Eye Pressure Monitor: FSA Eligibility

Eligible expenses for Limited FSAs can vary. To find out exactly what your Limited FSA covers, contact your FSA administrator.

Under IRC 213(d)(1), "medical care includes amounts paid for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, or for the purpose of affecting any structure or function of the body." This includes medical equipment and devices.

What is an eye pressure monitor?

An eye pressure monitor is the name for a device that performs tonometry, or measuring of intraocular pressure (IOC) of the fluid of the eye interior. Most tonometers or eye pressure monitors produce a reading of millimeters of mercury (mmHg). Eye pressure monitors are necessary for detecting and monitoring glaucoma (WebMD).

Eye pressure monitors may work through several different mechanisms. Eye pressure monitors suitable for purchase and use at home include tools that measure via applanation tonometry, indentation tonometry, rebound tonometry, and pascal dynamic contour tonometry.

Eye pressure monitors suitable for home use that work through applanation tonometry include the Goldman and Perkins applanation tonometry tool, the Perkins tonometry tool, and the ocular response analyzer. Each of these eye pressure monitors measures intraocular pressure by flattening a part of the cornea through contact or a non-contact means, then adjusting either the area of flattening or the force needed to flatten the area (Mayo Clinic).

Eye pressure monitors that use indentation tonometry and are suitable for home use include the schiotz tonometer, the pneumotonometer, and the tono-pen. The principle of indentation tonometry measures intraocular pressure by measuring the degree to which a force or weight indents or sinks into the eye, which changes depending on the eye’s softness (ScienceDirect).

The ICare device is an eye pressure monitor that works on the principle of rebound tonometry. It measures the deceleration of a ball and spring mechanism that makes contact with the cornea, then decelerates at a rate indicative of the eye’s intraocular pressure.

The pascal dynamic contour tonometry is an eye pressure monitor that uses disposable covers which cover a piezoelectric sensor that detects intraocular pressure by measuring tiny pulsatile fluctuations.

All tonometers are subject to a range of errors and misreading due to various factors such as corneal thickness, corneal curvature, corneal rigidity, heartbeat-based fluctuations in IOP, etc.