CONTACT LENSES TODAY
March 20, 2005
Contact Lenses Today® is edited by Dr. Joseph T. Barr and the staff of Contact Lens Spectrum. This
week CLToday® reaches more than 10,000 readers in 74 countries.
Contex to Promote Orthokeratology
Contex, Inc. is on a certification campaign to launch the Overnight OK Lens, which recently received FDA Approval
under the Bausch & Lomb Vision Shaping Treatment (VST) approval. As part of the campaign, Contex will host VST OK Lens certification seminars in
April throughout Southern California, where attendees will become trained and certified for both the VST and the OK E-System overnight lens. For
more information, or to find out where the certification seminars are taking place, call (800) 626-6839.
Dk/t – How Much Oxygen Is Really Enough?
Today, there is much being said about Dk/t and much debate about whether or not more oxygen really is better. You may be
surprised to learn that all available silicone hydrogel contact lenses provide essentially the same levels of oxygen to the cornea. ACUVUE®
ADVANCE™ Brand Contact Lenses with HYDRACLEAR™, for example, have a Dk/t level of 86 and provide 97% of all the oxygen that would be available
if you weren’t wearing lenses at all. By doubling this Dk/t number, the cornea only receives an additional 2% of oxygen.
--ADVERTISING
1-800 Welcomes New CEO
1-800 Contacts has appointed John R. Murray as
chief information officer. Mr. Murray has served as vice president and chief
information officer at the company since February 2005.
AOA CLCS Student Research Award Accepting Submissions
CIBA Vision is sponsoring the first national American Optometric Association (AOA) Contact Lens and Corneal Section
(CLCS) Student Research Award, which includes a $3,000 check, round-trip airfare (coach), hotel accommodation, meal and award plaque, presented at
the CLCS Annual Business Meeting and Luncheon at AOA's 2005 Optometry's Meeting in Dallas on June 24. The AOA CLCS will present the award to the
optometric student who has written the best research paper on silicone hydrogel contact lenses. The deadline is April 15, 2005 and the writer must
be present at the AOA CLCS's Annual Business Meeting and Luncheon. For more information, call Lila Rickart at (800) 365-2219 x 137.
Abstract:
Angiography Using a CL System with a Confocal SLO
Researchers manually aligned separate handheld contact and noncontact ophthalmoscopic lenses with the optical axis of
a confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscope (SLO) to demonstrate the feasibility of wide-field SLO angiography. They then designed and constructed an
integrated, wide-field contact lens system to increase the SLO's 10 degrees, 20 degrees and 30 degrees imaging fields to 50 degrees, 100 degrees
and 150 degrees, respectively. The researchers performed simultaneous fluorescein and indocyanine green angiography with the integrated, wide-field
contact lens system for more than 50 patients who had disorders that affect their peripheral retina and choroid. They found that you can study and
record peripheral retinal conditions to confirm observations from indirect ophthalmoscopy and to facilitate retinal photocoagulation and vitreoretinal
surgery. Also, a confocal SLO has adequate resolution for clinically useful reflectance and angiographic imaging, even when its field size is increased
by five-fold by a wide-field contact lens system.
Staurenghi G, Viola F, Mainster MA, Graham RD, Harrington PG. Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscopy and
Angiography with a Wide-Field Contact Lens System. Archives of Ophthalmology 2005 Feb;123(2):244-252.
Editor's Commentary:
How Do You Handle Change?
This year, we'll witness around a dozen new contact lens products introduced or reintroduced into this field. Most
practitioners, probably many who don't read this message, will wait to embrace new technology. They don't want to change. In terms of a book many of us
have read, they don't want their cheese moved. They don't want to tell a patient that they may have to pay another fraction of a dollar a day to see
better, feel better or to have better eye health than with the old fashioned, low-Dk, past-generation lenses. Some practitioners will just tell patients
to wear their old low-Dk lenses for shorter time periods and they will be fine. What do you think of this? I'll bet some of these doctors have the latest
in automobile technology. Do they recommend the safest options to their patients?
Fitting Tip:
CL CE
The reason why diagnostic continuing education is more prominent is related to the ability of optometrists to charge
professional fees (established by ophthalmology) that provide higher compensation for diagnostic workups than the fees provided by routine contact lens
services. As contact lenses are available from many discounted sources in addition to the doctor's office, we have to expand diagnostic services
(including specialty contact lenses) to attract and retain patients and to generate revenue. This change in market dynamics isn't going to go away and
the ability to provide valuable expanded professional services that generate appropriate compensation is mandatory for our profession to continue to be
independent and
to provide employment opportunities for new graduates. In addition, CE licensure requirements mandate that the majority of CE is pathology-based.
--John Funnell, O.D., F.A.A.O.
Manhattan Beach, Calif.
Don't Miss Out on the Global Orthokeratology Symposium (GOS)
(July 28 to 31, 2005 in Chicago, Ill. -- for the first time in the U.S.A.)
More than 20 hours of CE courses presented by
faculty of international experts.
--ADVERTISING
This month at http://www.siliconehydrogels.org, challenge any lingering doubts about the benefits of these
lenses, read about the advantages of using a proactive approach to contact lens fitting and learn about the benefits of these lenses for contact
lens-wearing patients who have seasonal allergies.
Report adverse contact lens reactions
here: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/ or call (800)
FDA-1088.
Access a reporting form for complications you've seen that were a result of contact lenses dispensed without a valid
prescription at the Association of Regulatory Boards of Optometry's (ARBO's) Web
site: http://www.arbo.org/arbo.asp?dt=R&doc=Complications. Complete and send the form
online or print it out and fax it to (866) 886-6164.
Send your favorite tips
to tips@cltoday.com -- if your tip is selected as 'Best of the Month,' you'll receive a free golf
shirt (see http://www.CLToday.com for details). Please include your full name, degree or title and
city/state/country.
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