A recent Medgadget article discussed the latest development in color blindness correction. A team of researchers in the United Arab Emirates has created a contact lens that helps correct color deficiency by increasing red-green contrasts, and they also function as corrective lenses. The lenses contain gold nanoparticles that aid in the contrast boost and also give the lenses a rose tint. The method of adding gold nanocomposites to glass has been used for centuries in the creation of “cranberry glass.”
The researchers created the lenses by mixing gold nanoparticles into a hydrogel. The resulting lens filters light between 520 and 580 nm, which is the intersection of red and green light. The lenses have proven non toxic to cells grown in vitro, and the team will soon move on to human trials to determine if the lenses are comfortable and can successfully help color blind people see red-green contrast.