InWith: Smart contact lenses will monitor people’s health
With InWith technology, Augmented Reality can work with contact lenses that already 150 million people use every day. It is the result of a combination of biocompatible materials and microelectronics inside hydrogel devices.
The technology of InWith Corporation seems very futuristic; it is certainly fascinating. Their contact lenses, like Google Glass connect to the smartphone, perform a series of tasks to protect the health of the user, and recharge through the blink of the eye. They can measure the level of glucose (sugar) in the blood and send alerts and notifications to the smartphone. InWith is awaiting the approval of the Institutional Review Board to start production of the prototypes.
It is a combination of highly biocompatible materials and flexible microelectronics inside a hydrogel envelope, which InWith defines as ” intelligent biology. ” According to the company, it is not completely futuristic, which hopes to be able to put its technology on the market in the ” near future, “also thanks to the collaboration with some leading companies in the sector.
” This opens the door to hundreds of new devices: for investigating blood chemistry for detecting cancer and viruses, delivering drugs and even managing electronic oregano that is used to move, ” said Michael Hayes, CEO and co-founder of InWith in an interview with Forbes. “ We are talking about the next big event in the world of technology; that is, the fusion of the mobile device into the human body for complete health monitoring. It will lead to fewer diseases and lengthen a life span. ”
Hayes developed this technology together with Doctor David Markus, who took care of the parts related to microelectronics and eye care. The project started many years ago, and already in 2013, the Hayes team filed a patent regarding the charging of the device by blinking. It is a MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) type mechanism, i.e., in a highly miniaturized form, capable of generating energy by exploiting the movement of the eyes and the blink of the eyelashes.
Other patents relating to the ophthalmic sphere concern the production component of the electrical circuitry to be introduced in the small hydrogel spheres and the smart case for charging the lenses when not in use. InWith is now working on other patents.
InWith’s five-person team worked alongside a much larger team of scientists to develop smart contact lenses. And it has been collaborating for several years with Bausch & Lomb, an American manufacturer of contact lenses and other products relating to vision and eyes, as well as electro-medical devices for ophthalmologists.
” An era is coming when people’s health will be constantly monitored thanks to biocompatibility and electronics, ” said Hayes. ” One day, we will be able to detect viruses and tumors in advance and send a notification on the smartphone. ” Hayes adds that smart contact lenses will cost just like ordinary contact lenses.
According to InWith, and Bausch & Lomb, a leading company in a market worth $18 billion, the future will be increasingly marked by the insertion of technology into the human body. Who knows if such a system could have stopped the ongoing Coronavirus epidemic before it began to spread in such important measures.
