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 Sunday, April 27, 2008 A free weekly e-mail newsletter brought to you by: 
CLToday Contact Lens Spectrum
Edited by Carla Mack, O.D., F.A.A.O. and the staff of Contact Lens Spectrum
This week CLToday® reaches more than 14,000 readers in 74 countries. 
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B&L Introduces SofLens Daily Disposables

Bausch and Lomb (B&L) recently launched SofLens Daily Disposable contact lenses. SofLens Daily Disposable contact lenses offer a major improvement over SofLens One Day contact lenses, and are rated better than the leading daily disposable lens for end of day comfort and dryness, according to B&L. 
     Per the company, SofLens Daily Disposable contact lenses offer high quality vision, especially in low-light conditions, as the only daily disposable with aspheric optics designed to reduce spherical aberration across the full range of powers. B&L also states that the lens provides outstanding all-day comfort due to: a reduced mass design which provides less lens-lid interaction, the non-ionic hilafilcon B lens material which inhibits deposits and a unique lens storage solution which envelops lenses in a cushion of moisture with a slow release mechanism that supports wearing comfort throughout the day. Also the lens comes in an ergonomic blister pack which enables easy lens removal.  
     SofLens Daily Disposable lenses are available for shipment at the same price as SofLens One Day lenses. B&L asks that eyecare practitioners transition current SofLens One Day lens patients to SofLens Daily Disposables. In order to make this transition smooth for ECPs and patients, B&L will continue to ship SofLens One Day lenses (Rx and trials) through May 30, 2008.
     If you have any questions please contact your B&L representative or customer service at 1-800-828-9030. Information can also be found at www.bausch.com.

Tru-Form Optics Files Patent Lawsuit Against Blanchard

In February of 2008, Tru-Form Optics, Inc. filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of Texas against Blanchard Contact Lens, Inc. According to Tru-Form, the lawsuit charges Blanchard with infringing on Tru-Form's U.S. Patent No. 7,296,890 entitled "Contact Lens With Controlled Shape" by making, using, offering to sell and selling products that embody one or more claims of the patent. Per Tru-Form, the patent covers the Tru-Form Optics QuadraKone product and the intellectual property associated with it.
     Blanchard Contact Lens, Inc. is currently reviewing the patent and the prior art. "We do not believe that we are infringing, as we have been offering some of the designs mentioned in the patent well before the patent was filed. Blanchard Contact Lens firmly intends to stand up for what we believe is right for our practitioners and patients alike," said Jean Blanchard, President of Blanchard Contact Lens, Inc.
    The lawsuit is pending. 

CooperVision Sees Need to Educate Americans on Options for Managing Presbyopia

A new survey, conducted by Harris Interactive and sponsored by CooperVision, found that 83 percent of U.S. adults aged 18 years and older are not aware of the vision condition, presbyopia. In response to these findings, CooperVision has launched a consumer public relations campaign focused on educating patients on presbyopia and directing them to speak with their eyecare practitioner to learn about the vision correction options available to them as they develop the condition. "The lack of awareness around presbyopia is surprising, especially since more Americans than ever are developing the condition in light of the maturing baby boomer population," said Doug Brayer, marketing manager at CooperVision.
     Harris Interactive fielded the study from February 8-12, 2008 via its QuickQuery online omnibus service, interviewing a nationwide sample of 2,075 U.S. adults aged 18 years and older. The survey also found that only 27 percent of U.S. adults queried expect to need bifocals or reading glasses. "We've set out to raise awareness around presbyopia by providing eyecare practitioners with educational materials and other tools that will help them inform their patients of the condition. We want people to know that they do have contact lens options that can help them grow older more gracefully," said Brayer.
     Consumers can find more information on presbyopia, CooperVision Multifocal contact lenses and a Find an Eyecare Practitioner search tool at www.multifocalcontacts.coopervision.com

Offer Comfort and Convenience to More Types of Patients

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*Important Product and UV Information | Important Safety Information
--ADVERTISING

Prevent Blindness America Invites Consumers to "See America" through Nationwide Contest

