Smart contact lens could monitor glaucoma and give drugs when needed

A wi-fi contact lens that screens eye strain and delivers glaucoma medication on demand has been examined in animals

By Carissa Wong

A wi-fi contact lens machine might assist deal with the attention situation glaucoma by monitoring the build-up of strain inside the attention and mechanically delivering medication when it rises too excessive.

Glaucoma impacts about 7.7 million folks worldwide and is attributable to inadequate drainage of fluid from the attention, which elevates eye strain and might harm the optic nerve that transmits visible indicators to the mind.

The situation is usually handled utilizing medication that assist drain extra fluid from the attention, administered within the type of eye drops. However folks might fail to stay to their therapy schedule, based on Xi Xie at Solar Yat-Sen College in Guangzhou, China, and his colleagues.

They designed a prototype contact lens machine that may sense eye strain and launch glaucoma medication when wanted. The outer layer of the lens has six tiny copper plates organized in a hoop across the pupil that sense eye deformation attributable to an increase in eye strain. An antenna positioned close to the attention then transmits the info to a close-by laptop. The interior layer of the lens – in touch with the cornea area of the attention – is loaded with a pressure-lowering drug referred to as brimonidine that may be launched when the lens receives a sign from the pc by way of the antenna.

The researchers have trialled their lenses in wholesome rabbits. They first demonstrated that the machine might monitor eye strain within the animals and transmit the info wirelessly to the exterior laptop. Then they used the pc to wirelessly transmit a sign to the contact lens that triggered the discharge of brimonidine.

By then monitoring modifications in eye strain within the rabbits, they discovered that the animals’ eye strain had decreased by round a 3rd after half-hour and by greater than 40 per cent after 2 hours, on common.

“The realisation of this know-how to be used at point-of-care settings might revolutionise the lives of tens of millions of sufferers with glaucoma,” says Ali Yetisen at Imperial Faculty London. “It [would be] a beautiful addition to the [tools] of the ophthalmologist.”

Nonetheless, additional research might be wanted to evaluate how properly the machine works in people.

Journal reference: Nature Communications, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29860-x