Contact Lens-Based Intraocular Pressure Sensor

Abstract

The intraocular pressure (IOP) is the principal indicator for diagnosis of glaucoma which is one of the leading causes of blindness. The IOP can vary throughout the day, and traditional methods of measuring it in a clinical setting only provide a fraction of the patient’s IOP pattern. This article presents a cost-effective way for continuous monitoring of IOP by utilizing a soft contact lens with strategically placed holes. The deformation of these holes due to the change in IOP can be used to detect the pressure variations throughout the day. Extensive COMSOL Multiphysics simulations are conducted to optimize the design and to test the viability of this method. The optimized lens design can achieve a large deformation ratio sensitivity of 0.39 per mmHg with an applied pressure range of 10 mmHg to 40 mmHg.

Keywords

• intraocular pressure
• contact lens
• glaucoma
• COMSOL Multiphysics