Out with the old and in with the new: UV ray-sensitive contact lens
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If you thought wearing UV glasses was the only way to protect your eyes from the sun's rays, you'd be wrong. There is an upgrade in place and it involves contact lens.
After many years of trial-and-error, researchers at Singapore's Institute for Bionengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) have successfully transfered transition lens technology to contact lens. The photochromic contact lens darken in response to ultraviolet light.
Created by Jackie Ying, director of the IBN, this new form of technology is a trendy alternative to glasses. These contacts consist of microscopic spongy material -- a component of water, a common contact lens oil solution and a special surfactant, which encourages the mix of water and oil solutions. The UV-sensitive dye needed to change the shade of the contact lens, is inserted into the nano-sized pores on the lens.
Although lens are often more practical than glasses, fashion-wise, these are also more practical scientifically. Being able to include more dye into the contacts heightens the level of sensitivity to UV rays, thus responding quicker than glasses.
This new research achievement is the stepping stone for IBN on finding new methods of releasing drugs into the body and diagnosing illness, all via the use of contact lens.
http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/23922/
After many years of trial-and-error, researchers at Singapore's Institute for Bionengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) have successfully transfered transition lens technology to contact lens. The photochromic contact lens darken in response to ultraviolet light.
Created by Jackie Ying, director of the IBN, this new form of technology is a trendy alternative to glasses. These contacts consist of microscopic spongy material -- a component of water, a common contact lens oil solution and a special surfactant, which encourages the mix of water and oil solutions. The UV-sensitive dye needed to change the shade of the contact lens, is inserted into the nano-sized pores on the lens.
Although lens are often more practical than glasses, fashion-wise, these are also more practical scientifically. Being able to include more dye into the contacts heightens the level of sensitivity to UV rays, thus responding quicker than glasses.
This new research achievement is the stepping stone for IBN on finding new methods of releasing drugs into the body and diagnosing illness, all via the use of contact lens.
http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/23922/
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