By Jake Ching

COLOUR-CHANGING contact lenses that protect users from harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation are expected to be available in pharmacies, eye clinics and optic shops in two years? time.

This type of contact lens, developed by the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), is known as a photochromic contact lens and is the first of its kind.

It shields users from UV rays by darkening under UV radiation, which is present in both sunlight and articificial light.

The degree of darkening depends on the intensity of the radiation it is exposed to.

The contact lens is more sensitive than transitional lens for spectacles, and adapts to light changes over 10 times faster.

It is also more comfortable to wear because of its lubricating nature, said IBN senior research scientist Edwin Chow.

A pair of these lenses is expected to cost around $230, about 30 to 40 per cent cheaper than a pair of regular transitional spectacles.

Dr Chow, 38, said: ?Longterm, unprotected exposure to the sun?s UV rays can lead to eye conditions such as cataracts, that can compromise the quality of our vision.

?With that in mind, and the fact that 314 million people globally are visually impaired, we decided to create this contact lens as it would create a major commercial impact.?

He heads a team of six researchers looking into eye therapies, including work on the photochromic contact lens, which is part of a $5-million project funded until next year by Exploit Technologies, the Agency for Science, Technology and Research?s marketing and commercialisation arm.

Among the six other eye therapies being researched is a drug-loaded contact lens that releases a certain amount of medication at regular intervals to the eye for up to 10 hours, to treat eye diseases such as glaucoma, the primary cause of blindness.

The lens can store up to two types of medications, and ensure that all the medication goes into the eye, unlike a traditional eye dropper, which wastes 95 per cent of the medication.

Exploit Technologies is negotiating with two companies to commercialise both types of contact lenses.

As part of the project, the IBN has set up the IBN iCare research laboratory at Biopolis, the first lab here to be dedicated to developing nanomaterial for eye therapy.

It will be working with the National University Hospital (NUH) to test the safety and efficacy of both lenses in clinical trials.

They will carry out 25 trials on the photochromic lens, and 50 to 100 trials on the drugloaded one, said NUH senior consultant opthalmologist Lennard Thean, who will be heavily involved in the trials.

He could not say when the trials would be starting.

They will be conducted at NUH?s new $2.1-million eye centre at Biopolis, where its patients, who seek Lasik surgery to correct shortsightedness, will be treated from now on.

Both the laboratory and the centre were opened yesterday by Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry S. Iswaran yesterday.

chngjm@sph.com.sg

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