Alexis Nolfi

Researchers at Pittsburgh University have developed a new contact lens (CL) specifically designed to relieve dry eye syndrome.  

The CyteSolutions lens, a silicone-hydrogel-based CL, coated with natural biopolymers, delivers a drug targeting inflammatory dry eye pathways not targeted by other current dry eye treatments.  

Bioengineering student Alexis Nolfi, herself a dry eye sufferer, started to experiment with CLs after identifying the need for better treatments.  

While existing CL-based therapies involve dipping lenses in drug solutions, Nolfi’s team is using biopolymers for slower and more sustained drug delivery. “The coating is only activated and degraded when it makes contact with the surface of your eye, because there are enzymes in your eyes that work to degrade the polymers we use,” she said. “This allows the slow and safe release of drugs over a period of hours or even days as opposed to drops that almost immediately fall out of or drain away from your eyes. 

“We don’t expect this lens to feel any different from standard soft contact lenses and they’re natural, with no chemical crosslinking.”  

Although further research is required, Nolfi said she’s hopeful her CL will eventually be clinically trialled.