✓ Design ✓ Manufacture ✓ Electro-mechanical Opto-mechanical ✓ Health ✓ Wearable
Context
Joint development project between Verily and Alcon to address presbyopia without requiring glasses.
Goal
Create a battery-powered, accommodating contact lens
My role
1 of 2 PD engineers on the team, responsible for lens fit and comfort
Sensor
Proprietary electromechanical ocular sensor
Sensor function
Trigger battery-powered accommodation
My contributions
Cross-functional ideation of sensor DOEs and their feasibility
Generated lens and custom fixture CAD, drawings, design reviews, and ECOs
Monitored build metrology and clinical outcomes
Prototypes
Class II FDA and ISO-compliant contact lenses
Fit to study participants by in-house optometrists
Fabrication Techniques
Diamond-point lathe
Injection molding
Cast molding
Machining
Outcomes
Successfully defined sensor's spatial and architectural constraints
Demonstrated battery-powered accommodation on human eye with sensor performing as intended
Project status
Paused in 2020 after our partner, Alcon, was spun out from Novartis
Additional contributions
Averaged 1 new design tested on human eye, per week, for 18 consecutive months
Increased wear time from 5 minutes to 7 days through a 20% reduction in overall thickness