Industry Outlook
Smart contact lenses are emerging as one of the most promising healthcare solutions, aiding diabetic patients to monitor their diabetes and fitness level. Smart contact lenses are lenses that incorporate miniaturized sensors and wireless chips for monitoring physiological parameters, including intraocular pressure in glaucoma patients and glucose levels in diabetic patients using their tears. Over the last few years, smart devices have gained immense popularity across the globe due to the rising need for continuously monitoring health conditions at the individual level. The global market for smart contact lenses is majorly driven by the growing prevalence of diabetes. Smart contact lenses track, monitor, and analyze the tear fluid, providing a real-time, noninvasive diagnosis of glucose levels in a diabetic patient. Increasing diabetic complications, including cataracts and eye disorders, are expected to facilitate the growth of the smart contact lens market worldwide. In addition, rising cases of glaucoma and expanding age demographics with presbyopia (long-sightedness) are some other factors contributing to the market’s growth. Smart contact lenses look like regular lenses but come with a sensor attached to them. The sensors present in the smart contact lens are helpful in recognizing eye-related problems and can also track the blood sugar level of patients through their vision and tears.
Smart contact lens technology has the potential to bring about a revolution in the field of diabetes management as it allows people to manage their glucose levels at a personal level. It also helps in lowering the cost of managing chronic diseases by offering a more comprehensive and easier way of monitoring and diagnosing disease as compared to the prevalent conventional techniques. Equipped with sensors, smart contact lenses can provide noninvasive methods that continuously detect metabolites in tears. This helps an individual opt for consultation and take immediate action if the blood sugar levels are found to be elevated. The flexible and soft smart contact lenses can also be extended and modified to monitor other biomarkers, including body temperature, blood pressure, and cholesterol level.
Technological advancements in smart contact lenses are expected to reduce vision problems in people, as the wireless functionality of these lenses can maintain the eye’s temperature, thereby ensuring eye safety. Furthermore, growing health awareness among people of all ages, coupled with the growth in digitization, is anticipated to boost the smart contact lenses market during the forecast period (2018–2026). On the other hand, the high cost of smart contact lenses is expected to restrain the market’s growth in the initial years.
The global market for smart contact lenses is divided into the following categories:
Application
- Continuous Glucose Monitoring
- Monitoring of Intraocular Pressure
End User
- Hospitals and Clinics
- home care settings
Geography
North America
Europe
- Germany
- France
- Italy
- U.K.
- Russia
- Rest of Europe
Asia-Pacific
- India
- China
- Japan
- Rest of Asia-Pacific
Latin America
- Brazil
- Mexico
- Rest of Latin America
Middle East and Africa
- GCC Countries
- South Africa
- Rest of Middle East and Africa
Key players identified for the smart contact lenses market include, but are not limited to:
Alcon (Novartis AG), Google LLC, Innovega Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Sensimed AG, Sony Corporation, and EP Global Communications, Inc., among others
