Communications of the ACM
Smart Contact Lens for Glaucoma Could Release Drugs When Needed
Contact lenses like this one can improve vision, but in the future they might also help treat glaucoma.
Credit: Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images
A prototype wireless contact lens developed by researchers at China's Sun Yat-Sen and Jinan universities could help treat glaucoma by automatically dispensing drugs when pressure inside the eye becomes excessive.
The lens's outer layer has a ring of tiny copper plates surrounding the pupil, which detect eye deformation caused by increasing pressure.
An antenna positioned near the eye sends this data to a computer, while the lens's inner layer contains the pressure-lowering drug brimonidine, which can be discharged via a signal from the computer.
In tests on rabbits, the researchers found the animals' eye pressure declined by roughly a third after wearing the lenses for 30 minutes, and by more than 40% after wearing them for two hours, on average.
From New Scientist
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