Implant communication

So I noticed an update to one of the contact lens projects that a team has done a proof of concepts that allows a phone to communication with a contact lens at a range of 24inches.


Basically they are using a bluetooth broadcast signal as the power source and sending the signal back as backscatter in a form that can be picked up as wifi.

This prototype is built into a contact lens but I would think that this kind of device could be used for all kinds of things, monitoring implants, myoelectric sensors for prosthetics etc.
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Comments

  • I read the article and I'm having a really had time visualizing how the lens has the capability of having a 1cm wire on it and being able to transmit/receive data and make it visual. That is an extremely small amount of space and very clear form to try and fit all these electronics into.

    If this is possible then we could power any internal creations and they wouldn't be as large as they currently are. Do you have any other links to this maybe an MIT link?
  • I think it's less about display in the contact lens, and more about monitor things like blood sugar levels via the lacrimal fluid (tears/eye lubricant).

    Diabetics could have a phone app that could check your blood sugar wirelessly... thats awesome.

    I was thinking that you could make tiny sensors you could around muscles and get a myoelectric control system for a prosthetic limbs with no wires and no need for a transdermal connections or even any fiddly positioning, your limb would be in your control the instant it got close enough to your body.
  • That would be excellent @Dr_Allcome.  I have been a type one Diabetic since the age of two, and I gotta say, it would be great to not have to stab myself in the fingers anymore.  There already is some sensor technology out there but what you are proposing would be several steps beyond that.  And that would be awesome.
  • @Meanderpaul From what I have read in smart contact lens related patents the display is build from an array of individual , very tiny light emitters which focus the light onto the retina. The light emitters are connected using thin wires which are meandered to make the thing flexible (coincidence eh?). Try searching for flexible microled array. The ammount of space a contact lens offers is enormous , given today's chips can be processed with nanometer precision. The contact pads for wiring the thing up would be bigger than anything else.

    The reason why we don't have all those nice toys for us already is because you need to fabricate your own, custom chips which incorporate all your functions on one piece of silicon. Chip fabrication (especially setup-costs) is prohibitively expensive and only really possible if you have a few millions to spare or you plan on selling thousands of chips to bring the costs per chip down.
  • I see. I will give it a Google search.
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