The eye is susceptible to many forms of damage from UV radiation. This includes macular degeneration, cataracts, photokeratitis and pterygium. The cornea absorbs most of the UV rays that reach the eye, while the lens and other parts of the eye receive a smaller amount.
In order to protect the eyes, many people wear sunglasses or use light-filtering contact lenses. These lenses are often made with a filter that blocks UVA and UVB rays. However, they do not provide complete coverage of the eye. This is because they do not protect the skin of the lids and brow bone, which can still receive some rays from the sun.
These rays can also be absorbed by the eye’s cornea, which can cause changes to its structure and lead to damage in other areas of the eye. This can result in a range of symptoms such as redness, watering and even tearing.
This is why it is important to protect the eyes from UV radiation. Some types of contact lenses block all the rays, while others are only designed to block certain wavelengths.
For this reason, it is important to have a variety of lenses on hand for different conditions. Some of these include polarized lenses, which can help to reduce the amount of glare and UV light that reaches the eye.
A polarized contact lens has a shaded portion that is optically graded from a darker center to a lighter or transparent periphery, as shown in FIG. 4. This allows the user to view different levels of illumination as a lighting condition changes.
Moreover, the lens can limit the transmission of certain wavelengths as well, such as visible light. This allows the lens to be used for specific applications such as outdoor sporting and recreational activities.
Another feature of a polarized lens is the ability to change its color in response to changing lighting environments. This can be done by using a number of different colored pigments that are arranged in various combinations to achieve the desired transmittance characteristics.
These can be made to be a hard or soft lens, depending on the need of the user. They may also be shaped to fit the pupil size of the eye.
Some lenses have an integrated energy storage device that is charged or discharged via wireless means. This makes them easier to wear continuously, since they do not need to be refilled, and can be worn for an extended period without being removed.
This technology is available in a smart contact lens, which combines the following features: a wireless charging/discharging supercapacitor; a rectifier circuit and an antenna that are three-dimensionally integrated on the upper layer of the contact lens; and an LED as a display.
The smart contact lens is a wirelessly chargeable and discharging contact lens that uses a solid-state supercapacitor to store energy. This type of technology has been previously tested on contact lenses but has not been commercially available.