CONTACT LENSES TODAY
April 1, 2007
Contact Lenses Today® is edited by Dr. Joseph T. Barr and the staff of Contact Lens Spectrum. This week CLToday® reaches more than 12,000 readers in 74 countries.
Menicon Launches PremiO
Contact lens manufacturer Menicon Co. Ltd., has launched a new silicone hydrogel contact lens, Menicon PremiO. The lens features the company’s MeniSilk and Nanogloss technology, which
it says ensures smooth surface reproducibility and wettability. The PremiO is approved for daily-wear and up to seven days of extended-wear on a two-week replacement schedule.
SynergEyes’ Website Re-Launch
SynergEyes has re-launched its website with new features for practitioners and patients. The site, http://www.synergeyes.com, provides detailed
product information on the company’s contact lenses, including lens care and removal videos for patients. Practitioners can use the site for online training, fitting resources, practice development tools and account
information, as well as the “SynergEyes A” lens calculator.
UltraVision Offers Plasma-GP
UltraVision has announced the launch of its Plasma-GP lens. The company initially supplied plasma-GP lenses in Contamac’s Optimum Extra material, but is now able to provide plasma
surface treatment on all GP materials at no cost to customers.
Real-World Advantages
A traditional ballast lens design means more interaction between the contact lens and lid, causing less stability when the eye is open. The Accelerated Stabilization Design (ASD) of
ACUVUE® ADVANCE™ Brand Contact Lenses for
ASTIGMATISM means less interaction between the lens and the lid. The design breakthrough of the ACUVUE® ADVANCE™ Brand for
ASTIGMATISM offers real-world results for your patients: crisp, stable vision throughout daily activities and superior rotational stability. Patients reported very good or excellent vision during night
driving, while playing or watching sports, or working on a computer. With ACUVUE® ADVANCE™ for
ASTIGMATISM, the difference is clear to your patients. And now, ACUVUE ADVANCE for
ASTIGMATISM meets more patients' needs with the introduction of -2.25 cylinder.
--ADVERTISING
Ceragenin has Potential in Ophthalmic Applications
Ceragenix Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on infectious disease and dermatology, announced the results of a study on the use of ceragenins in ophthalmic
applications. Dr. Paul Savage, a Reed M. Izatt Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Brigham Young University presented to the information at the first Asia-ARVO meeting on March 2, 2007. The in vitro data
showed ceragenin-based contact lens disinfectant solution showed a 4.19 log reduction of
Fusarium solani after 1.5 hours of soaking and completely killed a strain of
Candida Albicans within six hours of soaking.
Dr. Savage identified three areas of potential use in ophthalmic applications: use in contact lens disinfectant solution; use to treat
contact lens storage cases to help prevent the growth of biofilms; and use to treat disposable contact lenses and intraocular lenses. Ceragenix has not yet filed an application with the FDA seeking clearance to
market any ophthalmic products.
NLS Celebrates Talking Book Program
The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), Library of Congress, is recognizing the ways its network library partners engage people in reading in
celebration of National Library Week (April 15 to 21). NLS has provided blind and physically handicapped readers with free reading materials for more than 75 years. Through its talking book program, NLS delivers
books on tape and special playback equipment at no charge to the reader.
NFOS Accepts Transitions’ Health Sight Counseling Program
The National Federation of Opticianry Schools (NFOS) has announced it accepts the principles of Transitions Partners in Education Health Sight Counseling program and recommends the
integration of such subject matter into the opticianry school curricula. The program introduces an integrated approach to healthy sight that promotes customized vision correction, maintenance and preventive eyecare
and increased professional/patient awareness of eye health through education.
Abstract:
Tinted CLs for Bothnia Dystrophy Patients
Researchers from the University of Umea’s Department of Clinical Sciences/Ophthalmology in Sweden recently conducted a study to determine whether tinted contact lenses could improve visual function for patients with
Bothnia dystrophy (BD). They fit 12 patients with BD with soft contact lenses, tinted dark brown. They measured participants’ visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, near vision and visual fields before and one month
after fitting. Participants also filled out a visual function questionnaire. Investigators also tested the physical properties of the lenses with spectrophotometry.
They found patients with the lowest VA described the most obvious improvement in visual function and continued wearing the lenses after the study concluded. Patients with the best VA preferred lighter CLs and a few
in this group discontinued lens wear upon completion of the study. Researchers conclude that dark tinted contact lenses can improve visual function in BD patients. The optimal color for lenses varies, depending on
the season and the individual patient. They further suggest that other patient groups with retinal dystrophies associated with prolonged dark adaptation or dysfunction of the cone system, such as cone dystrophies
and achromatopsia, may also benefit from such a lens.
Jonsson AC, Burstedt MS, Golovlea I, Sandgren O. Tinted contact lenses in Bothnia Dystrophy. Acta Ophthalmol Scand. 2007 Mar 22;[Epub ahead of print].
Editor's
Commentary:
He's Not a
Plant
For those who may wonder, Dr.
Ditto's comments below are unsolicited, in the sense that I did not ask him
directly for them. They are a response to my commentary last week about
unanswered questions regarding contact lenses.
Perhaps I need to ask for your feedback another way: What do
you want us to tell you? What tips do you want? Ask us and we'll ask our
Contact Lens Spectrum consulting and contributing editors for their
response.
Now about Dr. Ditto's comments. Why would this doctor, in a
not-so-large Ohio town, have such good results in extended-wear with these
lenses? My guess, knowing him, is that he communicates well with his patients.
Note his comment on compliance. Obviously, obtaining full treatment plan
adherence (compliance) is a high priority for him, thus his good results.