Schematic of prevention and early treatment of diabetic retinopathy. (Credit: Postech)

Researchers have developed a smart contact lens-type wearable device to prevent diabetic retinopathy and treat it in its early stages by irradiating 120 μW far red/LED light to the retina. This technology for smart LED contact lens could treat various ophthalmologic diseases.

Through the study with diabetic animal models, the researchers confirmed that the diabetic retinopathy did not appear in animals that wore the smart contact lenses for 15 minutes 3 times a week for a total of 8 weeks. In contrast, the animals that did not wear the lenses showed retinopathic conditions. The safety and effectiveness of the lenses were also confirmed by the histological analysis of the cornea and retina.

This study has demonstrated the feasibility of a lens-type wearable device for the applications not only to monitoring oxygen saturation, heart beating rate, and ophthalmologic diseases, but also to treating depression, insomnia, neuronal diseases, and more

For more information, visit here  .

Topics:
Consumer electronics Diagnostics Diseases Electronic equipment LEDs Lenses Light emitting diodes (LEDs) Medical Medical equipment and supplies Medical, health and wellness Patient Monitoring

More From SAE Media Group

Medical Design Briefs
Artificial Retina Technology
Related Article Image
NASA Spinoff
'Contact' In Space Leads To New Lenses
Related Article Image
NASA Spinoff
The Right Track for Vision Correction
Related Article Image
Medical Design Briefs
Smart Photonic Contact Lens for Diabetic Diagnosis and Retinopathy Treatment
Related Article Image
    Magazine cover
    Medical Design Briefs Magazine

    This article first appeared in the May, 2022 issue of Medical Design Briefs Magazine (Vol. 12 No. 5).

    Read more articles from this issue here.

    Read more articles from the archives here.