Page 78 - The Indian Optician Digital Edition May-Junel 2022
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transmits information on pressure in the eye to a
healthcare provider.
ALL PICS PHOTO COURTESY OF PURDUE UNIVERSITY/REBECCA MCELHOE reduce the number of people who would suffer
Using this, ophthalmologists can offer more
specific glaucoma treatments that could
from vision-loss due to glaucoma. The device’s
monitoring capability has the potential to warn
patients at risk for glaucoma complications
so that they can seek medical attention at the
earliest.
LENSES
This is a major breakthrough as so far sensors
EXAMPLES OF STICKTRONICS TECHNOLOGY USED INNOVATIVE BIOSENSORS ON CONTACT
FOR CUSTOM-PRINTED SOFT MEDICAL SENSORS or other electronics needed a firm, plane
surface, so they couldn’t be used on a curved
development. This technology of using contact shape such as soft contact lenses. With this
lenses as an eye-wearable biomedical platform innovation, ultrathin, stretchable biosensors are
may soon be ready for clinical trials. embedded on the soft lenses by using a wet
adhesive bonding. Bryan Boudouris, a professor
EARLY DETECTION OF GLAUCOMA of chemical engineering at Purdue, helped
develop the wet adhesive.
Glaucoma is a condition in which the
pressure inside the eye increases to levels The patient wears the lenses when sleeping,
that could damage the optic nerve and result and pressure measurements are sent to a
in impairment or even loss of vision. Regular telemedicine monitor. The biosensors record
monitoring of intraocular pressure could help electrophysiological retinal activity from the
save the eyesight of millions of people afflicted corneal surface without the need for local
by the condition. anaesthesia, making it more comfortable for the
user; and doctors and scientists will have access
The Purdue team’s new contact lens to improved accuracy of retinal activity.
technology helps in diagnosis or early detection
and monitoring of many ocular diseases SENSOR THAT CAN BE PLACED ON AN
including glaucoma. Using soft contact lenses OVER-THE-COUNTER CONTACT LENS AND IS
as a bioinstrumentation tool, the technology USED TO DETECT GLAUCOMA IN PATIENTS
can unobtrusively and painlessly continuously
monitor clinically important information on
human eye health conditions for improved
treatments for glaucoma.
The miniature device to be implanted in
the eye will be powered wirelessly. The sensor
will measure intra-ocular pressure with a
transducer, and transmit the data to an external
processor. In part due to its minimal size, the THE PURDUE TEAM’S NEW CONTACT
device needs minimal power, supplied by LENS TECHNOLOGY HELPS IN
intentionally-radiated electromagnetic waves.
The design has a microsystem that includes a DIAGNOSIS OR EARLY DETECTION
complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor AND MONITORING OF MANY OCULAR
(CMOS) microchip, interfaced with a minimally- DISEASES INCLUDING GLAUCOMA
sized pressure sensor. This microchip wirelessly
74 THE INDIAN OPTICIAN MAY-JUNE 2022 TECH UPDATE
