A soft, flexible contact lens can monitor glucose levels in tears and deliver sensing results through the lens display, according to a new report, alerting the user if glucose levels are too high by turning off a tiny embedded LED light.
The authors say their approach, tested in rabbits, is the first to apply the display pixel into a soft contact lens to visualize glucose sensing. The strategy may one day be used to screen for pre-diabetes and daily glucose monitoring.
Critically, this strategy does not require the expensive tools or brittle components currently used in many "smart" lenses, which can block the user's field of vision and even harm the eye. Such systems also typically require bulky equipment to measure signals from the contact lens sensors.
To create a softer, more user-friendly smart lens capable of wirelessly monitoring glucose, researchers developed a way to incorporate into stretchy, transparent nanostructures glucose sensors, wireless power transfer circuits and, notably, display pixels capable of accessing real-time sensing data, thus eliminating the need for additional measurement equipment.
The wireless display component of their system (which contains an antenna, rectifier, and LED pixel) can respond to changing glucose levels with the help of a graphene sensor, while simultaneously displaying the glucose information through the LED pixel. After detecting the glucose level in tear fluid above the threshold, this pixel will turn off - a cue to the wearer.
To test their new device, authors applied the lens into a rabbit eye and report they could successfully monitor an increase in glucose concentration wirelessly. The authors say that their hybrid substrate system can be applied to other areas, such as smart devices for drug delivery, augmented reality, and even biomarker monitoring via a smartphone.
Latest News
Metabolic rewiring promotes…
By newseditor
Posted 18 Apr
A drug to prevent flu-induc…
By newseditor
Posted 18 Apr
New origin of deep brain waves
By newseditor
Posted 17 Apr
Starving cells hijack prote…
By newseditor
Posted 17 Apr
Miniature battery-free epid…
By newseditor
Posted 17 Apr
Other Top Stories
New method to target rheumatoid arthritis
Read more
Treating children with cerebral palsy
Read more
How different brain regions are connected
Read more
Treating epilepsy with a new on-demand and cell-autonomous gene the…
Read more
Mapping the path from smell to perception
Read more
Protocols
MemPrep, a new technology f…
By newseditor
Posted 08 Apr
A tangible method to assess…
By newseditor
Posted 08 Apr
Stem cell-derived vessels-o…
By newseditor
Posted 06 Apr
Single-cell biclustering fo…
By newseditor
Posted 01 Apr
Modular dual-color BiAD sen…
By newseditor
Posted 31 Mar
Publications
How does the microbiota con…
By newseditor
Posted 18 Apr
The integrated stress respo…
By newseditor
Posted 18 Apr
The immunobiology of herpes…
By newseditor
Posted 17 Apr
Circulating microbiome DNA…
By newseditor
Posted 17 Apr
Spindle oscillations in com…
By newseditor
Posted 17 Apr
Presentations
Hydrogels in Drug Delivery
By newseditor
Posted 12 Apr
Lipids
By newseditor
Posted 31 Dec
Cell biology of carbohydrat…
By newseditor
Posted 29 Nov
RNA interference (RNAi)
By newseditor
Posted 23 Oct
RNA structure and functions
By newseditor
Posted 19 Oct
Posters
A chemical biology/modular…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Aug
Single-molecule covalent ma…
By newseditor
Posted 04 Jul
ASCO-2020-HEALTH SERVICES R…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-HEAD AND NECK CANCER
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-GENITOURINARY CAN…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar