Nocturnal Intraocular Pressure Monitoring With a Soft Contact Lens Sensor for Glaucoma Management.

Abstract

Measurement of nocturnal intraocular pressure (IOP) is essential for glaucoma management, yet recumbent IOP fluctuations during sleep remain largely unmeasured outside the clinic. Although existing eye-worn wearable sensors enable noninvasive IOP monitoring, limitations in sensitivity, closed-eye performance, and overnight wearability restrict accurate assessment of nocturnal IOP changes under sleep conditions. Here, we present a soft contact lens sensor designed for continuous monitoring of nocturnal IOP in a home setting. The sensor integrates a compliant conductor-based inductive-capacitive circuit directly onto a commercial soft contact lens, enabling close conformity to the eye. This design achieves the highest IOP sensitivity reported to date among wearable soft contact lens sensors, representing a substantial improvement over our earlier designs. As a result, the sensor provides stable and accurate IOP measurements under recumbent, closed-eye sleep conditions. Animal studies in rabbits and dogs and pilot human measurements in healthy and glaucomatous eyes support preliminary ocular tolerability and feasible sensor performance, enabling posture-dependent IOP tracking and detection of sleep-relevant pressure elevations under the tested conditions. These results address key limitations of earlier contact lens sensors and support at-home monitoring of nocturnal IOP dynamics.