Method and apparatus for treating meibomian gland dysfunction

1. A method of treating dry eye in humans wherein a flow of naturally occurring secretion to an eye is occluded due to the presence of an obstruction located within a meibomian gland channel of a meibomian gland of an eyelid and comprising:

lifting the eyelid away from the eye;

softening the obstruction located within the meibomian gland channel of the meibomian gland; and

applying a regulated force to the eyelid.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein the regulated force is applied by an energy source coupled to an eyelid surface for mincingly compressing the eyelid to express the softened obstruction from within the meibomian gland channel of the meibomian gland through a meibomian gland orifice of the meibomian gland.

3. The method according to claim 2 wherein the energy source coupled to the eyelid surface for milkingly compressing the eyelid to express the softened obstruction from within the meibomian gland channel of the meibomian gland through the meibomian gland orifice of the meibomian gland comprises a roller.

4. The method according to claim 1 wherein the eyelid is positioned between a back plate and a force applicator, and the method further comprises:

actuating the force applicator such that the eyelid is gripped between the force applicator and the back plate to apply the regulated force to the eyelid to express the softened obstruction from within the meibomian gland channel of the meibomian gland through a meibomian gland orifice of the meibomian gland.

5. The method according to claim 1 wherein the step of softening comprises the application of thermal energy to the obstruction.

6. The method according to claim 5 wherein the thermal energy applied is selected from the group of heat generating modalities consisting of conduction, convection and radiation.

7. The method according to claim 1 wherein the step of softening further includes heating the obstruction to between about 37° C. to about 47° C.

8. The method according to claim 1 wherein the step of applying a regulated force to the eyelid is performed with a hand held device.

9. A method of treating dry eye in humans wherein a flow of naturally occurring secretion to an eye is occluded due to the presence of an obstruction located within a meibomian gland channel of a meibomian gland in an eyelid and comprising:

lifting the eyelid away from the eye;

softening the obstruction located within the meibomian gland channel of the meibomian gland through an application of thermal energy to heat the obstruction to a temperature sufficient to turn the obstruction from a solid to a flowable state; and

applying a regulated force to the eyelid.

10. The method according to claim 9 wherein the obstruction is heated to a temperature of between about 42° C. and about 46° C.

11. The method according to claim 10 further including applying vacuum to extract the softened obstruction from the meibomian gland channel of the meibomian gland through the meibomian gland orifice of the meibomian gland.

12. The method according to claim 9 wherein the regulated force is applied by an energy source coupled to an eyelid surface for milkingly compressing the eyelid to express the softened obstruction from the meibomian gland channel of the meibomian gland through a meibomian gland orifice of the meibomian gland.

13. The method according to claim 9 wherein the eyelid is positioned between a back plate and a force applicator, and the method further comprises:

actuating the force applicator such that the eyelid is gripped between the force applicator and the back plate to apply the regulated force to the eyelid to express the softened obstruction from within the meibomian gland channel of the meibomian gland through the meibomian gland orifice of the meibomian gland.

14. The method according to claim 9 wherein the thermal energy applied is selected from a group of heat generating modalities comprising conduction, convection and radiation.

15. The method according to claim 9 wherein the step of applying a regulated force to the eyelid is performed with a hand held device.

16. The method according to claim 9 wherein the regulated force comprises an adjustable constant force and a pulsatile force.

17. The method according to claim 9 further including applying a pharmacological agent to the meibomian gland.

18. A method of treating dry eye in humans wherein a flow of naturally occurring secretion to an eye is occluded due to the presence of an obstruction located within a meibomian gland channel of a meibomian gland in an eyelid:

coupling a device to the eyelid;

softening the obstruction located within the meibomian gland channel of the meibomian gland with regulated heat; and

applying a regulated force and heat via the device to the eyelid.

19. The method according to claim 18 wherein the regulated force is applied to an eyelid surface to milkingly compress the eyelid to express the softened obstruction from within the meibomian gland channel of the meibomian gland through the meibomian gland orifice of the meibomian gland.

20. The method according to claim 18 wherein the regulated heat is selected from a group of heat generating modalities comprising conduction, convection and radiation.

21. The method according to claim 18 wherein the regulated heat is maintained by a temperature measurement and feedback control loop.

22. The method according to claim 18 wherein the step of softening further includes heating the obstruction to between about 37° C. and about 47° C.