Surrey unveils breakthrough manufacturing process of ultra-thin sensor for smart contact lenses
2021-01-06
(Press-News.org) In a paper published by the journal Matter, engineers from the University of Surrey together with partners from Harvard University, University of Science and Technology of China, UK National Physical Laboratory, George Washington University and Zhejiang University Ningbo Research Institute report on how they have developed a breakthrough sensor system and manufacturing process.
The global team of engineers reveal that the new contact lens sensor system contains a photodetector for receiving optical information, a temperature sensor for diagnosing potential corneal disease and a glucose sensor for directly monitoring the glucose levels in tear fluid.
Dr Shiqi Guo, the first author of this study and current postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard University, said:
"Our ultra-thin sensor layer is different from the conventional smart contact lenses -- with their rigid or bulk sensors and circuit chips that are sandwiched between two contact lens layers and make contact with tear fluids via microfluidic sensing channels. This new layer could instead be mounted onto a contact lens and maintain direct contact with tears, thanks to its easy assembly, high detection sensitivity, good biocompatibility and mechanical robustness; further, it doesn't interfere with either blinking or vision."
Professor Sheng Zhang, co-author from Zhejiang University, said:
"This multifunctional contact lens with field-effect transistors can provide diversified signals from eyes, which could be combined with advanced data analysis algorithms to provide personalised and accurate medical analysis for users. This kind of research will also become one of the major research directions at the Ningbo Research Institute."
Dr Yunlong Zhao, the co-author of this study and Lecturer in Energy Storage and Bioelectronics at the Advanced Technology Institute (ATI), University of Surrey, said:
"The COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous impact on the entire scientific community, with many of us asking how our work could help those suffering from similar future medical emergencies. We are confident that devices that utilise our sensor layer system could be used as a non-invasive way to help monitor and diagnose people's health. Our results provide not only a unique and simple method for manufacturing advanced smart contact lenses but also novel insight for designing other multifunctional electronics for human-machine interface."
INFORMATION:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2021-01-06
Musical masterworks as the Queen of the Night's Aria from Mozart's The Magic Flute, are examples of the sounds trained human voices can produce. The precondition for vocal virtuosity as well as for any spoken word is vocal learning, the ability to imitate auditory input. Some songbirds and bats can do this, but humans excel. We can acquire new languages into old age. To shed light on the evolution of vocal learning, a team led by Julia Fischer from the German Primate Center (DPZ) - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research has analyzed the sound structures of Guinea baboons and was ...
2021-01-06
CLEVELAND - In a new paper, researchers describe their development of a near-real time spatial assessment of COVID-19 cases to help guide local medical responses to clusters of outbreaks of the virus at the local level.
The paper, entitled "Geographic monitoring for early disease detection (GeoMEDD)," appeared in the Dec. 10 issue of Nature Scientific Reports and comes from researchers at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Medicine, University Hospitals (UH) Cleveland Medical Center, and Texas A & M University.
While developing a tracking system during the beginning stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, ...
2021-01-06
A first-of-its-kind study conducted under the bed of the Dead Sea reveals that a devastating earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale is expected to hit our region in the coming years. The study showed that an earthquake of this magnitude occurs in the land of Israel on an average cycle of between 130 and 150 years, but there have been cases in history where the lull between one earthquake and another was only a few decades long.
The last earthquake with a magnitude of 6.5 on the Richter scale was felt in the Dead Sea valley in 1927, when hundreds of people were injured in Amman, Jerusalem, Bethlehem and even Jaffa. Now, in the wake of the findings ...
2021-01-06
A microbe found in the colon and commonly associated with the development of colitis and colon cancer also may play a role in the development of some breast cancers, according to new research from investigators with the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and its Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. Breast tissue cells exposed to this toxin retain a long-term memory, increasing the risk for disease.
In a series of laboratory experiments, researchers discovered that when enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis (ETBF) was introduced to the guts or breast ducts of mice, it always induced growth and metastatic progression of tumor cells. A description of the work is published in the January 6 issue of the journal Cancer Discovery.
While microbes are known to be present in ...
2021-01-06
DALLAS - Jan. 6, 2020 - UT Southwestern scientists have developed a new method to study the molecular characteristics of T cells, critical immune cells that recognize and attack invaders in the body such as viruses, bacteria, and cancer.
The approach, described today in the journal Nature Methods, enables researchers to more easily analyze the roles of T cell receptors (TCRs) - the molecules on the surfaces of T cells that are responsible for recognizing pathogens.
"This could lead to a better understanding of how T cells work as well as new ways to harness T cells to fight disease," ...
2021-01-06
Philadelphia, January 6, 2021 - A multidisciplinary team of researchers led by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) has discovered several genetic markers associated with bone mineral accrual, which could ultimately help identify causes of eventual osteoporosis earlier in life through genetic testing. The findings, which were made possible by following a group of children over several years, were published online by the journal Genome Biology.
Osteoporosis is widely considered a disease of old age. However, the accrual of bone density early in life is critical for achieving optimal bone mass in adulthood ...
2021-01-06
Using a blood test, a German-Dutch research team has predicted the risk of Alzheimer's disease in people who were clinically diagnosed as not having Alzheimer's disease but who perceived themselves as cognitively impaired (Subjective Cognitive Declined, SCD). The researchers analyzed blood samples from an SCD cohort supervised at the Alzheimer Center Amsterdam. Using a test developed at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) called the Immuno-Infrared Sensor, they identified all 22 subjects at study entry who developed Alzheimer's dementia, thus the clinical symptoms, within six years. The test ...
2021-01-06
Maybe you're like us. We're the folks who are on our smartphones almost all the time, even when we're with others. We know it annoys a lot of people, but we do it anyway. Why?
Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) have looked at why people in cafés pull out their phones, and how this affects café life. Three main reasons they identified are: to delay or pause a conversation (interaction suspension); to get out of a conversation (deliberately shielding interaction); and to share something with others (accessing shareables).
But what does that actually mean?
The smartphone is the world's most ubiquitous personal tech gizmo. ...
2021-01-06
Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, affects many people who are exposed to extreme situations, such as torture. Recent research suggests that chronic pain may make it more difficult to treat trauma.
"Trauma-focused therapy is effective for many patients with PTSD, enabling them to talk through the trauma they experienced", according to Iselin Solerød Dibaj, a psychologist at Oslo University Hospital.
However, not everyone benefits equally from this form of therapy.
"Torture victims who struggle with both chronic pain and PTSD unfortunately often reap less benefit from ordinary treatment," says Dibaj.
The Red Cross estimates that between 10 000 and 35 000 people with a refugee background who have come to Norway have experienced torture, reflecting ...
2021-01-06
The Earth is populated by an increasing number of people who demand more and more products, which is simply not viable in the long run. Our planet does not have unlimited resources. Emissions are harming the environment in various ways.
More companies thus need to switch to more sustainable production, sometimes due to pressure from consumers, but often resulting from new rules imposed by the authorities.
But this kind of change can't ever pay off - or can it?
A new study by a research group from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) has reviewed 100 articles on how sustainably oriented innovation affects companies' competitiveness.
"The ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Surrey unveils breakthrough manufacturing process of ultra-thin sensor for smart contact lenses
