Scientists have designed and tested a pressure-sensing contact lens that will, in the future, allow glaucoma patients to monitor their eye pressure at home, providing more detailed and continuous information in order to improve management of the disease. The sensors in the "smart" lenses work similarly to those in bank ATM screens or iPhones, converting pressure into an electronic signal that can be wirelessly transmitted to a computer. Plans are for the lenses to eventually dispense medication in response to a detected need. The "smart" contacts will not, however, replace visits to an eye doctor's office where those at risk for glaucoma or undergoing treatment must still have the optic nerve examined for signs of disease progression.
Meet the RPB-supported researcher.
March 11, 2009
RPB grantees provide expert advice on glaucoma in the first event of the "Lunch & Learn" series.
The RPB-supported researchers hope their finding will lead to tests to identify cell damage before irreversible vision loss.
Dr. David Beebe's studies of the vitreous body - the gel that fills the eye - are aimed at identifying the mechanism responsible for age-related nuclear cataracts and open angle glaucoma.
Compared to earlier generations, today's generation has a 50% reduced probability of losing sight to glaucoma 20 years after a diagnosis, according to research supported by RPB.Read the story.Read the...
Routine screening of older African Americans for glaucoma -- a high-risk group -- would significantly reduce the incidence of blindness at relatively low cost, RPB researchers report in a recently published...
According to an RPB-supported study, people who have had a thyroid condition at some point in their life are at an increased risk of developing glaucoma. The link between glaucoma and thyroid disorders may be due to...
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