The foundation of this program is largely thanks to coordinated support from all the industry sponsors and their genuine interest in involvement in student and eye care education. This program generates student enthusiasm and enhances their confidence in providing visual benefits of specialty soft contact lenses to their patients.

AllAboutVision.com's #ShareForSight campaign is using social media to mark World Sight Day, October 9, and to raise money for the World Sight Day Challenge benefitting Optometry Giving Sight.

Each day from October 3-9 the site will debut a video, quiz, slideshow or article with a new post on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+. AllAboutVision.com will donate $7 to Optometry Giving Sight for every share, Like, Retweet, Repin or +1 of those posts.

To participate, simply follow AllAboutVision.com on social media and share the posts leading up to World Sight Day. For more information, see http://www.allaboutvision.com/shareforsight/.

The GPLI (GP Lens Institute) Practitioner of the Year Award is presented annually for outstanding professional expertise in fitting customized contact lenses to benefit patients with improved vision and corneal health, and to advance the contact lens field. This year the award was presented to Clarke D. Newman, OD, FAAO, during the annual meeting of the Contact Lens Manufacturers Association (CLMA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The GPLI is the educational division of the CLMA.

Dr. Newman, a graduate of the University of Houston College of Optometry, is in private practice in Dallas, Texas. His practice specializes in the visual rehabilitation of patients who have had corneal diseases, failed refractive surgeries, or corneal trauma. Dr. Newman is a past president of the Texas Optometric Association and a volunteer advocate for the American Optometric Association. Dr. Newman is member of the AOA's Cornea and Contact Lens Section, a diplomate in the Section on Cornea, Contact Lenses and Refractive Technologies of the AAO, and a distinguished practitioner in the National Academies of Practice.

Dr. Newman was instrumental in development of the Coding and Billing module which resides on the www.GPLI.info website. He continues to update this educational tool with current medical codes and has led webinars on behalf of the CLMA / GPLI with emphasis on specialty lens coding - resulting in record attendance to these educational webinars. He writes and lectures frequently on a wide range of anterior segment and contact lens topics.

We thank Dennis Bunz for this image and we welcome photo submissions from our other readers! It is easy to submit a photo for consideration for publishing in Contact Lenses Today. Simply visit http://www.cltoday.com/upload/upload.aspx to upload your image. Please include an explanation of the photo and your full name, degree or title and city/state/country.

A Hyperope from Berkeley with Curved Corneas

I was at UC Berkeley College of Optometry recently speaking to our future colleagues about their future careers. Afterwards, I was sitting around with a group of students and one exceptional student made a very depressing statement; "I’ll never be able to wear single use lenses." (If you have read my columns over the past 10 months, many of you will understand why my ears perked up.) She went on to say that she was a very high hyperope with two diopters of astigmatism. My response, "Oh?" (spoken somewhat melancholy and sadly). The astigmatic hyperope has been a challenge for many of us in our career. I reckon that every contact lens practitioner can think of at least one hyperope that they have walked through the CL fitting process with and can relate to the struggles.

We then started discussing options. Gas permeable lenses still remain an incredible opportunity for patients. They work exceptionally well for individuals with high amounts of ametropia. Given the effects with vertex distance, they work exceptionally well for hyperopes to reduce accommodative demands. Beyond that, we certainly can look to scleral lenses. Some may think that is a bit complicated, but if corneal GP lenses are out and a patient struggles with rotation of soft or comfort with hybrid lenses, sclerals are a choice that we are turning to more and more for patients with regular corneas. Hybrid lenses are also a good solution due to their comfort/vision benefits and they tend to have a large power range.

Lastly, one more tip is to evaluate these patients HVID (Horizontal Visual Iris Diameter) and keratometry readings more closely than other patients. They may have struggled with off the rack products (if in their power range) in the past due to a fitting issue. Discuss with your soft lens laboratory of choice the power and, more importantly, the parameters of the eye when ordering to ensure a centered, properly moving soft lens. Although our very bright future colleague from Berkeley may be sunk with daily disposable at the moment, she has an ever expanding world of exceptional contact lens options. Happy Fitting.

2014 Contact Lens Microbiology Workshop: Revamping Microbiological Test Methods for Contact Lenses, Products, and Accessories to Protect Health and Ensure Safety

On September 12, 2014, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) co-sponsored a workshop with the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Academy of Optometry, the American Optometric Association, and the Contact Lens Association of Ophthalmologists. The purpose was to bring together researchers and others affected by FDA’s former and potential actions regarding:
1. Emerging pathogens in contact lens-related keratitis
2. The role of organic soil models in disinfection efficacy testing
3. The development of a test method for disinfection efficacy tests for Acanthamoeba

The FDA sought to procure discussion and input on these issues. The meeting minutes have not yet been posted, but FDA Press Officer Jennifer Rodriguez states that the FDA is planning to write a publication this year summarizing the consensus points/results of the workshop. She also states, “We are considering the information obtained both from the May 2014 Ophthalmic Advisory Panel Meeting and this workshop as we consider any potential updates or revisions to our guidance documents for daily wear contact lenses and their accessories.”

We at Contact Lenses Today will keep you posted!

1. Personal communication, Jennifer Rodriguez, September 24, 2014.
2. http://www.clwkshop.org/

The 17 eyes of 17 healthy young participants were evaluated. All of the participants had myopia (>= -5.00 D) and mild to no astigmatism (<1.00 D). Automated kinetic perimetry was performed using the Octopus 900 perimeter with Goldmann stimuli III4e, I4e, I3e, I2e, and I1e, with stimuli presented at 14 predetermined meridians, and a velocity of 3°/s. Optical defocus was induced with soft contact lenses, and varied in 1 D increments between 0 and +7 D. Kinetic sensitivity at each defocus was evaluated and compared to sensitivity with no defocus.

Although kinetic sensitivity with the III4e and I4e stimuli decreased slightly at the inferior nasal, total kinetic sensitivity measured with the III4e and I4e stimuli was unaffected by optical defocus. Conversely, kinetic sensitivity measured with the I3e, I2e, and I1e stimuli decreased at defocus greater than +6 D (p < 0.05), + 3 D (p < 0.01), and at a defocus greater than +1 D (p < 0.01), respectively.

Kinetic sensitivity was unaffected by defocus when measured with III4e and I4e stimuli. However, measurements with I3e, I2e, and I1e stimuli were affected, in particular measurements with I2e and I1e stimuli. Therefore, the researchers concluded that optimal refractive correction with a contact lens or a spectacle lens is required in order to obtain accurate kinetic perimetry results, particularly for lower intensity stimuli.

Hirasawa K, Shoji N. Effect of Optical Defocus on the Kinetic Perimetry in Young Myopic Participants. Curr Eye Res. 2014 Oct 1:1-6. [Epub ahead of print]