A capacitor-based sensor and a contact lens sensing system for intraocular pressure monitoring

Abstract

This study proposes a capacitor-based sensor on a soft contact lens for the measurement of intraocular pressure (IOP). The sensor was designed and fabricated via microelectromechanical system fabrication technologies. The soft contact lens is designed to be worn on a cornea such that the curvature of the contact lens corresponds substantially to that of the cornea. In addition, the contact lens was fabricated via a cast-molding method using poly-2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate to achieve a lens with high oxygen permeability, which can be worn comfortably for a long time. An IOP sensor prototype was implemented, which exhibited 1.2239 pF mmHg(-1) (13,171 ppm mmHg(-1)) sensitivity during measurements of an artificial anterior chamber at pressures between 18 and 30 mmHg. The results indicate that the developed capacitor-based IOP sensor exhibited high stability and reproducibility in a series of measurements performed under various pressures. The capacitance of the proposed IOP sensor can successfully be converted into a digital value via a capacitor-to-digital converter and be transmitted via a commercial wireless telemetry system in this study.