Intraocular pressure measurement system including a sensor mounted in a contact lens
First Claim
1. An apparatus for measuring intraocular pressure of an eye, said apparatus comprising:
- a contact lens including an inner surface contoured to a surface portion of the eye for engaging the surface portion; and
a sensor disposed in said inner surface of said contact lens, said sensor comprising;
a contact surface for making contact with the surface portion of the eye, said contact surface including an outer non-compliant region and an inner compliant region fabricated as an impedance element that varies in impedance as said inner compliant region changes shape; and
a region of conductive material electrically coupled to said impedance element of said compliant region and responsive to an external signal for energizing said impedance element so that the intraocular pressure may be determined.
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Abstract
An apparatus for measuring intraocular pressure (IOP) comprises a contact lens including an inner surface contoured to a surface portion of an eye and a sensor disposed in the contact lens. The sensor comprises a contact surface for making contact with the surface portion of the eye. The contact surface includes an outer non-compliant region and an inner compliant region fabricated as an impedance element that varies in impedance as the inner compliant region changes shape. The sensor further comprises a region of conductive material electrically coupled to the impedance element of the compliant region and responsive to an external signal for energizing the impedance element so that the IOP may be determined.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. An apparatus for measuring intraocular pressure of an eye, said apparatus comprising:
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a contact lens including an inner surface contoured to a surface portion of the eye for engaging the surface portion; and
a sensor disposed in said inner surface of said contact lens, said sensor comprising;
a contact surface for making contact with the surface portion of the eye, said contact surface including an outer non-compliant region and an inner compliant region fabricated as an impedance element that varies in impedance as said inner compliant region changes shape; and
a region of conductive material electrically coupled to said impedance element of said compliant region and responsive to an external signal for energizing said impedance element so that the intraocular pressure may be determined. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method for measuring intraocular pressure (IOP) of an eye, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing a contact lens having an inner surface contoured to a surface portion of the eye, the contact lens including a sensor disposed in the inner surface of the contact lens, the sensor having a compliant region that functions as an impedance element;
positioning the contact lens on the surface portion of the eye;
providing an applanator for applying pressure against the contact lens;
moving the applanator toward the eye until the sensor forcefully engages the surface portion of the eye which causes the compliant region to change shape and vary in impedance;
energizing the impedance element;
determining a representative pressure measurement each time the impedance element is energized; and
processing the representative pressure measurements to render a resultant IOP measurement. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
energizing an inductive region of the sensor that is connected to the impedance element which is a capacitive region to cause a circuit formed by the regions to resonate.
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27. The method of claim 26 wherein said step of energizing an inductive region of the sensor includes transmitting an activation signal over an antenna.
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28. The method of claim 26 wherein said step of energizing the impedance element includes generating an electromagnetic signal with a frequency that is swept through a frequency range over a predetermined time interval, the resonant frequency of the circuit falling within said frequency range.
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29. The method of claim 28 wherein said step of determining includes the steps of determining the resonant frequency of the circuit each time the circuit is energized, the resonant frequencies sampled being representative of the IOP of the eye at different times.
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30. The method of claim 29 wherein said step of processing includes processing the sampled resonant frequencies to render a resultant IOP measurement.
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31. The method of claim 30 further comprising the steps of:
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time marking each resultant IOP measurement; and
storing each IOP measurement along with its corresponding measurement time.
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32. The method of claim 31 further comprising the step of transmitting the stored IOP measurements and their corresponding measurement times to an external site.
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33. The method of claim 32 wherein said steps of energizing, determining and processing are performed autonomously by a control unit.
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34. The method of claim 33 further comprising the step of displaying the resultant IOP measurement on the control unit.
Specification