Contact Lenses UK

And yet more technological progress in the realm of contact lenses has been announced this week, with the announcement hat Auburn University has developed some special contact lenses that can be used to gradually dispense medicine into the eye.

The Auburn University team of chemical and biomedical engineers led by Mark Byrne, the Daniel F. and Josephine Breeden associate professor in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, has developed these new types of lenses which will slowly and continuously deliver eye medication all the time the lenses are being worn.

Correct Vision and Deliver Medication Simultaneously

What’s more, as well as delivering the medication in a constant flow, the lenses can still be used to correct vision if necessary, or they even come in neutral lenses that won’t interfere with a patient’s natural vision.  It is envisaged that these lenses will be used to deliver anti-biotics, anti-inflammatories or anti-allergy medication directly to the eye.

These new ‘smart’ lenses come in two varieties: Daily Wear lenses that can be worn for 24 hours continuously or continuous wear lenses that can be worn for up to 30 days.  All the time the lenses are worn, they are continuously delivering small, measured doses of the medication.  This is a definite improvement on eye drops which normally are washed away by teas within 30 minutes of being inserted into the eyes.

Speaking of his new lenses, Byrne said; “Eye drops and ointments make up more than 90 percent market share, but are an inefficient, inconvenient method. Our lenses offer the increased efficacy and efficiency of drug delivery, which translates to better eye health.”

He continued: “Unlike other contact lens technologies, we make our lenses. These aren’t contacts soaked in a medication that only release for a very short time. We are administering a drug through controlled release by creating drug memory in the lens structure while maintaining all of the other lens properties.”

It sounds like a winner to me, but what do you think about it?

I thought I’d start the week with a feel-good story.

In August, a man from Montana who has been classed as almost legally blind since childhood underwent surgery to have implantable contact lenses placed into his eyes.  He now has almost 20/20 vision in each eye.

Casey Lang, from Missoula, Montana was the first person in the town to undergo this surgery.  Four more people have had the surgery since he had it.

What are Implantable Contact Lenses?

Implantable Contact Lenses or as they are also known, phakic ICLs, are contact lenses that are surgically implanted into the eyes to correct vision. They are used when standard Lasik or Lasek Eye Surgery wouldn’t work.

I know in the past I’ve talked about self-focussing lenses, but they have yet to be developed, whilst this is an amazing and real piece of technology that is already being used to change lives.

How Do They Work?

The ICLs are made from a material called Collamer which is compatible with the structure of the eye, so there is no risk of rejection or complications.

If your optician thinks you are a suitable candidate for ICL surgery, they will take accurate measurements of your eyes and have a specially made lens constructed for you.

Most cases of ICL surgery are for myopia as people who are short-sighted have slightly larger eyes than long-sighted people.  Whilst ICL can be carried out on long-sighted people, it all depends on the size of their eyes.  There needs to be enough room in the eye to comfortably accommodate the lens.

During surgery, which is carried out under local anaesthetic, a small incision is made either into the iris or into the cornea and the lens is inserted.  If the incision is made in the cornea, it is normally so small that it is self-healing – no stitches are needed.

The main advantage of these ICLs is that your eye continues to function normally, i.e. it continues to use its own natural lens for close up work and only uses the added ICL when it needs to focus on things far away.  However, this means that the eyes must still be capable of doing self-focussing.  For this reason, ICL surgery is only suitable for people aged between 21 and 50.

If this is you, this might be something worth considering.

We first heard of the Triggerfish electronic sensor back in 2009, and now this amazing piece of contact lens technology is being used to spot glaucoma in patients where the traditional intraocular pressure or IOP test carried out at the optician’s fails to make a diagnosis.

The Triggerfish is already being used in Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland and Spain as of last week; it is now being used in Britain too by Mr Qureshi, of the London Eye Hospital.

Raised eye pressure, known as intraocular pressure, is a key indicator of glaucoma. The problem with a traditional IOP test is that the intraocular pressure at the time of the test might not be particularly high.  This could lead to a false negative result being given by the optician and lead, therefore, to a delay in diagnosing glaucoma and starting treatment for this sight robbing disease.

How Does It Work?

The Triggerfish is a small electronic sensor that sits on a silicon contact lens and monitors IOP throughout a complete 24 hour period.  The patient also has to wear a small adhesive antenna on the side of their head, which receives the data from the lens and transmits it to a small, battery operated recorder. The lens, which is even worn when the patient is sleeping, records IOP levels and these results are sent to the recorder via the antenna.

After the day is up, the patient returns to the optician’s clinic where the lens is removed and the data from the recorder is analysed on a computer.  This revolutionary piece of technology enabled Mr Qureshi to diagnose glaucoma in its earliest stages in Mr Michael Sleddon from Leamington Spa.

Not Only Useful For Diagnosis Either

The Triggerfish, which can be worn by anyone who is not allergic to silicon, or not suffering from any eye infections or redness at the time, can not only be used to diagnose glaucoma, but also to monitor how well patients are responding to their glaucoma treatments.

Now this is the kind of bionic eye that I think none of us would mind wearing.  But what do you think?