Prevent Blindness America launched its "See America" contest, an effort to educate Americans about the importance of preventive eye exams to promote overall vision health.
     The "See America" contest is open to all those affected by impaired vision or vision loss who feel as though they have "missed" important moments in their lives. From April 14 through July 31, entrants are asked to submit stories about a time in their life that they have had to sacrifice due to poor eye health. A secondary component of the contest submission is to include a destination within the United States that entrants want to visit if they win and why that destination is so important to them. Families of the visually impaired are also invited to submit nominations.
     The national nonprofit group will award the grand prize winner with the opportunity to "See America" with four complimentary plane tickets to any United States destination of their choice. The first runner-up will receive two complimentary plane tickets.
     Those interested in the contest should go to www.preventblindness.org/seeamerica to obtain contest parameters and submit their story, or call 1-800-331-2020 to receive information on submissions by mail or fax.

Abstract: Simulation of the Effect of Soft Toric Contact Lenses Movement on Retinal Image Quality

This study reports on the development of a tool designed to dynamically simulate the effect of soft toric contact lens movement on retinal image quality, initial findings on three eyes, and the next steps to be taken to improve the utility of the tool.
     Three eyes of two subjects wearing soft toric contact lenses were cyclopleged with 1% cyclopentolate and 2.5% phenylephrine. Four hundred wavefront aberration measurements over a 5-mm pupil were recorded during soft contact lens wear at 30 Hz using a complete ophthalmic analysis system aberrometer. Each wavefront error measurement was input into Visual Optics Laboratory (version 7.15, Sarver and Associates, Inc.) to generate a retinal simulation of a high contrast log MAR visual acuity chart. The individual simulations were combined into a single dynamic movie using a custom MatLab PsychToolbox program. Visual acuity was measured for each eye reading the movie with best cycloplegic spectacle correction through a 3-mm artificial pupil to minimize the influence of the eyes' uncorrected aberrations. Comparison of the simulated acuity was made to values recorded while the subject read unaberrated charts with contact lenses through a 5-mm artificial pupil.
     For one study eye, average acuity was the same as the natural contact lens viewing condition. For the other two study eyes visual acuity of the best simulation was more than one line worse than natural viewing conditions. The researchers concluded that dynamic simulation of retinal image quality, although not yet perfect, is a promising technique for visually illustrating the optical effects on image quality because of the movements of alignment-sensitive corrections.
Niu Y, Sarver EJ, Stevenson SB, Marsack JD, Parker KE, Applegate RA. Dynamic simulation of the effect of soft toric contact lenses movement on retinal image quality. Optom Vis Sci. 2008 Apr;85(4):230-5.

Editor's Commentary: Recognizing Opportunity

While watching my daughter's soccer game last weekend, I noticed an interesting use of spectacles for both sun and presbyopic correction by another parent who was also there spectating. The parent wore a pair of sunglasses with a pair of clear reading glasses that sat further down her nose over top of the sunglasses. Yes, we've all seen it, those who choose to wear two pair of spectacles at one time. I couldn't help but think that this patient is of course a great candidate for multifocal contact lenses. Her near vision must have been important to her as she wore the reading glasses the whole game even though most of what she was viewing was at a distance. I also think she is a great candidate for a pair of prescription sunglasses.
     I often hear pessimistic comments regarding the difficulties in growing our practices. We have opportunity with patients such as the parent I described. If she were to walk into your practice, are you sure that you or your staff would have elicited the appropriate history to fully understand her needs and then to recommend options she may not know exist? If she is a potential patient who has not seen an eyecare provider is some time, are you actively seeking out new patients by asking for referrals from current patients, advertising your expertise in local newspapers and through direct mailings? I couldn't help but think that as eyecare providers, we somehow failed this woman who appeared more comfortable than she should have wearing two pair of specs.
Carla Mack, O.D., F.A.A.O.

This month at www.siliconehydrogels.org: research on patient compliance, piggyback lenses for patients with irregular corneas, measuring intraocular pressure over higher modulus lenses, and part 1 of our 2007 AAO update.
Report adverse contact lens reactions here: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/ or call (800) FDA-1088.

Report possible grievances related to the Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act or associated Contact Lens Rule at: https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01.
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For more information on Contact Lenses Today including archives of previous issues or to subscribe to this newsletter, please visit our website at www.cltoday.com. For the latest articles on contact lenses, important clinical information and helpful tools related to the contact lens practice visit the Contact Lens Spectrum website at www.clspectrum.com.
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