Many contact lens users suffer from an uncomfortable and sometimes even debilitating condition known as contact lens-induced dry eye (CLIDE). But an experimental new contact lens can prevent that from happening…using a fairly simple design.
CLIDE usually occurs when tears in the eye flow only in front of the contact lens and not behind it. As a result, the lens tears simply evaporate and do not provide moisture or lubrication to the covered eye area. To lens.
The condition is most often treated by administering “artificial tears” eye drops, but other proposed treatments include charged contact lenses, lacrimal stimulating implants, and molecules found in pig stomachs. including lubricants derived from the user-pricked probe. Raise your nose to stimulate the nerves in your nasal cavity.
All of these approaches have their merits, but scientists at the Terasaki Biomedical Innovation Institute (TIBI) in California set out to design something much simpler, requiring no conscious effort on the part of the user.
Terasaki Research Institute
The result is a contact lens pierced by a series of microchannels. Each channel runs from a tear-collecting reservoir at the front of the lens to a tear-discharging reservoir at the bottom of the lens. The channels are arranged in a circular spiral, each taking up tears near the center of the lens and distributing them around the edges. The center of the lens, where the pupil is located, remains completely transparent.
Importantly, the tear transport function of the lens is activated by nothing other than the pressure exerted by the eyelid on the lens during blinking. This means that it works the way users naturally blink, regardless of whether they are wearing contact lenses.
The device has already been tested on a rig that simulates blinking. Studies on animals and human volunteers are currently being planned.
TIBI Director and CEO Ali Khademhosseini said: “We hope that we can scale up our efforts to bring this solution to fruition.”
A paper on this study was recently published in the journal small.
Source: Terasaki Research Institute
