Smart Wireless Near‐Infrared Light Emitting Contact Lens for the Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy

Abstract

Diabetic retinopathy is currently treated by highly invasive repeated therapeutic injections and surgical interventions without complete vision recovery. Here, a noninvasive smart wireless far red/near‐infrared (NIR) light emitting contact lens developed successfully for the repeated treatment of diabetic retinopathy with significantly improved compliance. A far red/NIR light emitting diode (LED) is connected with an application‐specific integrated circuit chip, wireless power, and communication systems on a PET film, which is embedded in a silicone elastomer contact lens by thermal crosslinking. After in vitro characterization, it is confirmed that the retinal vascular hyper‐permeability induced by diabetic retinopathy in rabbits is reduced to a statistically significant level by simply repeated wearing of smart far red/NIR LED contact lens for 8 weeks with 120 µW light irradiation for 15 min thrice a week. Histological analysis exhibits the safety and feasibility of LED contact lenses for treating diabetic retinopathy. This platform technology for smart LED contact lens would be harnessed for various biomedical photonic applications.

Wearable and implantable bioelectronics as eco‐friendly and patient‐friendly integrated nanoarchitectonics for next‐generation smart healthcare technology

“…(G) Reproduced with permission: 2022, American Chemical Society 183 . (H) Reproduced with permission: 2022, John Wiley and Sons 227 . (I) Reproduced with permission: 2021, American Association for the Advancement of Science 228 .…”

Safe, Durable, and Sustainable Self-Powered Smart Contact Lenses

“…44 Therefore, a future work should aim at utilizing previous methods and materials, such as the soft and flexible PC arrays based on hydrogels, 45 flexible and transparent electrodes based on nanomaterials, 46 and the MEMS process enabling the topographic patterning on curved surfaces, 47 that is, lens fabrication molds. Power-generating and glucose-sensing smart contact lenses comprised only of hydrophilic polymers and nanomaterials would enhance the practical usability of smart contact lenses through an elimination of silicon chips, such as rectifiers, transistors, or light-emitting devices, 16,17,48 which are too rigid and brittle to be bent during the routine use of lenses.…”

“…The criteria for suitable power sources are (1) a small and bendable form factor, considering bending occurs frequently during the removal of lenses, (2) sustainable power generation, and (3) safety. Several prototypes of power sources for smart contact lenses have been created in the form of glucose fuel cells, ,− rechargeable batteries, , wireless power transfer systems, − and combinations thereof. , For example, smart contact lenses integrated with wireless power transfer systems can operate single-pixel light-emitting diodes , or release loaded drugs via electromelting of gold membranes . However, using wireless power transfer systems can cause safety issues, such as continuous radiation absorption and heat generation.…”

Emerging Optoelectronic Devices Based on Microscale LEDs and Their Use as Implantable Biomedical Applications

“…Furthermore, the mechanical reliability is confirmed by periodic bending and unbending up to 10,000 times, and the maximum skin temperature is maintained below 40 °C without causing thermal damage to the skin when the radiative density of the LED is set to 1−5 mW mm −2 . Figure 3 c illustrates a non-invasive smart wireless luminescent contact lens with a microscale LED emitting far-red/near-infrared light (630–1000 nm) to perform recurrent photon treatment for diabetic retinopathy [ 84 ]. The smart contact lens combines LEDs with integrated circuit chips, wireless power, and communication systems on a PET film thermally cross-linked with a silicone elastomer.…”