Contact Lens-Eyeglass Combination for Low Vision and Macular Degeneration

A prototype contact lens uses a ring of miniscule aluminum mirrors to generate magnification when appropriately stimulated by polarized light.

It is still in the prototype stage and has not been tested in humans.

Reflective telescope design

Winked control glasses

The technology is designed to allow a patient to switch between a normal vision or magnified vision (2.8X) when combined with a pair of specialized glasses.  The smart glasses have a small light source and detect reflected light from the contact lens allowing them to recognize winks and ignore blinks.  The glasses can electronically select one type of polarization of light to reach the contact lens for normal vision and another for magnification.  For example, the patient can wink their right eye for magnification and the left eye for normal vision allowing for magnification on demand.

Winking one eye interferes with the light being reflected from the contact to the glasses activating the polarized filter to guide light toward the telescopic part of the contact lens.

Battery-powered LCD glasses monitor eye movements to activate the filters.

The contact lenses are large in size and cover the sclera (the white part of the eye).   They are made of a rigid material.

The patient can switch between a normal view (allowing for both central and peripheral vision) or a magnified view (allowing for central vision only).

Polarizing thin films and biologically safe glues.

Currently, the contacts are large in size and 0.1 mm wide air channels within the lenses are used to improve oxygen flow.

This device is still in the research stage (Switzerland).

Please contact our office to try spectacle mounted miniature telescopes or other currently available technology while we await further developments on these interesting contact lenses.