Contact lenses have evolved enormously during the past two decades. Their uses have shifted from ordinary vision correction platforms to wearable sensing devices. They are now being called “Smart” or “Electronic” contact lenses. They have certainly featured a great deal in many Hollywood movies, such as “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol” and “Minority Report”. They have also featured in two different Black Mirror episodes.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, 2011, Paramount Pictures

Black Mirror: The Entire History of You, 2011, Zeppotron

These clever devices can soon become a reality. In our group, we have just developed a proof of concept contact lens that can be used as a healthcare platform. The aim is to use this lens for monitoring vital human signs. So far, we have demonstrated the successful integration of antennae on a curved PDMS substrate. Further details of this exciting work can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1002/aisy.201900190

Written by Dr. Rami Ghannam

We all know that converting the Sun's energy into useful electricity can help in the sustainable development of nations with transitional economies. But these are large scale installations. Can photovoltaic technology, which is responsible for converting the Sun's energy to electricity, be used for generating milli or even microwatts of power? This is the power typically needed for wearable and implantable electronic devices. Such devices can be used to monitor vital human signs, such as blood pressure, temperature... etc. In our group within the microelectronics lab, we have been looking into using tiny PV cells for powering implantable electronic devices. Some of our findings are available here: https://doi.org/10.1109/JERM.2019.2937970

Written by Dr. Rami Ghannam

Our team of four undergraduate students from various engineering disciplines participated in IEEE’s 4th student design competition 2019-2020. IEEE Circuit and Systems Society (CASS) allows undergraduate students to propose and execute Electrical Engineering related projects. The key aim of this project was to find a solution to a real-life problem using circuits and systems. Our team is from region 8 (Europe, Africa, and the Middle East) and has progressed to the second stage of the competition which takes place at the regional level. In order to compete at the international level, one team from each region will progress to the finale.