However, to reach this future potential a safe and suitable battery needs to be developed to power them. Existing rechargeable batteries rely on wires or induction coils that contain metal and are unsuitable for use in the human eye, as they are uncomfortable and present risks to the user.
The NTU-developed battery is made of biocompatible materials and does not contain wires or toxic heavy metals, such as those in lithium-ion batteries or wireless charging systems. It has a glucose-based coating that reacts with the sodium and chloride ions in the saline solution surrounding it, while the water the battery contains serves as the ‘wire’ or ‘circuitry’ for electricity to be generated.
The battery could also be powered by human tears as they contain sodium and potassium ions, at a lower concentration. Testing the current battery with a simulated tear solution, the researchers showed that the battery’s life would be extended an additional hour for every twelve-hour wearing cycle it is used. The battery can also be charged conventionally by an external power supply.
Associate Professor Lee Seok Woo, from NTU’s School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE), who led the study, said: “This research began with a simple question: could contact lens batteries be recharged with our tears? There were similar examples for self-charging batteries, such as those for wearable technology that are powered by human perspiration.
“However, previous techniques for lens batteries were not perfect as one side of the battery electrode was charged and the other was not. Our approach can charge both electrodes of a battery through a unique combination of enzymatic reaction and self-reduction reaction. Besides the charging mechanism, it relies on just glucose and water to generate electricity, both of which are safe to humans and would be less harmful to the environment when disposed, compared to conventional batteries.”
Co-first author Dr Yun Jeonghun, a research fellow from NTU’s EEE said: “The most common battery charging system for smart contact lenses requires metal electrodes in the lens, which are harmful if they are exposed to the naked human eye. Meanwhile, another mode of powering lenses, induction charging, requires a coil to be in the lens to transmit power, much like wireless charging pad for a smartphone. Our tear-based battery eliminates the two potential concerns that these two methods pose, while also freeing up space for further innovation in the development smart contact lenses.”
Highlighting the significance of the work done by the research team, NTU School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Associate Professor Murukeshan Vadakke Matham, who specialises in biomedical and nanoscale optics and was not involved in the study, said: “As this battery is based on glucose oxidase, which occurs naturally in humans and powered by chloride and sodium ions, such as those in our tears, they should be compatible and suitable for human usage. Besides that, the smart contact lenses industry has been looking for a thin, biocompatible battery that does not contain heavy metals, and this invention could help further their development to meet some unmet needs of the industry.”
COMPAMED-tradefair.com; Source: Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
