Glaucoma comes from a lesion of the optic nerve linked to an increase in the internal pressure of the eye. But there is no clear symptom, no particular pain, and once the effect of the disease appears, a decrease in the visual field, it is too late. It is therefore necessary to be able to monitor the internal pressure of the eye, which means having examinations with a doctor regularly, which requires time and organization.
>> Glaucoma, leading cause of blindness
It is possible to examine yourself at home, but with instruments that are not always pleasant to use. In both cases, the techniques do not make it possible to monitor the pressure during sleep, but this pressure is the highest when we lie down.
These are commercial soft lenses but modified with the addition of a miniature tonometer, the device that measures intraocular pressure. They are called SSCL, for “smart soft contact lenses”, these flexible and intelligent contact lenses can be worn during the night. The collected data is transmitted to a receiver on a pair of glasses during the day and in a sleep mask at night. Physicians can then access this data. The tonometer can even trigger an alert if the intraocular pressure increases too much.
The research team from Purdue University in Indiana in the United States, between Indianapolis and Chicago, is led by Chi Hwan Lee, a professor of biomedical engineering. He specialized in what he calls the “Sticktronics”in reference to a “sticker”, a sticker in French, which would contain this intelligent technology, which makes it possible to monitor chronic diseases, and the state of health in general without bothering the patient too much with larger objects.
The lens has been tested on rabbits, dogs and obviously humans to verify its prediction and comfort level, the team explains in an article in the scientific journal Nature.