Contact lenses that change color, medical utility beyond aesthetics
Contact lenses that change color, medical utility beyond aesthetics
Contact lenses that change color, medical utility beyond aesthetics
In spite of all the good that they can do, eye drops, and also eye ointments, have a great disadvantage: it is difficult to see how much medication the eye actually achieves. Now scientists have developed contact lenses that change color as drugs are released. This visual indicator could help ophthalmologists and patients to easily determine if these medications get where they should go.
The anatomy of the eye and its operation are very good to prevent the entry of foreign particles to the eye. When something enters the eye or is very close to it, the reaction of the blinking is common and then tears begin to flow. All this is part of a mechanism promoted by evolution, thanks to which the risk of suffering infections or other damages due to foreign objects that come into contact with the eye is greatly reduced. These reactions are usually useful, but can hinder the assimilation of much-needed medications. According to the findings of some studies, less than 5 percent of the drugs in eye drops and ointments become absorbed, and much of the absorbed medication ends up in the bloodstream instead of in the eye, causing side effects.
Specially designed contact lenses could be a more effective way to deliver drugs directly to the eye, but real-time monitoring of the release of these has been a difficult challenge.
Contact lenses that are of a distinctly different color after releasing drugs in the eye may help health workers and patients determine if a medication is reaching the targeted eye. (Photo: American Chemical Society)
Dawei Deng, of China Pharmaceutical University, Zhouying Xie, of the University of Southeast, both institutions in the Chinese city of Nanjing, and his collaborators set out to create contact lenses to supply drugs that change color as they are released the medication in the eye.
The team made special contact lenses, using a technique that creates molecular cavities in a polymer structure that adapts to the size and shape of specific molecules, such as for example a certain drug.
In laboratory experiments, these contact lenses were loaded with timolol, a drug used to treat glaucoma. Afterwards, the team exposed the lenses to a solution of artificial tears, which was used to emulate the existing medium in a real human eye. As the drug was released from contact lenses, the architecture of the molecules near it changed, which also changed the color of the iris area of the lenses.
The researchers could see this change with the naked eye and with a fiber optic spectrometer.
In the change of color of these lenses no dye intervenes, thus reducing the incidence of possible side effects.
The conclusion reached by the team is that these new lenses could control and signal the gradual release of many ophthalmological drugs.
.
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',
'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js');
fbq('init', '369524843414444');
fbq('track', 'PageView');
.
SOURCE LINK ERESVIRAL.COM https://www.beviral.online
![[Img #53283]](http://i0.wp.com/www.eresviral.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Lentes-de-contacto-que-van-cambiando-de-color-utilidad-médica-más-allá-de-la-estética.jpg?w=1200&ssl=1)
Comentarios
Publicar un comentario