Researchers Develop Color Correction Contact Lenses
Using an economic process involving rhodamine derivative non-toxic dye, researchers at the University of Birmingham have now designed contact lenses to help correct color blindness.
Although there already exist a number of corrective lenses and glasses for color blindness, the scientists argue they tend to be expensive, sometimes ranging into hundreds of dollars, and their technology, in contrast, feature specific dye that aims to treat different varieties of color blindness.
In the course of their study, the scientists dyed these inexpensive soft commercial contact lenses with the non-toxic rhodamine derivative dye, as it is known for its ability to absorb certain wavelengths of light in the optical spectrum.
The team found that the dye blocked the region of the frequency spectrum between the red and green perceived by two sets of corresponding optical cones simultaneously- this blocks the most light, avoiding having the colors in that region from triggering red and green optical cones.
To test this, researchers used the dye on a glass slide and had participants look through the glass. They were asked to look at several numbers through the dyed lens, and to observe if there was any improvement to the colours or the clarity of the number. Later, they were
enquired about their surroundings and were asked to note whether they saw any improvements in their colour perception.The results verified that these tinted lenses can be used to enhance the colour perception of people affected by colour vision deficiency. Further patient studies are now underway.
“Contact lenses are of interest for colour blindness correction because it is easier to correct the entire field of view,” said Dr Haider Butt, lead researcher on the project. “The dye processing we carried out does not need any complex preparation, it is not toxic to the human eye, and our method could be easily used in both glasses and contact lenses at low cost.”
Lead researchers Dr. Haider Butt said: “We are now looking into using a similar process to correct purple-blue color blindness, and also to bring together a number of dyes to make lenses perform for both red-green and purple-blue color blindness simultaneously. We are about to commence human clinical trials shortly.”
