Unilens Vision Inc. announced the launch of the monthly C-Vue Advanced Toric Multifocal. The C-Vue Advanced Toric Multifocal for astigmatic presbyopes will allow for complete customization including the capability to specify the add power and zone size. The monthly replacement lens features a free trial program, advanced hydration material and exceptional deliverability (typically ships within 2 to 3 days).
     C-VUE Advanced Toric Multifocal is available in new convenient blister packaging with hioxifilcon D, a material which offers advanced hydration properties that allow it to retain 97% of its moisture resulting in all day comfort, according to Unilens. The lens is an easy to fit specialty toric multifocal contact lens, designed in a wide range of customizable parameters including made to order base curves, diameters, powers and cylinders combined with axis in one degree steps. Practitioners can even specify individual add powers and zone sizes.
     "The launch of the C-VUE Advanced Toric Multifocal continues our time honored tradition of providing outstanding specialty lens technology exclusively to licensed optical professionals," stated Michael Pecora, Chief Executive Officer of Unilens Vision Inc. "With our Free Trial Program and 120-day performance guarantee, we eliminate the time and expense of returning lenses, thereby increasing profitability to the Independent Eye Care Professional as well," concluded Mr. Pecora.
     Visit www.unilens.com for additional information.

SynergEyes, Inc. announced that it has received an additional patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The new patent pertains to SynergEyes' hybrid contact lens bonding technology and manufacturing processes and complements prior patents awarded SynergEyes for its high Dk hybrid contact lens design. The patent is for a hybrid contact lens with intermediate zones that facilitate chemical bonding between the zones and the methods to manufacture. This is the 12th patent awarded SynergEyes for its advanced hybrid contact lens technology.
     Joe Collins, SynergEyes co-founder and Vice President of Manufacturing and R&D, commented, "SynergEyes, Inc. is dedicated to providing our customers with innovative technology in hybrid contact lenses. This new patent significantly enhances our intellectual property portfolio and represents highly valued strategic assets that distinguish our products in the contact lens industry."
     For more information on SynergEyes lenses, visit www.synergeyes.com.

The Core Planning Team of the Eye Health Summit announced the formation of the Healthy Eyes for Life Foundation. Created to increase the public's awareness about the importance of eye health, the foundation will develop a nationwide messaging campaign that directs people to take better care of their eyes.
     Jim Anderson, attorney for Anderson, Howe and Steyer, has been appointed acting chairman of the organization and an interim board of directors has been named, including: Barry Barresi, OD, American Optometric Association; Edward Greene, The Vision Council; Tom Hicks, Opticians Association of America; Steve Ingram, National Association of Vision Care Plans; Wally Lovejoy, Luxottica Retail; Greg Marko, Transitions Optical; Daniel Monaco, Essilor; Stan Rogaski, Contact Lens Institute; Dave Sattler, Alcon Labs and Jeff Todd, Prevent Blindness America.
     For the remainder of 2009, the Healthy Eyes for Life Foundation will continue communicating with Summit attendees, conduct an executive management search and create a foundation identity, brand and key marketing pieces. In 2010, the foundation will develop messaging and conduct a search for a creative agency. A foundation brand and partner guidelines will also be created and the campaign will be launched to the vision community. A consumer launch is anticipated in 2011.
     For more information on the Summit, visit www.eyehealthsummit.com.  

ACUVUE® DIRECT™ simply delivers convenience and affordability for your contact lens patients. With ACUVUE® DIRECT™, patients purchase an annual supply of contact lenses, reducing upfront costs while receiving year-long benefits. They will appreciate the convenience of free home delivery: four times a year, ACUVUE® DIRECT™ ships a 3-month supply directly to their home. ACUVUE® DIRECT™ also saves time for your staff, since they no longer need to reorder lenses during the year. Patients also receive quarterly tips on healthy wear, plus a year-end reminder to return to your office for their annual eye exam. ACUVUE® DIRECT™ means increased patient loyalty, improved patient compliance, and decreased office time from reordering lenses.
Ask your sales representative or call 1-800-874-5278 to register for ACUVUE® DIRECT™.
Click here for more information.

ACUVUE®, ACUVUE® DIRECT™, and VISTAKON® are trademarks of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc.
© Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. 2009
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Optometric Nutrition Society (ONS) announced their Second Annual Education Symposium which will be held at the Orlando World Center Marriott on November 10, 2009, one day prior to the annual meeting of the American Academy of Optometry. The society has assembled well-qualified thought-leaders in the field of nutrition study to provide exciting presentations for members and non-members alike. Speakers include: Floyd Chilton, PhD, Barrie Tan, PhD, Douglas McKay, ND, Hal Bohlman, OD, FAAO and Loren Cordain, PhD. Courses are COPE approved or COPE pending.
     Following the education program, attendees are invited to join the popular "Cabernet, Chocolate and Chatter" reception where they'll have a chance to interact with sponsors and speakers. Registration can be completed on the ONS website at: www.optometricnutritionsociety.org.

The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) announced the 2009 Fall Allergy Capital rankings. The annual research project ranks the fall's 100 most challenging cities for people with fall allergies. The top five cities this year are: McAllen, TX; Wichita, KS; Louisville, KY; Oklahoma City, OK; and Jackson, MS. In addition, according to a recent AAFA survey, fall is also one of the most troublesome times of year for people with eye allergies. In the survey, nearly a third (29%) of respondents said that they experience eye allergy symptoms in Autumn. A full report of the fall rankings and a summary of the eye allergy survey findings are available for free at www.AllergyCapitals.com. 
     To help allergy sufferers better understand and manage the condition this fall, AAFA is offering a free educational brochure titled "Eye Health and Allergies." The brochure, supported by 1·Day Acuvue Moist brand contact lenses, includes vital allergy season advice for the nation's 40 million contact lens wearers. The brochure, which also includes a Free Trial Pair Certificate for the contact lenses (professional exam and fitting fees not included), can be downloaded at www.AllergyCapitals.com.  

