Contact Lenses

For younger readers with perfect eyesight, here’s something you might not know – glasses and contact lenses don’t do anything to cure nearsightedness, they only help compensate for it. In fact, the wearer’s vision often continues to deteriorate as they age. Now, however, a team of scientists have developed special contact lenses that they claim can halt the condition if it’s caught in childhood.  Read More

The iOptik display system, consisting of modified contact lenses and glasses, promises to revolutionize head-mounted display-based augmented reality by allowing the wearer to focus on two planes at the same time. Innovega, the company behind the project, developed their ultra-small form-factor head-up display (HUD) setup in frames of DARPA’s Soldier Centric Imaging via Computational Cameras (SCENICC) program, and has now signed a contract with the agency to deliver a prototype.  Read More

We've heard of experimental contact lenses that can non-invasively monitor the blood sugar levels of diabetes sufferers before, but where prior research relied on chemical reactions inducing color-change in the lens, new joint research by the University of Washington and Microsoft Research aims to incorporate electronics into such lenses to report blood sugar levels wirelessly. Gizmag spoke to Desney Tan, Senior Researcher at Microsoft Research Connections, to find out what sets this work apart.  Read More

Fans of the original film in the Terminator franchise will recall how various bits of data were shown to be overlaid on the cyborg's vision - in particular, they might remember the list of possible responses that could be used when someone was angrily knocking on its door (for those who don't remember, its chosen response wasn't very polite). Such augmented vision systems are now a little closer to reality, thanks to work being done by a team of scientists at the University of Washington and Aalto University, in Finland. They have created a contact lens that displays information, which is visible to the wearer.  Read More

We've had our eyes on contact lenses which aim to deliver medicine for several years. Now, a team of biomedical and chemical engineers from Alabama's Auburn University (AU) claims to have designed the first disposable lenses capable of delivering controlled doses of medication for as long as they're being worn.  Read More

If you suffer from hyperopia, more commonly known as farsightedness or longsightedness, you may be interested to know that the world's first contact lens to correct the condition has been developed. The correction, however, is temporary – a custom-made lens is worn overnight to reshape the cornea, and when the patient wakes up and removes the lens they have perfect vision for the day.  Read More

If you’re one of the hundreds of thousands of people who spend many hours a day in front of computer or TV monitor you could be suffering from a complaint commonly referred to as eye fatigue. And while you might think your sight is deteriorating and you’re losing your 20/20 vision, it could be that your eyes are just plain tired. Eyewear specialist Gunnar Optiks has a range of glasses with special lenses that are designed to relax your eyes and help avoid tiredness, sore eyes and even headaches associated with gazing at screens all day.  Read More

We have seen some interesting and innovative medical uses for contact lenses recently, including dispensing drugs and even stem cells to help restore sight. The latest medical breakthrough - contact lenses that change color when glucose levels vary – could signal the end of the sometimes painful and inconvenient process of drawing and monitoring blood throughout the day... a welcome relief for most diabetes sufferers.  Read More

The humble contact lens has long been used to improve people’s vision, but now researchers have restored sight in patients suffering corneal damage using a technique where contact lenses are cultured with stem cells. Fast, cheap and non-invasive, the groundbreaking technique even has the potential for regrowing skin and other organs.  Read More