History of Contact Lenses 2/2 « Part 1/2
The breakthrough in contact lens development came with the invention of plastic. In the U.S., Obrig and Mullen created the first lenses with polymethylacrylate (PMMA). With regard to comfort and safety, these lenses were remarkably better than glass lenses, even if PMMA itself is not oxygen permeable.
The first contact lenses resembling those we use today appeared in 1948 when Kevin Tuohy manufactured his lenses in America. Tuohy’s lenses, which covered only the cornea rather than the whole eye, were what we know today as “hard” contacts.
The development of soft contact lenses began in the 1950s and was based on a then-recent invention called hydroxyethylmetacrylate (HEMA). Chemist Otto Wichterle completed the first soft lenses in 1961 using a machine he made from bicycle parts and his son's mechanical construction kit. Based on Wichterle's work, Bausch & Lomb produced the first commercially available soft lenses in 1971.
Due to their thin structure and comfort, the soft lenses greatly increased the popularity of contacts. Nowadays the majority of contact lenses (around 90%) sold in the U.S. are soft lenses.
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