CONTACT LENSES TODAY
September 11, 2005
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.
FDA Approves New Hybrid Lens
SynergEyes has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
to market its SynergEyes A hybrid contact lens for the correction of hyperopic, myopic and astigmatic
refractive errors, as well as presbyopia. The new lens is designed with a high-Dk rigid center with a
hydrophilic, non-ionic soft skirt and is approved to treat ametropia from -20.00D to +20.00D with up to
6.00D of astigmatism. The company says its HyperBond junction technology makes the interface between soft
and rigid portions of the lens durable and comfortable for all day wear. SynergEyes plans to launch the
lens this fall.
Florida Optometric Association Partners with CLES
The Florida Optometric Association (FOA) is now a Contact Lens and Eyecare
Symposium (CLES) partner for CLES 2006, scheduled to take place January 11-14, 2006 at the Royal Pacific Resort at
Universal Orlando. In this role, FOA will promote the CLES meeting to its membership and all optometrists
in the state. Visit www.cles.info.
Baltimore to Host Two NEI Exhibits
Two educational exhibits from the National Eye Institute about how vision works
will be open to the public in Baltimore, Md. this fall. The first, VISION, explains how the eye and brain work
to create vision and how researchers are developing novel strategies to protect our eyesight from disease and
developmental problems. It also features a display of artifacts including antique spectacles, eye charts and
Army Signal Corp binoculars. VISION will be on display at the Maryland Science Center from Sept. 13 to Jan. 1,
2006. The second, THE EYE SITE, is an interactive exhibit that educates visitors about the causes and treatment
of low vision. It will be open at the Enoch Pratt Library’s Central Branch on Cathedral St. on Oct. 6th.
ACUVUE® ADVANCE™ Brand Contact Lenses for ASTIGMATISM help unmask low
cylinder astigmats.
Correcting astigmatism used to be a choice between clear, stable vision and
long-lasting comfort. For low cylinder astigmatic patients this meant a spherical or aspheric lens prescription
that masked their condition.
Now, you have a chance to unmask these patients. Because of Accelerated
Stabilization Design, ACUVUE® ADVANCE™ for ASTIGMATISM offers crisp, stable vision regardless of the
activity. Because of patented HYDRACLEAR™ Technology the new lens provides immediate and all-day comfort.
Now, patients might not have to tolerate even a low level of blur that comes with masking their astigmatism.
--ADVERTISING
Correction
Last week’s edition of CLToday included
a typographical error in the Baby Eyes DVD web site link. The correct address is
www.babyeyesdvd.com
. CLToday regrets the error.
Personalizing Marketing Materials
PatientBuilder.com, an online resource for personalized marketing materials, now
offers a line of ophthalmic materials, including items for refractive and cataract surgery specialties. Online
templates let users create professional marketing pieces and development tools. A ListBuilder function allows
access to customized target mailings lists.
Con-Cise Announces Director of Sales
Jack Jenkins has been promoted to Director of Sales for Con-Cise Contact Lens Co.
and Westlens Inc. Jack has 13 years of experience with the company and has served as Regional Sales manager for
the last two years. He will direct and manage sales for the company’s representatives in nine western states.
Abstract:
Empirical Vs. Trial Fitting of Ortho-K Lenses
Scientists at the Eurolens Research, Department of Optometry at the University of Manchester
and CLS Software in Cambridgeshire compared the short-term clinical performance of two reverse-geometry rigid
lens systems with different fitting approaches and designs. They assigned 24 subjects to wear an experimental lens
fit empirically and a more established lens fit using a trial set system, contralaterally for seven nights. Measurements
were taken at baseline, day one and day seven (morning and afternoon). There were no significant differences
between the lenses for best-corrected visual acuity, change in apical radius, corneal staining and subjective
reaction. Clinical data showed that the established lens effected more myopic reduction and better unaided
visual acuity than the experimental lens during the seven-day period.
Maldonado-Codina C, Efron S, Morgan P,
Hough T, Efron N. Empirical versus trial fitting systems for accelerated orthokeratology. Eye Contact Lens. 2005
Jul; 31(4):137-47.
Editor's Commentary:
Send Your Thoughts
I have taken up running recently. I've worn my glasses, my sun clip-ons, my clear
contact lenses and sunglasses (it’s nice to be able to take them on and off) and the new "sport-tinted lenses"
(grey-green and amber). I'm not sure which is best and would like your feedback on this topic. If it is really
sunny the sports-tinted lenses are nice. If it's variably cloudy the clear contact lenses and sunglasses are nice.
I don't have dryness with any of these when I am running like I do in other situations.
Fitting Tip:
Tip from the Wild
If a patient frowns at the prices of the new silicone hydrogels and other advanced
lenses compared with their current lenses, I compare this price to what they spent on their last pair of specialty
footwear (i.e. hunting boots, running shoes, golf shoes, heels for an upcoming wedding).
I ask, "How much did
you spend on your last pair of hunting boots? Think of how often you wear those. Now isn't the cost worth it for
something you wear (on your eyes) all day, every day?" Comfort and eye health has a value and this reasoning helps
put it in perspective for some people.
Marc Frederiksen, O.D.
Plover, Wis.
This month at http://www.siliconehydrogels.org, review the
significance of Œmodulus of elasticity‚ as well as the aetiology of soft contact lens-induced superior epithelial
arcuate lesions, look into the performance of lotrafilcon B lenses intended for daily, flexible or extended wear,
and read a recap of silicone hydrogel-related presentations at the 2005 BCLA conference.
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 posters and issue archives. Visit Contact Lenses Today
for our Best Fitting Tips.
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