A new online optical coherence tomography (OCT) resource for the eye care industry was launched by Carl Zeiss Meditec. Eye On OCT (www.oct.zeiss.com) is the most extensive resource for news and education about OCT technology and clinical application for ophthalmologists, optometrists and other eye care professionals, according to the company.
     Dedicated exclusively to the eye care industry, Eye On OCT contains a broad compendium of resources for eye care professionals, including: Physician Spotlight, OCT Journal Articles, News Articles, Case Reports and Educational Presentations, OCT Image Gallery, Profiles, Calendar of Global Events and User-defined Newsletters.
     "We are pleased to offer this educational resource to the eye care community as part of our commitment to support the advancement of OCT," said Michael Kaschke, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Carl Zeiss Meditec. "Throughout the years, we have had the opportunity to pioneer many exciting OCT technologies and to watch OCT become the standard of care in ophthalmology and optometry. Now, it is our privilege to provide a venue for practitioners to access new and exciting clinical applications in OCT technology as we prepare for the next level of innovation in this exciting space."

Plan now to attend the Global Specialty Lens Symposium in January 2010. With an expert international faculty and a CE-accredited agenda, the 2010 GSLS will include insightful presentations by experts in the field, hands-on demonstrations of cutting-edge products as well as scientific papers and posters. Look for more detailed information in future issues of Contact Lens Spectrum and online at www.GSLSymposium.com.
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Paragon Vision Sciences requested that we print a correction to last week's story. Currently, corneal reshaping patients qualify for CRT SureFit when they meet the following criteria: Flat keratometric readings of 41.00D to 45.00D (not 42.00D to 45.00D as originally reported) and spectacle refraction (vertexed) -4.00D and below, with or without up to -1.00D of corneal cylinder.     
     In addition, the link to the consumer educational Vision Care Supplement from USA Today is available at http://www.paragoncrt.com/usatoday.pdf.

Bausch & Lomb (B&L) announced it has acquired the commercial assets of Tubilux Pharma S.p.A., an Italian ophthalmic pharmaceuticals company that develops and markets a range of proprietary, over-the-counter, and branded generic products primarily in Italy, and with distribution in approximately 30 other countries.
     Under the terms of the agreement, B&L has acquired the company's ophthalmic pharmaceuticals portfolio, as well as its commercial and sales operations. Group Tubilux will retain its manufacturing operation, producing existing products for B&L under a multi-year contract.
     The acquired Tubilux portfolio includes products for dry eye relief (Oxyal, Lipimix, and Vitadrop); for glaucoma (Cebrolux and Timolux); for anti-infective use (Oftaquix); and for anti-inflammatory use (Fluaton).

Researchers set out to investigate whether wearing different presbyopic vision corrections alter the pattern of eye and head movements when viewing and responding to driving-related traffic scenes. Participants included 20 presbyopes (mean age: 56.1 +/- 5.7 years) who had no experience wearing presbyopic vision correction, apart from single vision (SV) reading spectacles. Each participant wore five different vision corrections: distance SV lenses, progressive addition spectacle lenses (PAL), bifocal spectacle lenses (BIF), monovision (MV) and multifocal contact lenses (MTF CL). For each visual condition, participants were required to view videotape recordings of traffic scenes, track a reference vehicle, and identify a series of peripherally presented targets. Digital numerical display panels were also included as near visual stimuli (simulating the visual displays of a vehicle speedometer and radio). Eye and head movements were measured, and the accuracy of target recognition was also recorded.
     The path length of eye movements while viewing and responding to driving-related traffic scenes was significantly longer when wearing BIF and PAL than MV and MTF CL (both p </= 0.013). The path length of head movements was greater with SV, BIF, and PAL than MV and MTF CL (all p < 0.001). Target recognition and brake response times were not significantly affected by vision correction, whereas target recognition was less accurate when the near stimulus was located at eccentricities inferiorly and to the left, rather than directly below the primary position of gaze (p = 0.008), regardless of vision correction.
     The researchers concluded that different presbyopic vision corrections alter eye and head movement patterns. The longer path length of eye and head movements and greater number of saccades associated with the spectacle presbyopic corrections may affect some aspects of driving performance.
Chu BS, Wood JM, Collins MJ. Influence of Presbyopic Corrections on Driving-Related Eye and Head Movements. Optom Vis Sci 2009. 

In teaching optometry students, we discuss a variety of approaches to fitting GP contact lenses including both diagnostic and empirical methods. Given my mode of practice, I prefer diagnostic fitting as it gives me a better indicator of the fit, but I certainly understand the appeal of empirical fitting as well. I think that some of us often take our diagnostic lens fitting sets for granted. It is critically important to remember that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends 3% ophthalmic grade hydrogen peroxide disinfection for 10 minutes after each use of a diagnostic fitting lens.
Jason J. Nichols, OD, MPH, PhD, FAAO 

This month at www.siliconehydrogels.org: adverse events with daily wear of silicone hydrogels, SEALs with extended wear, controlling case contamination, contact lens complications, and part two of our AAO 2008 synopsis.