Telescopic contact lens could help AMD patients

Photo courtesy of EPFLSan Jose, CA-A new telescopic contact lens may help patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to researchers from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland.

The device incorporates a thin, reflective telescope inside of a 1.55 mm-thick scleral contact lens. Small mirrors within the device bounce light around to expand the perceived size of objects and magnify the view, similar to that of low-magnification binoculars.

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Researchers spent several years making the lens more breathable. The lens is made from several precision-cut, carefully assembled pieces of plastics, aluminum mirrors, and polarizing thin films, along with biologically safe glues. In order to allow oxygen to flow around and underneath the lens, researchers incorporated air channels 0.1 mm wide within the lens.

“We think these lenses hold a lot of promise for low vision and age-related macular degeneration (AMD),” says Eric Tremblay, PhD, an EPFL researcher. “It’s very important and hard to strike a balance between function and the social costs of wearing any kind of bulky visual device.

There is a strong need for something more integrated, and a contact lens is an attractive direction. At this point this is still research, but we are hopeful it will eventually become a real option for people with AMD.”

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