Smart Contact Lens for Colorimetric Visualization of Glucose Levels in the Body Fluid

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Materials Science
• Analytical Chemistry

Background:

• Frequent blood glucose monitoring is essential for diabetes management.
• Invasive monitoring methods cause pain, discomfort, and infection risks.
• Existing noninvasive techniques are often costly and limited in market availability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a low-cost, accessible, and noninvasive contact lens-based glucose monitoring system.
• To functionalize contact lenses for glucose detection in body fluids.
• To evaluate the system's performance, biocompatibility, and potential as a diagnostic tool.

Main Methods:

• Functionalizing contact lenses with boronic acid via a poly(tannic acid) coating.
• Utilizing the glucose-binding affinity of boronic acid for detection in tear fluid.
• Quantifying glucose levels using a colorimetric assay and smartphone analysis.
• Assessing transparency, oxygen permeability, and biocompatibility of the functionalized lenses.

Main Results:

• The functionalized contact lens demonstrated reversible glucose binding.
• Transparency and oxygen permeability crucial for contact lens function were maintained.
• The system showed high biocompatibility.
• Colorimetric analysis via smartphone application provided glucose level data.

Conclusions:

• The developed contact lens system is a promising, low-cost, noninvasive tool for glucose monitoring.
• This technology has high potential for managing and diagnosing diabetes.
• Further development could lead to a widely accessible smart diagnostic device.