„A silent killer” – glaucoma and a new way of detecting this insidious chronic eye
disease, that can be achieved by “smart” contact lenses for pressure
monitoring. Keep your eyes open – the time, when intelligent lenses are in the
way of sharing their best practices is around the corner.
THE GIFT OF SIGHT
Who can be called “a silent killer” besides hypertension? The answer is glaucoma.
Glaucoma is a group of chronic eye diseases, which have a common effect – increased intraocular pressure.
Keep your eyes open, we are getting close to the main part. Or have you completely lost the habit of focusing on anything else except pictures? Well, this is a common problem nowadays. I fell asleep yesterday while going over “Moby-Dick; or, The Whale” on the phone.
The trickery of glaucoma is its modesty: it does not declare itself for quite a long time. We can discover the presence of glaucoma by measuring the intraocular pressure.
Researchers from Columbia University Medical Center have developed “smart” contact lenses for pressure monitoring. The lens’ sensor detects changes in electrical signals that arise due to cornea tension fluctuations occurring under the influence of the eye pulse.
Do not waste your time rereading this, you will not get it, neither will I. The main message is, that this method is similar to an electrocardiogram: the profile of signals from the smart lens indirectly shows eye pressure changes over time. This information can be connected to any computer in order to export data.
The introduction of smart lenses makes it possible to effectively cure insidious glaucoma and allows identifying it better.
The time, when intelligent lenses will learn to go online and communicate with other intelligent lenses in order to share their best practices, is around the corner.
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51-year-old Jamie Carley, a resident of Denver, was blind for a half of her life. The reason behind it was pigmented retinitis. After a 5-hour operation she was implanted with a bionic eye, and she recovered her sight. She can see the light, shadows and outlines of objects. And with an ongoing adaptation process she will see even more.
Let me raise this glass for the gift of sight!
LASIK, CATARACT, GLAUCOMA: Take advantage of the latest technology and one of the best teams in LA Benjamin Eye Institute310-494-7193
Text and photos: S. Varo
