Tear-Powered Fuel Cell Could Lead To Glucose-Monitoring Contact Lenses For Diabetics

Contact lenses have proved very useful for helping people with certain conditions other than visual impairment. Thanks to an international team of researchers, it may become possible for diabetics to track their blood sugar levels with the help of bionic contact lenses. Led by Sergey Shleev from Malmo University in Sweden, the team has created a fuel cell powered by tears, the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) reports on its website.

According to the researchers, their cell could provide the power to feed glucose sensors mounted on contact lenses.

The idea of monitoring blood sugar levels through contact lenses is not new. It has actually been around for years, since it has long been known that the glucose levels in tears mirror glucose levels in blood. The idea revolves around a lens-mounted electrical glucose sensor that would be constantly in contact with tear fluid. The wearer could easily read the results on an on-the-spot display. Up to now, the problem has been fitting the sensor with a power source.

The fuel cell developed by Shleev and his colleagues could be the solution to that conundrum. Their creation uses as fuel the ascorbate and oxygen that are found naturally in tears. The team has demonstrated that the cell could produce power from tears without triggering changes in their glucose content.

The power output of the cell is tiny, with theoretical calculations putting it at up to 22.1µW in an actual contact lens. However, the research team believes that it could prove enough for a minuscule sensor, especially if both sides of the lens are used to increase the size of the electrodes.