Contact lenses in 3D printing, it's possible!

January 25, 2020

Princeton University researchers have set up a 3D printer capable of designing contact lenses with a light-emitting diode.

You may have wondered at least once if it was possible to have smart health connected lenses ? Well yes… thanks to a 3D printer and diodes. Researchers from Princeton University dwelled on the subject, and for the occasion, they even created a new 3D printer. It is capable of creating components as small as it is, but above all, of take into account the different incompatibilities which results in creating an object as small as a contact lens with a 3D printer.

The use of 3D printers

The main objective of this " mission »That the researchers launched did not result so much from the creation of smart health connected lenses, but rather of prove that it was possible to thwart the "normal" use of 3D printers. That is to say either of mechanical, chemical or thermal that didn't match the design of a nanoscale object.

The new 3D printer set up for the occasion cost almost $ 20,000 to scientists, but it’s a health revolution that takes precedence in the Internet of Things.

A diode that lights up in the lenses

Creating smart health connected lenses was not an easy task in itself … The peculiarity of it is that they have a diode capable of coloring with several different colors. In order for the LED to light up, an external power source is required. But when it is placed in the eye, the diode cannot light up by blinking.

Validated hypothesis

The assumption about designing an object as small as a contact lens is now validated.

Professor Mc Alpine said: "This shows that we can use 3D printing to create complex electronic systems including semiconductors. We were able to build an entire device, in this case an LED. We used quantum dots [also known as nanoparticles] as an ink. We were able to generate two different colors: orange and green. "

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