Smart contact lens that moisturizes the eye. Free Technical Library News

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Smart contact lens that moisturizes the eye

26.01.2020

For people with vision problems, the choice is always made only between glasses and lenses. Glasses are visible, which often suffers from aesthetics, the lenses are hidden, but harm the eyes. Wearing any contact materials on the pupils sooner or later causes "dry eye syndrome", blinking frequency decreases, moisture evaporation increases. As a result, corneal wounds, inflammation and discomfort can occur.

Led by Professor Matsuhiko Nishizawa, a team from Japan's Tohoku University set out to develop a lens that solves this problem. The prototype device maintains a layer of tear fluid between itself and the eye using a phenomenon known as "electroosmotic flow". A current is applied to the natural tear reservoir under the lower eyelid, and contact with the hydrogel from which the lens is made occurs. This gentle, unobtrusive process draws fluid out of the tear ducts, prompting them to work. As a result, the eye is moisturized.

So far, scientists have successfully powered the lens using built-in magnesium-oxygen and enzymatic fructose-oxygen "biobatteries". Now they are exploring the possibility of wireless powering a future version of the device. New smart lenses will be charged remotely in the same way as gadgets from docking stations.

"This is the first demonstration of how the electroosmotic flow process in a soft contact lens can keep the lens moist," says Nishizawa. "In the future, there are opportunities to expand this technology to other applications such as drug delivery."

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