Elsherif Mohamed, Salih Ahmed E, Alam Fahad, Yetisen Ali K, Ramadi Khalil B, Butt Haider
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi 17788, UAE.
Division of Engineering, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi 129188, UAE.
ACS Appl Nano Mater. 2024 Mar 6;7(6):5956-5966. doi: 10.1021/acsanm.3c05857. eCollection 2024 Mar 22.
Constant exposure to blue light emanating from screens, lamps, digital devices, or other artificial sources at night can suppress melatonin secretion, potentially compromising both sleep quality and overall health. Daytime exposure to elevated levels of blue light can also lead to permanent damage to the eyes. Here, we have developed blue light protective plasmonic contact lenses (PCLs) to mitigate blue light exposure. Crafted from poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (pHEMA) and infused with silver nanoparticles, these contact lenses serve as a protective barrier to filter blue light. Leveraging the plasmonic properties of silver nanoparticles, the lenses effectively filtered out the undesirable blue light (400-510 nm), demonstrating substantial protection (22-71%) while maintaining high transparency (80-96%) for the desirable light (511-780 nm). The maximum protection level reaches a peak of 79% at 455 nm, aligned with the emission peak for the blue light sourced from LEDs in consumer displays. The presence of silver nanoparticles was found to have an insignificant impact on the water content of the developed contact lenses. The lenses maintained high water retention levels within the range of 50-70 wt %, comparable to commercial contact lenses. The optical performance of the developed lenses remains unaffected in both artificial tears and contact lens storage solution over a month with no detected leakage of the nanoparticles. Additionally, the MTT assay confirmed that the lenses were biocompatible and noncytotoxic, maintaining cell viability at over 85% after 24 h of incubation. These lenses could be a potential solution to protect against the most intense wavelengths emitted by consumer displays and offer a remedy to counteract the deleterious effects of prolonged blue light exposure.
夜间持续暴露于屏幕、灯具、数字设备或其他人工光源发出的蓝光下，会抑制褪黑素分泌，可能损害睡眠质量和整体健康。白天暴露于高强度蓝光下也会导致眼睛永久性损伤。在此，我们开发了蓝光防护等离子体隐形眼镜（PCL）以减轻蓝光暴露。这些隐形眼镜由聚甲基丙烯酸羟乙酯（pHEMA）制成并注入了银纳米颗粒，可作为过滤蓝光的防护屏障。利用银纳米颗粒的等离子体特性，这些镜片有效滤除了有害蓝光（400 - 510纳米），在保持对有益光（511 - 780纳米）高透明度（80 - 96%）的同时，展现出显著的防护效果（22 - 71%）。最大防护水平在455纳米处达到79%的峰值，与消费显示器中LED发出的蓝光发射峰一致。研究发现银纳米颗粒的存在对所开发隐形眼镜的含水量影响不大。这些镜片在50 - 70重量%的范围内保持高保水水平，与商业隐形眼镜相当。所开发镜片的光学性能在人工泪液和隐形眼镜储存溶液中一个多月内均未受影响，且未检测到纳米颗粒泄漏。此外，MTT分析证实这些镜片具有生物相容性且无细胞毒性，孵育24小时后细胞活力保持在85%以上。这些镜片可能是一种潜在的解决方案，可防护消费显示器发出的最强波长的光，并提供一种补救措施来对抗长时间蓝光暴露的有害影响。
