WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY
“A SMART LENS CAMERA COULD ENHANCE VISUAL INPUT IN PEOPLE WITH VISION PROBLEMS, FOR EXAMPLE, GIVING BLIND AND PARTIALLY- SIGHTED PEOPLE WARNING OF AN APPROACHING CAR.”
Going beyond
Novartis believes that miniaturised contact lens technology could have other medical applications. “T is is a key step for us to go beyond the confi nes of
traditional disease
management, starting with the eye,” chief executive Joseph Jimenez said in a statement.
Since tears also contain a chemical called lacryglobin, which acts as a biomarker for breast, colon, lung, prostate, and ovarian cancers, the technology could also be useful for monitoring cancer patients in remission.
Big corporations are not the only ones to see the potential of the eye in medical diagnostics. ETH Zurich is a Swiss university that routinely patents and seeks collaboration with business partners to commercially exploit research results.
that could potentially detect phenomena such as eyelid movement, blinking, pollution and allergen levels, presence of tears and eye pressure (including changes associated with emotional states), and allow for the possibility of multiple processing chips or devices.
In April this year, Google was granted a separate patent
for “microelectrodes in an ophthalmic
electrochemical sensor”, including a reader, antennae and processing system, with the capacity to receive power and transmit results wirelessly. T e patent notes that human tear fl uid contains a variety of inorganic electrolytes, organic solutes, proteins and lipids, and that measuring one or more of these components “provides a convenient non-invasive platform to diagnose or monitor health-related problems”.
T e patent protects a glucose-sensing contact lens that could be used by diabetic patients to
20 Life Sciences Intellectual Property Review
monitor and control blood glucose levels, as just one example. Such a device would enable glucose monitoring
without the traditional invasive
fi nger-prick testing, and could transmit data wirelessly to send alerts about fl uctuating levels to the wearer, perhaps to a smartphone.
In July, Google announced a partnership with Alcon, the eyecare division of pharmaceutical company Novartis, under which Alcon will license the smart lens technology from Google for “all ocular medical uses”. Google X and Alcon will collaborate to develop both the glucose-monitoring lens and an application to correct presbyopia— reduced focus for nearby objects with age.
Lenses that could autofocus on an object under gaze, rather like a digital camera autofocus function, would avoid the need for reading glasses in older people.
Volume 2, Issue 1
Scientists at ETH have developed ultra-thin, fl exible and transparent electronic components that could be used in biological sensors, wearable or implantable devices. One such is a thin-fi lm transistor formed with an ultra-thin membrane that has potential applications for smart contact lenses to measure intraocular pressure, a key risk factor in the development of glaucoma.
University research played a role in Google’s smart lens, which originates from the University of Washington in Seattle, where Parviz and Otis worked before
joining Google. T e original
research was fi nanced by the National Science Foundation (NSF) with support from Microsoſt .
Google has stated that it wants to work with other companies to develop apps such as measuring and transmission components. It hopes to commercialise the smart lens within fi ve years, and is in discussions with the US Food and Drug Administration about bringing the smart lens to market.
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