Get a quick download on the bleeding-edge tech initiatives in this promising future-focused category, which could one day be a revenue stream for ECPs

got smart? For your business, selling smart contacts is probably a way off, but there is no doubt that, today, the intelligent, sensing contact lens is definitely a hot topic.

Patents have been filed for a variety of applications, and makers are setting their sights on everything from autofocus lenses and contacts for monitoring glucose to designs that augment vision with digital overlay. Still, most smart contact lens projects are a few years from launch. And, some developers have found the road to release a bumpy one.

Here’s a look at some key smart contact lens projects currently underway, plus a projection for how eyecare professionals may well one day benefit from this unique category of products.

MEDICAL APPLICATIONS

Glucose Monitoring. Novartis and Google joined hands in 2014 to develop two kinds of smart contact lenses: an autofocusing lens for presbyopes, and another for measuring blood glucose levels in diabetics. They’re being developed at Verily, Alphabet Inc.’s research organization devoted to the study of life sciences (which was previously Google Life Sciences, a division of Google X).

The blood sugar lens, like other similarly directed projects, has faced roadblocks, especially in measuring glucose levels with tears. According to a Novartis spokesperson, “This is a very technically complex process and both sides are learning as we go along.”

Tech watchers are also keeping a close eye on Medella Health, a Canadian startup that is entering the same space, but with a different approach. Some reports suggest it may start clinical trials before Google.

Glaucoma to Allergies. At the same time, there are already patents filed for other medical uses for smart contact lenses. Vistakon, for example, is looking into a lens that would release an anti-allergy medication.

And, Sensimed has already received FDA clearance for Triggerfish, a single-use silicone lens that detects fluctuations in eye volume in glaucoma patients. In addition, researchers at Columbia University are working on a smart lens that can determine if a patient’s glaucoma is progressing rapidly.

ACCOMMODATING LENSES

There’s also a lot of activity in the accommodative lens arena. Here are just two examples.

As a Johnson & Johnson Vision Care spokesperson told investors last May, “Our smart device technology platform will enable us to explore opportunities to embed sensors, microprocessors, into contact lenses—very exciting opportunities.” He added that the “first indication will be for the treatment of presbyopia.”

And, at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, a team funded by the National Institutes of Health is working on a contact lens using “tunable liquid powered by a solar cell that harvests and stores the energy within a network of nanostructures.”

AN ECP OPPORTUNITY?

From medical to military, the applications for smart contact lenses are seemingly endless.

EPGLMed is working with Apple on a new smart lens. Samsung has a South Korean patent for a contact lens and display that projects images into the eye. And University of Michigan scientists are working on a night-vision lens.

Where does optometry fit into all of this? As Christopher J. Quinn, O.D., president of the American Optometric Association, told EB, “Doctors of optometry will need to be a part of the team if smart lenses are to succeed. We need experts in fabricating contact lenses in order to make this a reality. Plus, we’ll need doctors to fit the lenses, and assess ocular health and lens performance.”

—Stephanie K. De Long