231 Sheep

Glaucoma, a disease that damages your eye’s optic nerve, affects more than 2.7 million individuals aged 40 or older in the US. The disease is the leading cause of blindness for veterans over 60 years old, mostly prevalent in veterans that suffer from PTSD and SSD. The disease requires life-long treatment that currently, includes either eye drop medication or surgery. Yet, patient compliance with medication is a challenge, 60% of glaucoma patients are non-adherent with their medications and up to 37% are lost on follow ups. The incidence rate among service members between 2013-2017 represented rate of 5.9 per 1,000 person-year, in a total of 37,718 cases. If they first get diagnosed while in service and are resistant to treatment, the medical board will evaluate the condition for possible separation from service, since glaucoma is considered a disqualifying condition for enlistment in the military. To monitor glaucoma medication the clinician relies mainly on the prescription refill data from pharmacies or from patients or caregivers. No device currently exists in the market that is able to monitor the patients’ medication routine, report data to a smartphone application, and inform physicians about their glaucoma patient’s compliance. 231 Sheep, LLC has developed Ocuelar – a next generation nanotechnology-based hardware (SmartCap) battery-free- that records patient’s medication and shares the data into the Ocuelar App, capable of providing feedback and improving medication adherence. Although the company has designed a holistic solution for antiglaucoma medication non-adherence, the solution could provide the possibility to monitor eye drop usage following other chronic conditions (diabetic retinopathy, macula degeneration), as well as post-surgical care management (e.g. cataracts). The rate of ocular pathology is high in the veteran population: glaucoma has a 11% prevalence, cataracts have a 17.8% prevalence and retinopathy has 9.5% prevalence. This technology helps veterans (including active service members) to stay on top of their medication, facilitates early detection of problems, prevents disease progression and offers telecommunication with clinicians that will stay on top of risky non-adherent situations. It will also increase patient awareness of glaucoma conditions, remind consistently to take prescribed medications, provide mental and emotional support from the patient’s inner circle, reward patient’s compliance through engaging gamification. During Phase I, the company aims to determine how Ocuelar can meet the needs of the AF customer.