Scientists have created an ultra-thin battery for smart contact lenses that’s charged by our personal tears. The battery is wafer-thin at 0.2mm, roughly twice the thickness of a human hair, and it matches comfortably inside the usual contact lens thickness of 0.5mm.
Lee Seok Woo, a scientist, shared {that a} “Mission Impossible” film scene sparked the concept for his invention—batteries for sensible contact lenses. Within the film’s fourth installment, an agent makes use of contact lenses which have capabilities equivalent to facial recognition and eye monitoring. Impressed by this, Lee aimed to show this fictional know-how into actuality.
Researchers in Singapore have developed an ultra-thin battery that may be embedded onto your contact lenses.
The battery, which can even be powered by your tears, has made “Mission Unimaginable”-style sensible contact lenses one step nearer to actuality. pic.twitter.com/wlp45fwtLK
— CNBC Worldwide (@CNBCi) June 6, 2024
Reflecting on his motivations, Lee, an affiliate professor at Nanyang Technological College’s College of Electrical and Digital Engineering, advised CNBC’s “The Edge,” “I used to be pondering, ‘How can I work on this subject of sensible contact lenses?’”
His background in battery parts acquired him into wearable know-how. Lee acknowledged that sensible contact lenses would require protected and compact batteries, that are important for the longer term improvement of those gadgets.
How can the battery of sensible contact lenses be charged by tears?
The battery is powered by a “biocompatible saline resolution” as a substitute of a typical lithium-ion battery utilized in smartphones and smartwatches, which might not be protected for a product equivalent to a contact lens.
This battery has a standard wired charging methodology, in addition to a chemical course of. It features a glucose coating and, after being dipped in saline, reacts with the sodium and chloride ions to generate energy.
Chemically charging the battery for eight hours permits it to maintain 80 % of its most capability, after which it will possibly operate for a number of hours. As well as, another and distinctive energy supply is obtainable.
“Tear resolution additionally accommodates glucose. Which means, whilst you’re carrying the contact lens, your tears also can cost the battery,” defined Lee. “For those who cry extra, then you may cost your battery extra.”
At current, the battery’s capability and voltage are comparatively low, producing solely about 0.3V – 0.6V, whereas an ordinary AA battery delivers 1.5V.
The present output just isn’t sufficient to allow knowledge storage or web connectivity, however efforts are underway to enhance the battery’s efficiency.
Lee sees potential purposes within the healthcare sector. “We use glucose as a biofuel. There are numerous diabetic sufferers who test their glucose degree daily,” Lee said. “We studied how we are able to detect glucose degree whereas the consumer is carrying the contact lens.”
Regardless of the promising features of this know-how, Lee believes it’s essential to take care of low manufacturing prices because of the restricted battery capability. “As soon as it goes into very severe commercialization, the price of the battery ought to solely be a couple of {dollars},” Lee said.
Featured picture: Canva
