Co-developers Kelu Yu, Si Li and David Lee test the HOPES glove.

Researchers at the National University of Singapore have developed a glove patients can use at home to accurately monitor intraocular pressures (IOP).

NUS researchers Kelu Yu, Si Li and David Lee with their award-winning HOPES glove

The Home Eye Pressure E-skin Sensor (HOPES) is worn over the patient’s index finger and placed onto the closed eyelid. The glove’s developers said the fingertip’s sensor painlessly captures dynamic pressure information from the user's eye with sub-millisecond precision. These IOP data are processed by a paired smartwatch, which can upload them to another device or the cloud, which can be accessed by an eyecare professional. Materials science and engineering PhD students Kelu Yu and Si Li and electrical and computer engineer David Lee set about developing the device after Kelu’s father’s 2019 glaucoma diagnosis.

The HOPES system

The glove won the 2021 International James Dyson Award for design.