And yet more technological progress in the realm of contact lenses has been announced this week, with the announcement hat Auburn University has developed some special contact lenses that can be used to gradually dispense medicine into the eye.
The Auburn University team of chemical and biomedical engineers led by Mark Byrne, the Daniel F. and Josephine Breeden associate professor in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, has developed these new types of lenses which will slowly and continuously deliver eye medication all the time the lenses are being worn.
Correct Vision and Deliver Medication Simultaneously
What’s more, as well as delivering the medication in a constant flow, the lenses can still be used to correct vision if necessary, or they even come in neutral lenses that won’t interfere with a patient’s natural vision. It is envisaged that these lenses will be used to deliver anti-biotics, anti-inflammatories or anti-allergy medication directly to the eye.
These new ‘smart’ lenses come in two varieties: Daily Wear lenses that can be worn for 24 hours continuously or continuous wear lenses that can be worn for up to 30 days. All the time the lenses are worn, they are continuously delivering small, measured doses of the medication. This is a definite improvement on eye drops which normally are washed away by teas within 30 minutes of being inserted into the eyes.
Speaking of his new lenses, Byrne said; “Eye drops and ointments make up more than 90 percent market share, but are an inefficient, inconvenient method. Our lenses offer the increased efficacy and efficiency of drug delivery, which translates to better eye health.”
He continued: “Unlike other contact lens technologies, we make our lenses. These aren’t contacts soaked in a medication that only release for a very short time. We are administering a drug through controlled release by creating drug memory in the lens structure while maintaining all of the other lens properties.”
It sounds like a winner to me, but what do you think about it?
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