All You Should Know About Smart Lenses
It is undeniable that modern technology has caused a change in many areas of life, particularly in medicine. Every year is an opportunity for the world to witness an incredible innovation that will improve life in different ways, by providing solutions to many of the problems that exist.
When it comes to eye care, the typical contact lenses are not all there is in modern eye medicine. Instead, the concept of smart contact lenses has gotten many people talking about the endless possibilities of improved eye care service provision.
What Are Smart Contact Lenses?
Smart lenses are like smartphones for the eyes. This new technology is built on the notion that visual impairment can be corrected by integrating computing and imaging power through smart lenses.
Ideally, a contact lens is a transparent disc of plastic and silicone that is placed directly to the eye to help improve vision. Smart lenses are only an improvement to the typical contact lenses, where technology is integrated to help with the treatment and monitoring process of your eyes.
How Do Smart Lenses Work?
The idea behind this technology is that one can follow and track the health of their eyes at any given point. The fluids flowing in your eyes can be used by your optometrist to offer personalized treatments as well as to track the well-being of your eyes.
With the right kind of sensors, these contact lenses can offer treatment for different types of eye problems. The fluids in the eyes contain all the valuable biomarkers that are necessary to diagnose different eye problems like dry eye syndrome and allergies.
How Can the Lenses Be Used?
Given as this is a developing technology, there are endless possibilities as to what smart lenses can achieve in eye care in the years to come. Although several of the different types of smart lenses are yet to be approved for consumer use, here are some potential ways the lenses can be used in optometry:
- Treating allergies – the lenses can administer antihistamines for patients who suffer from allergies. Technically, the lenses can be preloaded with medicine that will continually release the medication to help alleviate the allergic responses thereof.
- Magnification feature – these smart lenses can be referred to as augmented reality lenses. They are designed to magnify images for patients whose vision impairment has to do with low vision.
- Detection and diagnosis of the damaged retina – optometrists can rely on smart lenses to detect any damage to the retina of your eye.
- Blood sugar monitoring – the concept of tracking the glucose levels in your system is a great addition to the field of medicine. Smart lenses can monitor the blood sugar levels in your system and alert you when your blood sugar is concerning.
- Combating eye fatigue – this is usually experienced during digital device usage. The lenses are designed to help your eyes navigate the different scopes of digital and offline activities. In addition, they help to keep your eyes moist to avoid dry eye and fatigue thereof.
Should You Try Smart Lenses?
When you have an underlying eye problem, the right course of action is to rely on the recommendations of your optometrist on the treatment plans. As years go by, you can expect more developments propelled by modern technology. While many of them are yet to be patented and approved for consumer use, you can be assured that the future is not dull in the field of medicine.
For eye care in Vaughan and Toronto, ON, visit the offices of Dr. Allyson Tang.