Tears are crucial to eye health. Many people have underlying medical issues which causes dry eye, including diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and thyroid disease etc. One common treatment for dry eye is artificial tears, which provide lubrication to the surface of the eye. However, artificial tears lack the biologically active components found in natural tears that are essential to the maintenance of the tear film.

Autologous serum eye drops are believed to be a better tear substitute and have become a common treatment for dry eye. Autologous means that the donor and the recipient are the same person.

The eye drops in this case are made from your own blood. Red blood cells and clotting factors are removed, leaving behind blood serum. This is diluted with a sterile, preservative-free solution to produce a tear substitute that is unique to the patient, and contains many important growth factors and nutrients normally found in healthy tears.