Smart Contact Lenses With Medical Features

Smart contact lenses, which not only rectify defective vision, but also take up additional essential tasks, will soon be more than just a vision. Mr Markus Leicht interviewed by opti provides his insight on the subject of digitalised products.

Markus Leicht, a SciTec lecturer and research assistant at Ernst-Abbe-Hochschule in Jena, sheds more light on the alleged capability of these digitalised products and what they could mean for optometrists.

Mr. Leicht, your research involves the latest trends. Please give us an insight into the world of digitized contact lenses. Currently, there are numerous industrial and university research groups working on this, which is why I would like to limit myself to three areas. The first product, which is already CE-certified, approved by the FDA for the USA, and can therefore be sold, is the Sensimed Triggerfish System by Sensimed AG, a Swiss company.

This is a disposable, soft silicon contact lens able to measure the intraocular pressure. Similar to a long-term ECG, this continuous monitoring can be conducted over 24 hours.

The lens performs 30-second intraocular pressure measurements at five-minute intervals, both during the day and at night.

This is very beneficial since, as experience shows, the intraocular pressure fluctuates significantly over the course of the day, especially among glaucoma patients.

The comprehensive information on intraocular pressure, collected over the entire day, makes it possible to better understand the effects of glaucomatous damage and the intraocular pressure, and hence optimize existing therapy methods.