CONTACT LENSES TODAY
May 28, 2006
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 and
NKL Create Alliance
NKL B.V., the largest GP manufacturer in the Netherlands,
has entered into a strategic, long-term alliance with Menicon Co., Ltd. The
companies agree to collaborate in all areas of global operations including
R&D, manufacturing, logistics, marketing and sales. As a result, NKL will
begin to manufacture contact lenses Menicon’s materials and distribute both
Menicon lenses and lens care products in the Dutch market. Menicon will
distribute NKL’s contact lenses through is European subsidiaries in France,
Germany, Spain and the U.K.
Expanded
Lens Offerings
- Bausch & Lomb (B&L) will expand the range of
parameters for its PureVision toric lens starting in the first week of June.
The new range includes powers from plano to -6.00D in 0.25D steps and from
-6.50D to -9.00D in 0.50D steps; cylinders -0.75D, -1.25D and -1.75D and axes
10 to 180 in 10 steps.
- Hydrogel Vision Corporation has expanded the
availability of its Extreme H2O 54% soft contact lenses with a new 14.2mm
diameter option. The company says the new diameter is meant for patients with
an HVID > 11.8. Available parameters now include: 13.2mm diameter in median
base curve and powers from +6.00D to -12.00D (in 0.50D steps over -6.00) and
in 14.2mm diameter in median base curve and powers from -0.25D to -6.00D. Free
diagnostic sets are available from the manufacturer or authorized
distributors.
- Vistakon announces ACUVUE OASYS Brand Contact Lenses
are now available in a full range of expanded parameters. The new parameters
include high minus, from -6.50D to -12.00D, in 0.50D steps and high plus
options, from +4.25D to + 6.00D in 0.25D steps and from +6.50D to +8.00D in
0.50D steps.
New
Ocu-Ease, Disposable Lens
The new Ocu-Ease Elite soft contact lens from
Ocu-Ease Optical is made of methafilcon A and contains 55% water. The disposable
lens is tinted for visibility and packed in a blister pack of six. The lens is
available exclusively to eye care practitioners.
Dryness = Dropouts What effect does contact lens dryness
have in your contact lens practice? Of the 31 million soft contact lens wearers,
21 million, or 67%, self-report that eyes feel dry during contact lens wear.
There are nearly 2.7 million contact lens dropouts annually. Many of these
dropouts say dryness was a major reason for discontinuing lens wear. Offering
patients ACUVUE® OASYS™ Brand Contact Lenses with HYDRACLEAR™ Plus, a lens designed to meet the demands of contact
lens wearers in environments that can make eyes feel tired and dry, can keep
patients wearing their contact lenses longer and boost your contact lens
practice.
--ADVERTISING
Seminar
Focuses on Fitting Presbyopes
Bausch & Lomb and ABB Optical, an
authorized Boston lab, will host a free COPE-approved dinner seminar in New York
on Wednesday, June 7th. The focus of the seminar will be presbyopia fitting
strategies. Dinner will be held at the Marriott East Side, NY, beginning at
6:30pm. The seminar will begin promptly at 7:00pm. To RSVP, call Doreen Gaede or
Suzy Kearns at 1-800-336-6974, extensions 0561 and 6133, respectively.
Global
Keratoconus Congress 2007
Mark your calendars for the first-ever Global
Keratoconus Congress to be held January 26-28, 2007 in Las Vegas. The Global
Keratoconus Congress is an assembly of experts in the field of patient care,
teaching and research. They will share the latest information on this chronic
sight-threatening condition that affects one in 2,000 people. Attendees will
learn about the latest approaches to contact lens fitting, surgical techniques,
clinical research and appropriate third-party reimbursement for medically
necessary contact lens care. Manufacturers and laboratories that support the
care of these patients will assist in demonstrating the usefulness of their
latest products and treatments. More information will be coming soon.
Abstract: Multifocal Vs.
Monovision for Low-Astigmat Presbyopes
Researchers at the Ohio State
University’s College of Optometry in Columbus recently conducted a crossover
study of 38 patients to assess visual performance and patient satisfaction with
two presbyopic soft contact lens modalities. Patients were randomized into
either multifocal (Bausch & Lomb SofLens Multifocal) or monovision (SofLens
59) lenses for one month. Researchers measured performance with high- and
low-contrast visual acuity and satisfaction with the national Eye Institute
Refractive Error Quality of Life (NEI-RQL) Instruments questionnaire. They also
recorded patients’ final lens preference.
