Perpendicular Electrical Interconnects for Contact Lenses
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing contact lenses with electrical components face challenges in minimizing light blockage while maintaining effective electrical connectivity, as traditional interconnect orientations can increase the visual profile and structural stress, potentially impairing vision and comfort.
Innovation Solution
The use of a flat body electrical interconnect with a curvature matching the contact lens, oriented perpendicular to the lens surfaces, reduces light blockage and structural stress by allowing for flexible mounting without deformation, and employs various connection techniques such as bent tabs, edge connections, and exposed vias to ensure reliable electrical contact.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional interconnect orientations are used to ensure electrical connectivity, then electrical connections are maintained, but light blockage increases and visual profile enlarges
Solution Approach 1:
The interconnect is reoriented from a planar configuration to a three-dimensional structure that extends perpendicular to the lens surface. This dimensional change allows electrical connections to be made at different depths and locations, reducing the interconnect's projection area on the lens surface and thereby minimizing light blockage while maintaining electrical connectivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The interconnect structure is nested within the lens body, with portions of the interconnect embedded or integrated into the lens material. This nesting approach allows the interconnect to occupy three-dimensional space within the lens rather than spanning across the surface, reducing visual profile and light blockage while maintaining electrical pathways.
2Reliability
If traditional interconnect orientations are used to maintain electrical connectivity, then electrical pathways are established, but structural stress increases
Solution Approach 1:
By extending the interconnect perpendicular to the lens surface into the third dimension, the design distributes mechanical stresses along the vertical axis rather than concentrating them in the planar plane. This dimensional redistribution reduces structural stress on the lens while maintaining electrical pathways between components.
3Illumination intensity
If interconnect is oriented perpendicular to lens surfaces to reduce light blockage, then visual profile is minimized and light transmission improves, but electrical connection reliability may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The interconnect is nested within the lens structure with embedded contacts that extend perpendicular to the surface. This nesting allows electrical contacts to be made at multiple levels and positions, ensuring reliable electrical connections while the perpendicular orientation minimizes the interconnect's visual profile and maximizes light transmission through the lens.
Solution Approach 2:
The interconnect employs localized contact points or contact regions at specific positions along its perpendicular length. These localized quality enhancements ensure reliable electrical connections at critical interfaces while the overall perpendicular structure maintains minimal visual profile for optimal light transmission.
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic contact lens contains electrical components connected by an electrical interconnect. The electrical interconnect has a flat body, with electrical conductors running length-wise along the body. The flat body is oriented perpendicular rather than parallel to the inner and outer surfaces of the contact lens to reduce a visible profile of the interconnect, reducing the amount of light blocked from entering the eye. The body has a curvature shaped to conform to the curvature of the contact lens. As examples, the interconnect may be connected with an electrical component using a tab perpendicular to the flat body of the interconnect, or by forming an edge connection with electrical contacts of the component located along an edge of the component, or through one or more exposed vias formed on the component.