Wearable smart sensor systems integrated on soft contact lenses for wireless ocular diagnostics

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 8; no. 1; pp. 14997 - 8
• Main Authors: Kim, Joohee, Kim, Minji, Lee, Mi-Sun, Kim, Kukjoo, Ji, Sangyoon, Kim, Yun-Tae, Park, Jihun, Na, Kyungmin, Bae, Kwi-Hyun, Kyun Kim, Hong, Bien, Franklin, Young Lee, Chang, Park, Jang-Ung
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 27.04.2017; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 639/301/1005/1007; 639/301/1005/1009; Animals; Antennas; Biomarkers; Biosensing Techniques - instrumentation; Biosensing Techniques - methods; Cattle; Chemical engineering; Contact lenses; Contact Lenses, Hydrophilic; Diabetes; Electrodes; Eye - metabolism; Eye - physiopathology; Glaucoma - diagnosis; Glaucoma - physiopathology; Glucose; Glucose - metabolism; Graphene; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Intraocular Pressure - physiology; Monitoring, Physiologic - instrumentation; Monitoring, Physiologic - methods; multidisciplinary; Nanowires; Physiology; Rabbits; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Sensitivity and Specificity; Sensors; Tears - chemistry; Vision, Ocular - physiology; Wearable Electronic Devices; South Korea
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14997

Wearable contact lenses which can monitor physiological parameters have attracted substantial interests due to the capability of direct detection of biomarkers contained in body fluids. However, previously reported contact lens sensors can only monitor a single analyte at a time. Furthermore, such ocular contact lenses generally obstruct the field of vision of the subject. Here, we developed a multifunctional contact lens sensor that alleviates some of these limitations since it was developed on an actual ocular contact lens. It was also designed to monitor glucose within tears, as well as intraocular pressure using the resistance and capacitance of the electronic device. Furthermore, in-vivo and in-vitro tests using a live rabbit and bovine eyeball demonstrated its reliable operation. Our developed contact lens sensor can measure the glucose level in tear fluid and intraocular pressure simultaneously but yet independently based on different electrical responses. Wearable electronics have been utilized for a number of applications including for ocular use, although their use has been limited to a single function. Here, the authors developed a multifunctional contact lens with wireless electronics for measurement of glucose and intraocular pressure.