Wireless Organic Light-Emitting Diode Contact Lenses for On-Eye Wearable Light Sources and Their Application to Personalized Health Monitoring

On-eye optoelectronic systems can address unmet needs across various healthcare applications, including monitoring of physiological signals related to vision or other diseases. In this context, this work introduces wearable light sources that combine ultrathin organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) with contact lenses. As an illustration, we demonstrate their efficacy as a robust lighting solution for electroretinography (ERG). Through an in vivo experiment with a rabbit, we show that our system can generate an ERG signal comparable to that of conventional full-field light stimulation. Furthermore, we design a configuration and process flow that integrates an ultrathin OLED as well as an antenna and a controller chip for wireless power reception. It is shown that this wireless OLED contact lens system can also be used for ERG measurement with little signal interference. Considering the need for close proximity between the power source and receiver, we further envision a scenario in which patients wear a sleep mask equipped with an embedded microcontroller. Unlike conventional ERG, which requires a darkened space, our work allows patients to rest comfortably, even with their eyes closed during measurements, illustrating its potential to significantly benefit both patients and ophthalmologists and thus contributing to further advancements in on-eye digital healthcare.