Contact Lenses Could Deliver Medications

Roland Piquepaille writes "This UPI Science News article says that eye diseases like glaucoma could one day be treated by pharmaceuticals delivered through contact lenses. "Patients might be able to one day receive prescription medications through tiny particles embedded in soft contact lenses, researchers said Sunday. They said they have developed a method to encapsulate a medication in nanoparticles, particles so tiny they are microscopic and cannot be felt or seen by the eye." However, the lenses are in the very early engineering design stages and have not been tested clinically. Check this column for more details."

Comments

Re:Well...

[Simon Field]

I could see anti-alergy medications being delivered this way, or other medications that need to be delivered into the nasal cavity via the channels that drain tears into the nose.

People currently smear petrolatum-based ointments under the eyelid to cure conjuctivitis. For people who are already comfortable with contacts, this may be preferable.

It might also be a way to get to the brain, along the optic nerve or other paths, bypassing the blood-brain barrier.

For people who live in smoggy areas, how about lenses that counteract ozone and nitrogen oxides by dispensing a buffering solution? Or is that as bad as politicians who suggest solving the problem of ozone holes by issuing everybody hats?

I question advisability of this dispersal method

[SolemnDragon]

A great may people who are going to be using these, it would appear, fall int o the high risk i'm-getting-glaucoma-and-fail-to-use-my-eyedrops category. They may need it. But i agree that this poses serious eye risks if they're convincing people who ALREADY have eye trauma to use contacts that they are to keep in for weeks at a time.

I can see several other potential trouble areas here, beyond either the medicine wearing off in the wash, and the toxins building up behind the lens. Many people who have sensitive eyes may actually be sensitive to the compounds being used to hold the medicine- and many people who have unmapped lesions may find that this presents real risk. Obviously, this is going to take some screening procedures.

I can also see where this is going to be an issue for people who try to 'stretch' their incomes by wearing contacts too long. I've seen a couple of cases in the community around me where aging folks on limited income and limited insurance try to do stupid things, and medicated contacts just seem like a dangerous idea for people who don't realise that these need to be clean and carefully used...

On the other hand, these are also people who couldn't use eyedrops. Is anybody supervising these people? Who lets them out at recess?

and now for the other side of this: has anybody noticed that eye doctors are the anti-mum? Mum spends half your childhood trying to get you to not stick things in your eyes. You go to the eye doctor, and they right away say, here, let me show you how to stick these things in your eye...