Moving straight from the sci-fi movie, scientists have created wearable infrared contact lenses that can be viewed in the dark, even with eyes closed.
A group of scientists from the Chinese University of Science and Technology presented the lens in a study presented today. cell.
Unlike infrared goggles, these contact lenses do not require a power source. Instead, nanoparticles are used to convert infrared light into visible light. Ten lucky human participants who tried these contact lenses were able to perceive infrared wavelengths that they would otherwise not be able to perceive.
Scientists are already thinking about the futuristic application of contact lenses. “Our research opens up the possibility that non-invasive wearable devices will provide people with a super vision,” said Tian Xue, a neuroscientist in Chinese science and technology and a senior author of the study. Cell Press. “There are a lot of potential applications in this material right away. For example, flickering infrared can be used to send information in security, rescue, encryption, or counti counterfutiating settings.”
Contact lenses use small teen particles that absorb multiple low-energy photons and emit a single high-energy photon. Specifically, these particles absorb low energy near-infrared wavelengths (range 800-1600 nm) and convert them to wavelengths visible in the mammalian eye (range 400-700 nm). Researchers had already demonstrated that injecting particles into the retina allows mice to allow infrared vision, but they wanted to develop a method that does not require direct injection into the eyeball.
Therefore, researchers combined nanoparticles with polymers used in conventional soft contact lenses.
Scientists first tested a much smaller version of these contacts on mice, and found that mice behaved as if they could see the infrared wavelength. Taking advantage of the fact that mice prefer to hide in dark gaps, researchers chose the mice either to have a dark box or to have been illuminated with infrared light. Without contact, the mice showed no preference between the dark and illuminated boxes. However, in contact, the mouse was more likely to choose a dark box.
The researchers then recruited human participants to try the lenses. Scientists have discovered that people wearing lenses can detect flashes like Morse codes and perceive the direction of infrared light coming in from the LED. “It’s a completely clear cut. Without contact lenses, subjects can’t see anything, but when they wear them they can clearly see the flickering of infrared light,” Xue said in a statement. “We found that when subjects close their eyes, near-infrared light penetrates the eyelids more effectively than visible light, allowing them to receive this flicker information better, meaning there is less interference from visible light.” They also saw this light. Better Close your eyes.
The researchers also changed contact lenses to allow participants to distinguish between different wavelengths of infrared light. They created a version of a lens that converts different spectra of infrared light into specific visual wavelengths. 980nm has been converted to blue light, 808 to red light, etc.
However, before you get too excited, it is important to note that participants wearing lenses don’t look that good. For example, they were unable to know the fine details of their environment, only seeing infrared light from the LEDs. This is because contact lenses scatter incoming infrared rays, the author wrote.
To combat this, researchers used the same basic principles to create wearable glasses. This was a bit helpful, allowing participants to distinguish between infrared patterns and shapes, but still could not see the surrounding infrared rays.
This technology is not yet at the supervision level, and scientists are working to make these contacts more sensitive. “In the future, we hope to work with materials scientists and optics experts to create contact lenses with more accurate spatial resolution and higher sensitivity,” Xue said in a statement.
