Artificial Iris Inside Smart Contacts Corrects Vision Disorders
Artificial Iris Inside Smart Contacts Corrects Vision Disorders

The pupil of the eye allows light to reach the retina, and a number of vision disorders are related to irregularities in the iris that surrounds the pupil. People with aniridia, for example, have some or all of the iris missing, exhibiting a large pupil that results in unfocused vision.

Now, a collaboration between Imec, a Belgian research institution, Ghent University, Spain’s Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Fundación Jiménez Díaz, and Holst Centre in The Netherlands, has led to the development of an artificial iris integrated inside a contact lens that can automatically set the proper pupil size to achieve optimal focus and depth of field.

The artificial iris sports a liquid crystal display (LCD) that’s composed of concentric circles that can be made transparent or opaque, depending on the desired pupil size. It’s a very low power prototype, allowing it to work for an entire day on a tiny battery.

“By combining our expertise on miniaturized flexible electronics, low-power ASIC design and hybrid integration, we have demonstrated the capacity to develop a solution for people who suffer from iris deficiencies, higher order aberrations and photophobia, a common yet debilitating symptom seen in many neuro-ophthalmic disorders,” said Andrés Vásquez Quintero from imec/UGent, in an announcement. Read more…

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