BioElectronics Corporation, a Frederick, MD-based company that makes anti-inflammatory patches to accelerate healing after surgery, has come out with a new eye mask to hold in place its ActiPatch therapy on patients who have had eyelid surgery. The mask, made of a soft, breathable fabric, has a pocket on each side that holds a crescent shaped ActiPatch to assure proper placement over each eye. ActiPatch is a drug-free anti-inflammatory patch with an embedded battery operated microchip that delivers continuous pulsed therapy. It has been clinically proven to reduce swelling and bruising up to 50%.
Market potential for eyelid-surgery recovery devices is promising. Known as blepharoplasty, this kind of surgery is a cosmetic procedure that removes fat deposits, excess tissue, or muscle from the eyelids to improve the appearance of the eyes. More than 1.8 million surgical cosmetic procedures were performed in 2006, up 2 percent from 2005, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Blepharoplasty was the fourth-most common form of cosmetic surgery in 2006, with 233,000 procedures being performed.