Next -generation contact lenses: Towards bioresponsive drug delivery and smart technologies in ocular therapeutics

In contrast to the conventional ocular formulations, contact lenses are well known for their diverse applications ranging from bio-sensing, prevention of myopia, cosmetics, and drug delivery. With a tremendous change in the lifestyle, contact lenses for therapeutic purposes have increased several fold. Contact lenses as medicated lenses suffer from several disadvantages, and to overcome the same numerous approaches have been explored. Re-searches worldwide have come a long way from cyclodextrin-based and vitamin E-based modified contact lenses to bioinspired approaches to enhance the effectiveness of the drug-eluting contact lenses. The bioinspired approach exploits bioinspired polymeric systems to enhance biocompatibility, specific molecule recognition technique by molecular imprinting, or stimuli-responsive system to improve the biocompatibility, drug loading, and drug delivery efficacy of the drug-eluting contact lenses. Moreover, recent innovations in ocular therapeutics such as nanowafers and microneedle contact lenses, and ocular patches have gained tremendous attention in ocular therapeutics. Another potential application of the contact lenses are smart lenses applied in the biosensing and diagnosis of various ocular disorders. The review summarizes and discusses the widespread therapeutic applications of next-generation contact lenses and various fabrication approaches, including its clinical impli-cations, efforts taken by researchers in exploring the novel materials and diverse forms of the lenses, mechanisms of drug release, clinical trials, and their toxicity and safety concerns.

Automated summary

Contact lenses have diverse applications including bio-sensing, prevention of myopia, cosmetics, and drug delivery. Researchers have developed new approaches such as bioinspired polymeric systems and stimuli-responsive systems to overcome the disadvantages of medicated contact lenses. Recent innovations in ocular therapeutics have also gained significant attention.