Contact lenses are used by over 150 million people worldwide. Their main applications include vision correction, therapeutics, and cosmetics. A project, lead by IMSE Affiliate Ali Yetisen, seeks to develope sensors that respond to variations in the molecular composition of tears in the eye that could point out a particular pathological or physiological process. The idea is that these devices will have applications in the testing of tears at point-of-care settings to monitor conditions and diseases in the eye.

Ali's team collaborate with the Imperial College School of Medicine, NIHR London IVD Co-operative, Bausch & Lomb. His project was published in several high-impact journals and was presented in Tech Foresight 2039 Conference, and Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Annual Conference in 2019.