Smart contact lens sensor for eye health monitoring

A schematic illustration and images of the 'smart' contact lens for point-of-care eye health monitoring.

来源：杜Xuemin

Early diagnosis is important for avoiding severe eye problems, such as exophthalmia, which causes relatively mild symptoms; orglaucoma, which may lead to loss of vision. Such diagnoses rely on facile and reliable monitoring of several features with significant pathologic relevance, such as the amount of tears and眼压。然而，目前的方法通常需要专业人士运营的复杂程序和仪器，导致护理点（POC）眼科健康监测的困难。

The "smart"contact lensfeatures periodic nanostructures within a poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (pHEMA) hydrogel matrix, resulting in bright, tunable structural colors ranging from red to green to blue. This structurally colored contact lens sensor is made solely from a biocompatible hydrogel, without the addition of any chemical pigments, thus exhibiting superior biosafety and comfort for wearable applications.

Importantly, the spacing of periodic nanostructures within the pHEMA hydrogel are sensitive to changes in moisture and pressure, leading to real-time color changes in the "smart" contact lens. "Based on these features, the 'smart' contact lens was explored as a means for monitoring xerophthalmia and high intraocular pressure disease. In normal eye-simulation conditions, its color will not change over time. Its color changes from red to blue in the xerophthalmia-simulation condition in about 25 minutes," said Zhao Qilong, first author of the study.

另外，当人的眼内压在病理范围内变化时，观察到“智能”化妆镜的反射峰的波长的线性降低。“本研究提供了一种新颖且智能可穿戴设备，用于及时和轻松地警告，突破性疟疾和高眼压疾病的风险。它还将激发新一代可穿戴设备的设计，用于实时POC监测。各种人体迹象和疾病，“杜教授说。