This paper reports the microfabrication of a Galinstan-based flexible coil on a contact lens and its preliminary use for wireless power transfer onto a smart contact lens. The Galinstan-based coil provides accommodation against physical deformation of a contact lens by maintaining electrical conductivity under strains due to its semi-fluidic nature. The fabricated Galinstan-coils successfully demonstrated post-deformation tolerance up to 166.67% strain. The fabricated contact lens prototype with a Galinstan-coil showed the maximum wireless power reception of 32.4 μW with a power efficiency of 0.75% from an external coil located 5 mm away within a frame of eyeglasses.
more »
« less
Energy and Accuracy Characterization of a Burst-Mode Range Sensing Approach for Smart Contact Lenses
In this paper, we present the characterization of a new range sensing approach for use in emerging smart contact lens applications. Smart contact lenses offer a promising approach to treating the most common form of vision loss by using a tunable lens to accommodate for focal errors. A range sensor is an integral component of the system because it estimates an object's distance from the user in order to determine the target focal length. We performed an empirical study with custom fabricated coils in a mock eyeball setup to understand the energy-accuracy trade-offs of a burst-mode sensing approach based on transmission and reception of square pulses between the coils. We wirelessly transmitted square pulses between the coils and estimated the range of an object by sensing the received voltages and inferring the angular relationship between the two contacts. We demonstrate a functioning range sensing approach that can be implemented with energy as low as 1.8 nJ per measurement with at least 95% accuracy.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 1932602
- PAR ID:
- 10402733
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- 2022 IEEE Sensors
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1 to 4
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
null (Ed.)Objective: We present a novel, low-profile, scleral-coil based, distance ranging system which is suitable for smart, accommodating contact lenses. Methods: We measure the induced emf between a set of four thin semi-circular coils patterned on flexible Kapton substrates that conform to the eyes’ sclera. This induced emf is a function of eye gaze angles. The distance from the eyes to the desired object is next determined via the triangulation of the eye gaze angles Results: Experiments on simulated tissue gel eyeballs indicate an accurate prediction of object distance in the 0.1-15 D (diopter) range with a 0.15 D RMS error and object direction in the -15 to 15-degree field of view with 0.4-degree RMS error, respectively. The energy required per range reading was determined to be as low as 20 μJ. Conclusion: Experimental data shows that the distance ranging system can accurately measure eye-gaze angles and object-distance with very low energy consumption. Significance: The high-accuracy, low-profile and reduced energy requirements make the distance ranger suitable for low-power vision corrective applications such as smart contact lenses.more » « less
-
We present Indutivo, a contact-based inductive sensing technique for contextual interactions. Our technique recognizes conductive objects (metallic primarily) that are commonly found in households and daily environments, as well as their individual movements when placed against the sensor. These movements include sliding, hinging, and rotation. We describe our sensing principle and how we designed the size, shape, and layout of our sensor coils to optimize sensitivity, sensing range, recognition and tracking accuracy. Through several studies, we also demonstrated the performance of our proposed sensing technique in environments with varying levels of noise and interference conditions. We conclude by presenting demo applications on a smartwatch, as well as insights and lessons we learned from our experience.more » « less
-
null (Ed.)Wearable sensors are a topic of interest in medical healthcare monitoring due to their compact size and portability. However, providing power to the wearable sensors for continuous health monitoring applications is a great challenge. As the batteries are bulky and require frequent charging, the integration of the wireless power transfer (WPT) module into wearable and implantable sensors is a popular alternative. The flexible sensors benefit by being wirelessly powered, as it not only expands an individual’s range of motion, but also reduces the overall size and the energy needs. This paper presents the design, modeling, and experimental characterization of flexible square-shaped spiral coils with different scaling factors for WPT systems. The effects of coil scaling factor on inductance, capacitance, resistance, and the quality factor (Q-factor) are modeled, simulated, and experimentally validated for the case of flexible planar coils. The proposed analytical modeling is helpful to estimate the coil parameters without using the time-consuming Finite Element Method (FEM) simulation. The analytical modeling is presented in terms of the scaling factor to find the best-optimized coil dimensions with the maximum Q-factor. This paper also presents the effect of skin contact with the flexible coil in terms of the power transfer efficiency (PTE) to validate the suitability as a wearable sensor. The measurement results at 405 MHz show that when in contact with the skin, the 20 mm× 20 mm receiver (RX) coil achieves a 42% efficiency through the air media for a 10 mm distance between the transmitter (TX) and RX coils.more » « less
-
Khoo, Iam Choon (Ed.)Lenses with tunable focal lengths play important roles in nature as well as modern technologies. In recent years, the demand for electrically tunable lenses and lens arrays has grown, driven by the increasing interest in augmented and virtual reality, as well as sensing applications. In this paper, we present a novel type of electrically tunable microlens utilizing polymer-stabilized chiral ferroelectric nematic liquid crystal. The lens offers a fast response time (5ms) and the focal length can be tuned by applying an in-plane electric field. The electrically induced change in the lens shape, facilitated by the remarkable sensitivity of the chiral ferroelectric nematic to electric fields, enables the tunable focal length capability. The achieved performance of this lens represents a significant advancement compared to electrowetting-based liquid lenses and opens exciting prospects in various fields, including biomimetic optics, security printing, solar energy concentration, and AR/VR devices.more » « less