Journal
ADVANCED MATERIALS TECHNOLOGIES
Volume 2, Issue 8, Pages -Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/admt.201700073
Keywords
smart contact lenses; stretchable electronics; thermoforming; thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU); viscoelastic modeling
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Funding
- Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) [158871]
- Marie Curie IntraEuropean Fellowship [661092]
- Marie Curie Actions (MSCA) [661092] Funding Source: Marie Curie Actions (MSCA)
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A stretchable platform with spherical-shaped electronics based on thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) is introduced for soft smart contact lenses. The low glass transition temperature of TPU, its relatively low hardness, and its proven biocompatibility (i.e., protection of exterior body wounds) fulfill the essential requirements for eye wearable devices. These requirements include optical transparency, conformal fitting, and flexibility comparable with soft contact lenses (e.g., hydrogel-based). Moreover, the viscoelastic nature of TPU allows planar structures to be thermoformed into spherical caps with a well-defined curvature (i.e., eye's curvature at the cornea: 9 mm). Numerical modeling and experimental validation enable fine-tuning of the thermoforming parameters and the optimization of strain-release patterns. Such tight control is proven necessary to achieve oxygen permeable, thin, nondevelopable, and wrinkle-free contact lenses with integrated electronics (silicon die, radio-frequency antenna, and stretchable thin-film interconnections). This work paves the way toward fully autonomous smart contact lenses potentially for vision correction or sensing applications, among others.
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