Smart contact lens and transparent heat patch for remote monitoring and therapy of chronic ocular surface inflammation using mobiles

Abstract

Wearable electronic devices that can monitor physiological signals of the human body to provide biomedical information have been drawing extensive interests for sustainable personal health management. Here, we report a human pilot trial of a soft, smart contact lens and a skin-attachable therapeutic device for wireless monitoring and therapy of chronic ocular surface inflammation (OSI). As a diagnostic device, this smart contact lens enables real-time measurement of the concentration of matrix metalloproteinase-9, a biomarker for OSI, in tears using a graphene field-effect transistor. As a therapeutic device, we also fabricated a stretchable and transparent heat patch attachable on the human eyelid conformably. Both diagnostic and therapeutic devices can be incorporated using a smartphone for their wireless communications, thereby achieving instantaneous diagnosis of OSI and automated hyperthermia treatments. Furthermore, in vivo tests using live animals and human subjects confirm their good biocompatibility and reliability as a noninvasive, mobile health care solution.