Med-dispensing Contacts?
Eye-drops may be a simple way of medicating the eye, but many patients have difficulty using them and don’t always get the right dose at the right time. Now a team from Cambridge, Massachusetts’ Eyenovations has developed contact lenses that can deliver drugs to the eye in measured doses for a month or longer. Their initial focus is on developing a lens to help glaucoma patients. They believe the technology can also be used to help other eye conditions and deliver antibiotics following surgery.
The team has developed the drug-dispensing technology using a hydro-gel lens with a polymer film inside, which contains the medication.
The lens gradually releases medication at a rate determined by the properties of both the lens and polymer film. This ensures patients with eye conditions requiring drops, especially those who struggle to follow a medication schedule, receive the right amount of medication at the right time.
Glaucoma affects about 2.5 million Americans each year and the numbers are growing. Treatment involves administering eye-drops up to eight times a day but, because patients often have few symptoms, especially in the early stages, many give up on their medication regime. A self-medicating lens could greatly help these people as well as the elderly, disabled, inhabitants of remote areas and others who find it difficult to stick with a regimented schedule.
The Eyenovations lens delivers high doses of medication for up to 100 days. The team – led by Daniel Kohane, director of the Laboratory for Biomaterials and Drug Delivery at the Children’s Hospital in Boston and Joseph Ciolino, a clinical fellow at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary – is working on commercial lenses using materials approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that deliver drugs for up to 30 days, which is the FDA’s limit for single-use contact lenses.
The Eyenovations group has begun animal testing and plans clinical testing soon. To be clinically effective, the lenses will have to fit well, allow proper flow of oxygen to the eye, and not interfere with vision. For those who already wear contact lenses, it may be possible to create a medicated lens with vision correction.
On a personal note, my mother has glaucoma and is terrible at using her drops correctly. These lenses would be a huge help for her. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Eyenovations’ testing goes well.
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