While contact lenses are known to help correct vision, researchers have developed a contact lens that checks blood sugar levels and delivers drugs to the eye to treat diabetic retinopathy. Studies conducted on rabbit test subjects have been positive and researchers now look to human subjects.
This new smart contact lens is thinner than the current FDA-approved contact lens that senses eye pressure and researchers hope to make it even thinner. The lens is made of flexible circuits and a microcontroller chip. The lens coated with chemicals that bind with glucose. This, in turn, triggers an electrical current charge that is based on the amount of glucose detected. The electrical current dissolves a seal on the drug reservoir which allows a dose of the drug to be released.
Researchers note that using contact lenses in diabetic patients isn't without challenges because of their increased risk for infections and injuries. The ability to deliver drugs to treat diabetic retinopathy via the lens rather than via injections into the eye is a huge benefit. Of additional concern is the reliability of tear glucose compared to blood glucose, which is something that the researchers will need to test thoroughly. Human clinical trials are expected to being in 2021 and hopefully a final product will be on the market in 2023.