The little wireless device, which was created by a group of Chinese researchers and has so far been tested in pig and rabbit eyes, appears to detect and control rising eye pressure, which is one of the most common causes of glaucoma.
Glaucoma refers to a series of eye illnesses in which damage to the optic nerve, which transmits visual information to the brain, results in irreversible vision loss and blindness in millions of people throughout the world.
The development of a gadget capable of sensing changes in ocular pressure and administering therapeutic medications as needed is where this new research breaks new ground.
Recent efforts to develop smart contact lenses as wearable devices for treating eye problems have focused on either sensing pressure changes in the eye or administering a medicine – but not both – and glaucoma treatment often consists of eye drops, laser therapy, or surgery to relieve eye pressure.
While this sounds promising, keep in mind that, while scientists continue to experiment with new ways to treat eye illnesses, early detection and treatment of glaucoma remain critical.
When analysing the global burden of eye diseases, including glaucoma, Jaimie Steinmetz, a research scientist at the Washington-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, and collaborators wrote in 2020, Once detected, therapy for glaucoma can arrest or slow its deterioration in the majority of cases.
Glaucoma, on the other hand, is notoriously difficult to detect because peripheral vision is the first to lose, and diagnostic instruments only provide snapshot measures of intraocular pressure, which changes with activity and sleep-wake cycles.
As a result, enhancing surveillance systems, identifying risk among case family members, and the effectiveness of therapy once treatment is commenced, Steinmetz and co-authors emphasise.
However, contact lenses that fit snugly against the eye have a lot of attraction for administering eye treatments. Incorporating electrical circuits and sensors into small, flexible, curved, and ultra-thin contact lenses, on the other hand, is a significant engineering problem.
To operate, something like this would have to be sensitive enough to detect pressure changes and deliver precise doses of medicine on demand — all while not obscuring vision or irritating the eye.
In their work, electrical engineer Cheng Yang of Sun Yat-Sen University and colleagues write, It is exceedingly tough to install a complex theranostic system composited by multi-modules on a contact lens.
However, it appears that Yang and colleagues have achieved headway, at least in terms of creating a prototype lens with many sensors integrated to prevent eye irritation and a unique laser-cut snowflake shape.
To operate, something like this would have to be sensitive enough to detect pressure changes and deliver precise doses of medicine on demand — all while not obscuring vision or irritating the eye.
In their work, electrical engineer Cheng Yang of Sun Yat-Sen University and colleagues write, It is exceedingly tough to install a complex theranostic system composited by multi-modules on a contact lens.
However, it appears that Yang and colleagues have achieved headway, at least in terms of creating a prototype lens with many sensors integrated to prevent eye irritation and a unique laser-cut snowflake shape.
According to Yang and colleagues, the double-layer lens design enabled a compact structure to support numerous electronic components positioned at the rim region of the contact lens, which means it shouldn’t hinder wearers’ vision.
However, because the lens has only been tested on pig eyeballs and live rabbits thus far, further study is needed before it can be used in human clinical trials.
For the time being, the researchers have stated that their gadget can detect intraocular pressure changes, deliver anti-glaucoma medications via iontophoresis, and rapidly reduce eye pressure as intended.
In these studies, rabbit ocular pressure remained low and did not recover like it did when brimonidine eye drops were used as a control, therefore it appears to be promising.
Furthermore, the researchers claim that their fabrication methods are compatible with the large-scale and cost-effective manufacturing processes now used to produce computer circuit boards, implying that, as unattractive as this gadget may appear, it could be made rather quickly.
However, we’ll have to keep a close eye on the results of any future studies.