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LenSense Inc., a 91������ startup, has secured a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to develop and commercialize an innovative contact lens-based intraocular pressure (IOP) monitor for diagnosing and managing treatment of glaucoma.

Glaucoma affects over 450,000 Canadians and is a leading cause of irreversible vision loss, often progressing unnoticed until significant vision loss occurs. Regular eye check-ups are crucial for early detection, but traditional methods require a doctor’s visit and provide only a single IOP snapshot, making it difficult to spot trends over time.

LenSense’s device enables continuous calculation of IOP, allowing for more accurate monitoring, earlier detection, and improved treatment efficacy for glaucoma, thereby reducing the risk of blindness.

“Early detection and monitoring of elevated IOP are crucial for the management of the disease,” says Tanzila Afrin, co-founder of LenSense, who has been working closely with the IOP sensor inventors Yong Jun Lai (Mechanical and Materials Engineering), Robert Campbell (Ophthalmology), and Angelica Campigotto, who was a Queen’s PhD candidate during the invention process. “The commercialization of LenSense's contact lens-based IOP monitoring device has the potential to significantly improve the quality of life for individuals with glaucoma.”

Drs. Lai and Campbell, along with their teams, are collaborating with industrial and medical partners, including Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC) and the Toronto Kensington Eye Institute, to advance the device through essential preclinical studies before clinical trials. Having already begun manufacturing the prototype, LenSense will complete these studies this spring and plans to submit its pilot clinical study for Health Canada approval.

The $596,700 CIHR grant is a key milestone for LenSense, supporting its entry into clinical studies. The company was incorporated in 2022 with funding from Queen’s collaboration with the Toronto Innovation Acceleration Partners’ Venture Fund and has continued to move forward with the guidance from Michael Wells, Partnerships Development Officer with Queen’s Partnerships and Innovation (QPI), as well as other programs and mentors, including Tandem Launch and the OBIO® Women Entrepreneurship Program.

“We feel very fortunate to have secured funding in the CIHR Commercialization stream,” says Dr. Afrin. “This opportunity is exciting because it allows us to go beyond research and advance the technology closer to market.”

Stephen Scribner, Director of Intellectual Property and patent agent at QPI, has led efforts to secure crucial intellectual property rights for the technology. Queen’s and KHSC have obtained four U.S. patents, with applications pending in Canada and Europe. LenSense will license the technology from these institutions, and has submitted trademark applications in Canada and the U.S. The company is also seeking to hire additional researchers to enhance the artificial intelligence (AI) components of its technology.

With patents secured and grant funding in place, along with ongoing support from 91������ and collaboration with leading medical institutions, LenSense is poised to make a significant and positive impact on the lives of glaucoma patients.