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Glasses like smartphones, thousands of microbes on the surface

by admin

The eyes are one of the coronavirus gateways into the human body. Chinese doctors first noticed this, who had noticed too low a percentage of people with glasses compared to the average among Covid-19 patients. When then in Italy, more precisely at the Spallanzani Institute in Rome, the coronavirus was found in the tear fluid the circle was closed: the eyes can be infected and infect; the glasses are a protective shield. Against Sars-Cov-2, of course, but also against the thousands of viruses and bacteria that deposit on the inner and outer surface of the lenses every day. Like the smartphone, which numerous researches have indicated to be a receptacle for dirt, glasses are also among the surfaces with the highest contact: the wearer touches them hundreds of times a day, often without realizing it, just like the mobile phone. What’s more, droplets of saliva emitted by those around us when talking, coughing or sneezing also end up on their surface.

Several scientific studies have analyzed the varied composition of microbes present on glasses, noting that it is the lenses – and not the frames, temples or nose pads – that attract the highest number of pathogens. Here they survive for several hours, if not days: the variables that influence their survival are many and the time varies from species to species. Many studies have also been conducted on the coronavirus to understand how long it survived on different surfaces and it has been shown that, depending on the material on which it is deposited, it remains alive for up to 72 hours.

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The strength of silver

Cleaning your glasses often is certainly the first piece of advice to give. But more can be done, you can have lenses with antimicrobial and antiviral properties. The secret is in silver, used since ancient times to sterilize wounds and cure many diseases: already appreciated for its effectiveness by the ancient Chinese dynasties, about 2000 years later, in 400 BC, silver was also used in preparations by Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine. In the 17th century, silver was considered an essential multipurpose medicinal product, useful for treating epilepsy such as cholera. A century later it began to be used as eye drops for infants – a cure for blindness caused by postnatal eye infections. In short, before the advent of antibiotics, silver was considered to all intents and purposes the main remedy against bacteria. Forgotten for a long time, in recent years its characteristics have been rediscovered and the applications of this metal in the medical, biological and hygienic fields have increased exponentially. Not just bacteria, but viruses too: silver kills or inhibits hundreds of viruses, many of which are known to affect the respiratory system, and is considered a broad-spectrum antiviral agent.

Antibacterial lenses

So here’s the idea: inserting silver nanoparticles into the lenses capable of making surfaces microbe-proof. To do this, it is necessary to combine the most advanced knowledge of materials science with treatment processes by means of vacuum deposition: a new technology, patented by Zeiss, which allows specific quantities of silver in the form of nanoparticles to be inserted into the anti-reflective layers. The nanoparticles are fixed in the anti-reflective matrix and constitute a reserve of silver ions, able to migrate towards the surface of the lens which thus acquires antimicrobial and antiviral properties, as shown by several studies. The tests confirmed the ability of the lenses thus treated to eliminate 99.9% of viruses and bacteria. So if it is true that lenses are a receptacle for microbes, it is also true that technology allows us to protect ourselves. And to do it effectively.

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