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IOP-monitoring contact lens shows promise in porcine eye study
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A contact lens developed to monitor IOP in glaucoma patients has shown promise in an animal eye study.
Matteo Leonardi, MD, of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland, and other Swiss researchers monitored IOP in pig eyes through the use of a prototype of the sensing contact lens.
In the study, a soft contact lens was placed on enucleated pig eyes. Pressure variations were induced in the eyes using an external pump. A strain gauge embedded in the lens material measured changes in corneal curvature as the eyes responded to pressure variations from the pump. Measurements from the sensing contact lens were compared to measurements from a pressure sensor connected to the pump.
A “very good correlation” was noted between measurements made using the sensory contact lens and those made using the pressure sensor, according to the study. The sensory contact lens showed “potential for continuously monitoring IOP in enucleated porcine eyes.” the study authors said.
If further testing shows efficacy in humans, the sensing contact lens would allow minimally invasive IOP monitoring of diurnal curves, “opening up new diagnostic and therapeutic methods for the management of glaucoma,” they said.
The study is published in Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science.