illuminated;
• a computer control system configured to:
• isolate at least one non-contact lens-based region of interest in the at least one first image where the contact lens is not present on the ocular tear film;
• and
• determine a non-contact lens-based tear film characteristic in the at least one non-contact lens-based region of interest of the at least one first image.