Contact lenses containing gold nanoparticles have been developed that filter light to help correct red-green color blindness.
Color blindness is a condition in which certain shades may appear muted or indistinguishable – making some everyday activities difficult.
coloured lenses online
Unlike existing tinted glasses for red-green color blindness, the lenses made by the UAE and UK team can also be used to correct other vision problems.
And because they use non-toxic materials, they don’t have the potential health problems marked by previous prototype lenses that used red dye.
However, one study suggests that before lenses can reach the commercial market, they need to be evaluated in clinical trials.
Special contact lenses have been developed containing gold nanoparticles and light filtering to help correct color blindness, a study reports (stock image)
The research was carried out by mechanical engineer Ahmed Salih and colleagues at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi.
“Color vision deficiency is a congenital disorder of the eye that affects 8% of men and 0.5% of women,” the researchers explained in their paper.
The most common forms of the disease are red-blindness and red-blindness — collectively known as “red-green color blindness” — which, as the name suggests, makes it difficult for people to distinguish between green and red.
“Because there is no cure for the disease, patients opt for wearables that help enhance color perception,” the researchers added.
Specifically, people with red-green color blindness wear red glasses that make those colors easier to see — but these glasses are often bulky and cannot be used to correct other vision problems at the same time.
Because of these limitations, researchers have recently turned to specially tinted contact lenses.
Unfortunately, while the pink-dyed prototype lenses did improve the wearer’s perception of red-green in clinical trials, they all leached the dye, leading to concerns about their safety and durability.
Color blindness is a condition in which colors may appear muted or difficult to distinguish from each other.Figure: Colored objects seen through different forms of color blindness
Instead, Mr Saleh and his colleagues turned to tiny gold particles.These are non-toxic and have been used for centuries to produce rose-colored “cranberry glass” because of the way they scatter light.
To make the contact lenses, the researchers mixed gold nanoparticles into a hydrogel, a special material made of a network of cross-linked polymers.
This produces a red gel that filters light wavelengths between 520-580 nanometers, the portion of the spectrum where red and green overlap.
The most effective contact lenses, the researchers report, were those made with 40-nanometer-wide gold particles that neither clumped together nor filtered more light than needed.
Mr. Salih and his colleagues turned to tiny gold particles, which are non-toxic and have been used for centuries to produce rose-colored ‘cranberry glass’, pictured here
To make the contact lenses, the researchers mixed gold nanoparticles into a hydrogel.This produces a rose-colored gel that filters light wavelengths between 520-580 nanometers, the portion of the spectrum where red and green overlap
Gold nanoparticle lenses also have water retention properties similar to ordinary commercially available lenses.
With the preliminary study complete, the researchers are now looking to conduct clinical trials to determine the comfort of the new contact lenses.
About 1 in 20 people is colorblind, a condition that makes the world a more dreary place.
There are four types of color blindness, known as red blindness, double blindness, trichromatic blindness, and color blindness.
Redblindness involves a defect or absence of long-wavelength cone cells in the retina; these photoreceptor cones are responsible for sensing red light.Protans found it difficult to distinguish red from green, and blue from green.
Deuteranopia is a condition in which green light-sensitive cones are missing in the retina.As a result, deutans have a hard time distinguishing between green and red, and some grays, purples, and green-blues.Along with red blindness, this is one of the most common forms of color blindness.
Tritanopia are short-wavelength cone cells in the retina that do not receive blue light at all.People with this very rare form of color blindness confuse light blue with gray, dark purple with black, medium green with blue, and orange with red.
People with total blindness cannot perceive any color at all and can only see the world in black and white and shades of gray.
coloured lenses online
Rods work in low light conditions, while cones work in daylight and are responsible for color.People with color blindness have problems with retinal cone cells.
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Post time: Feb-14-2022
