Contact Lens Keeps an Eye on Your Blood Sugar

It’s not your father’s contact lens, not by a long shot. Researchers at the University of Washington are developing a contact lens that can monitor the wearer’s glucose levels, cholesterol, temperature and other health indicators, reports www.dailypress.com.

Researchers are integrating microscopic optical, electronic and biosensing devices into contact lenses that will monitor the wearer’s health through the biochemistry of the eye surface and display information to the person wearing them. ”The surface of the human eye has a wealth of information about the human body,” Associate Professor Babak Parviz told Daily Press reporter Veronica Chufo. “In a very noninvasive way, you can monitor what’s going on inside the body without going inside.”

If you don’t want the information out there for the world to see, it could be beamed to your cell phone or e-mailed, Parviz said.

So far, researchers have used nanotechnology to build contacts with tiny antennas, radios and light sources. Researchers cut shapes into the contact lens base, submerge it into a liquid and “wash” the tiny components over it, writes Chufo. The different-shaped parts fit like pieces of a puzzle into the base and are locked into place by a drop in temperature.

For now, the contacts can display only a simple red or blue dot. But one day, Parviz imagines people could wear contacts that display computer screens.

Tags: contact lens, nanotechnology, University of Washington