Patients maintained at least
20/20 binocular vision with both multifocal and monovision under high-contrast
conditions at distance and near. Under low-contrast conditions, patients loss
less than one line of acuity from BCVA with either modality. Under low-contrast
conditions at near, multifocal wearers lost five to six letters of acuity versus
two letters for monovision wearers. Patients reported worse clarity of vision,
more symptoms and an improvement in their appearance with contact lens wear on
the NEI-RQL. The majority patients (76%) preferred monovision contact lenses
compared with monovision (24%). Researchers conclude this preference is likely
due to the excellent visual acuity of the SofLens multifocal with less
compromise in stereoacutiy than monovision.
Richdale K, Mitchell GL, Zadnik K. Comparison of multifocal
and monovision soft contact lens corrections in patients with low-astigmatic
presbyopia. Optom Vis Sci. 2006 May;83(5):266-73.
Editor's Commentary:
Workshops Thrive Internationally
I sincerely appreciate this very nice
correspondence from Professor Debbie Sweeney and IACLE:
Dear Joe,
We at the International Association of Contact Lens
Educators (IACLE) read your Editor's Commentary, "Workshops work" (see CLToday, May 14th) with great interest. As I am sure
you are aware, IACLE has been promoting a similar initiative in recent years,
and we wanted to share that with you.
Through our collaboration
with IACLE's industry sponsors and educators across the world, it is clear that
although a close relationship exists and is in fact common practice between
educational institutions and industry, this is certainly not the case everywhere
in the world. One of IACLE's aims is to facilitate the valuable connection
between educators and industry in our member institutions, particularly in the
developing world.
For
example, IACLE promotes Industry Seminars, where representatives from all IACLE
industry sponsors are invited to visit our member institutions to present
product-related information to students and faculty. We also try to encourage
industry to provide hands-on workshops with their products so students and
educators can gain first-hand, practical experience with products. IACLE also
continually challenges industry to donate trial lenses and care products to the
institution for use in their contact lens clinics, as well as lenses for the
students themselves. IACLE strongly believes that students who have personally
experienced the benefits of contact lenses will be far better at promoting
contact lens options to their patients on graduating.
Through these multi-sponsor,
IACLE industry seminars, students and future practitioners gain:
- Up-to-date knowledge of the contact lenses and lens
care products available to them
- Information about the local contact lens market
- Practical experience with the products during the
hands-on workshops.
We also firmly
believe these seminars have a great deal to offer the industry by providing not
only exposure for their products, but also interaction with the educators and
students, their future customers.
IACLE agrees with your
view that the future of the contact lens field may depend on getting students or
future practitioners this kind of product exposure, and we encourage all
educators to arrange similar activities at their institutions.
Keep up he great work with the column!
Debbie Sweeney,
IACLE
President
Removing
Larger Diameter GP lenses
Large diameter GP lenses have been wonderful for my
patients with irregular astigmatism. The large diameter provides a larger
optical zone and helps the lens to center, which maximizes acuity and decreases
ghosting. Patient comfort is improved and the computer-generated lenses can be
custom designed so that one quadrant is steeper or flatter than the other.
I agree with last week’s tip
that removal of the large diameter lenses may seem challenging at first. I
instruct patients to open wide, pin their lids (begin to pull from the center of
the upper lid) and just before the blink, push gently against the globe at 12
o'clock. This releases any suction and the lenses come off very easily. For
patients who use a suction cup, I instruct them to place the suction cup at the
six o'clock position. This helps break any seal as well. If the suction cup is
placed in the center of the lens and the lens is tight, it is difficult to
remove the lens (not to mention scary for the patient).
Carrie S. Gaines, O.D., F.A.A.O.
Washington University Department of
Ophthalmology and
Visual Sciences
The Global Orthokeratology
Symposium presents "Fundamentals of Corneal Reshaping" — a newly formatted educational
experience for 2006. Held in conjunction with the Southern California College of
Optometry, this 2-day course designed for the novice or new orthokeratology
practitioner will focus on patient selection, corneal topography, choosing a
design — plus "live" fitting and next-day follow-up with actual patients. Go to
www.GOS2006.com for more information.
--ADVERTISING
This month at http://www.siliconehydrogels.org, consider prescribing silicone hydrogels for
pediatric patients, evaluate the effectiveness of “no rub” multipurpose
solutions, and read part two of our Academy 2005 synopsis.
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.
Visit Contact Lens Spectrum ( http://www.clspectrum.com ) for interactive clinical
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