A new contact lens-based continuous glaucoma monitoring system has undergone a first-in-human pilot study, tested on six health volunteers during an experiment that induced deliberate changes in intraocular pressure (IOP).
In a paper published in Contact Lens and Anterior Eye, 1 researchers from the United Kingdom and Türkiye said the IOP sensing technology is based on an electrically passive sensor embedded in a disposable soft contact lens, and a wearable electronic readout system to collect, store, and process the data.
The researchers explained that the disposable contact lens is fitted in the clinic. The patient wears the product for 24 hours, returning to the clinic the next day. Medical staff then download and process data from the device “using a calibration algorithm based on tonometer measurements taken before and after the contact lens use”.
“The processed data is then delivered as the result to an ophthalmologist for evaluation.”
Currently, Triggerfish by Sensimed is the only continuous monitoring contact lens-based device in the market. It tracks changes in the corneal shape in response to changes in IOP, using a strain gauge sensor and an electrically active silicone chip embedded into a disposable silicone-based contact lens.
“As compared to electrically active silicone-based sensors, our sensor is thin, flexible and does not require power transmission,” the paper authors said.
“The system has been tested with six healthy volunteers during an experiment to induce deliberate IOP changes via water-loading and placing the individuals in supine position using a recliner seat.
“The initial data compared with tonometer measurements suggest that the system can be used to assess the variation of IOP continuously.
“The results of this study could have important implications for the development of novel technologies for glaucoma diagnosis and management,” they said.
The technology has been developed and will be made available by the researchers’ spinoff company, GlakoLens, after larger-scale investigations planned over the next year.
Reference
Kaya, D., et al., A first-in-human pilot study of a novel electrically-passive metamaterial-inspired resonator-based ocular sensor embedded contact lens monitoring intraocular pressure fluctuations, Contact Lens and Anterior Eye (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.clae.2023.102102.
