A contact lens designed by a group of researchers from the University of Ghent and the Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (imec) in Leuven may prove to be useful to some migraine sufferers when it comes to managing their migraines.
Primarily made to help people who have damaged or lost their iris, this electronic contact lens is based on a series of concentric rings built on an LCD and run on ultra-low power so it can operate all day. The lens opens and closes its aperture to control the amount of light reaching the eye’s retina.
It is thought that it will be of help to those who have conditions such as aniridia (the absence of an iris), keratoconus (a thinning of the cornea which encases the eyeball), and those who suffer from light sensitivity – such as some chronic migraine sufferers.
The project’s lead researcher, Professor Andrés Vásquez Quintero, explained that; “Our smart contact lens can control the level of incoming light mimicking a human iris and offering a potential solution to vision correction […] This way, our approach can surpass current solutions to combat human eye iris deficiencies. Its beneficial optical effects will be further clinically validated and developed into a medical device.”
When the finished lens is ready, the researchers predict that it may be of benefit to around 20 million people worldwide – some of them migraine sufferers.
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