by Joel Harrison
17. April 2011 10:22
Contact lenses able to measure intraocular pressure have been in development for quite some time. During the Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology (APAO) Congress in Sydney, Dr Kaweh Mansouri, working at the Hamilton Glaucoma Center of the University of California, presented the latest information about such lenses.
Thanks to platinum and titanium sensors embedded in the lenses, Dr Mansouri managed to discover changes in intraocular pressure occurring during the night, which are usually undetected when patients undergo glaucoma examinations. The lenses, the researcher explained, measure fluctuations on the basis of changes in the curvature of the cornea, information about which is subsequently transmitted to a special device. All the data are then uploaded to a computer and analysed by a physician.
The new lens has already allowed researchers to make a significant discovery, namely that IOP tends to peak when patients are asleep. This may lead to considerable changes in the way glaucoma is treated and enable ophthalmologists to prevent permanent vision loss that the disease, if unsuccessfully treated, results in.
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