CONTACT LENSES TODAY

November 9, 2003

Contact Lenses Today® is edited by Dr. Joseph T. Barr and the staff of Contact Lens Spectrum. This week CLToday® reaches nearly 10,000 readers in 74 countries.

Australian Organization Forms to Fight Blindness and Impaired Vision Worldwide
The Australian Goverment Minister for Science just lauched the Vision Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) in Sydney, Australia, with a $32 million CRC Grant. Aside from the grant, 38 Australian and international organizations will invest $35 million of cash and in-kind support over the next seven years. As its first priority, the Vision CRC will target a cure for myopia but other key targets include a gel lens to restore reading vision; eliminating avoidable blindness and impaired vision worldwide; and creating a new generation of leaders for vision research, education and public health in eye care. Professor Brien Holden is the CEO of the Vision CRC.

B&L Files Suit Number Three Against CIBA
Bausch & Lomb filed a lawsuit last week in the U.S. District Court in Rochester, New York, alleging that CIBA Vision infringes B&L's patented method of cast molding contact lenses in which oxygen is removed from plastic mold pieces before casting the lenses (U.S. Patent No. 5,681,510) in the making of CIBA's Focus Night & Day contact lenses. B&L has asked the court for injunctive relief requiring CIBA to discontinue manufacturing the Night & Day lenses and has asked for monetary damages for infringing its patented technology. This marks the third patent infringement lawsuit that B&L has brought against CIBA for its Night & Day lenses.

OCRT Joins with AAO Section on Cornea and Contact Lenses
The Optometric Council on Refractive Technology (OCRT) plans to join with the American Academy of Optometry (AAO) Section on Cornea and Contact Lenses at the AAO annual meeting in Dallas next month. According to OCRT Vice President Paul Karpecki, OD, FAAO, the organization made this decision so it would have an established educational meeting where optometrists and researchers can meet to exchange ideas and to discuss relevant issues. The OCRT wants to involve anyone who has an interest in refractive technology. For more information, contact Louis J. Phillips, OD, FAAO, OCRT president, at (724) 933-5588 or e-mail lp@sightlinelaser.com.

B&L Initiates Year-Long Celebration
Bausch & Lomb recently began a year-long celebration of its 150th anniversary. At the start of the celebration, the company announced the launch of the Visionaries Recognition Program to honor the contributions of U.S. eyecare professionals who, according to B&L, embody the highest ideals in vision care and who personify its commitment to "Perfecting Vision. Enhancing Life." Eyecare professionals will nominate five honorees, whom an independent Visionaries Selection Committee will review and select in 2004 as Visionaries. These indivduals will share equally a $150,000 donation to the vision-related charities of their choice.

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Web Site Provides CL Database and Other Useful Tools
Todd M. Zarwell, OD, of Wisconsin, recently put together the Web site The EyeDock (http://www.eyedock.com). Visit the site and search for information on various soft contact lenses (it doesn't yet have information on GPs, but directs you to the RGPLI Web site). The EyeDock also offers calculations for conversions; oblique crossed cylinders; and a contact lens calculator prototype. Additionally it will soon provide a database of ophthalmic medications.

CLMA Board Members to Meet
The Contact Lens Manufacturers Association (CLMA) is encouraging all of its members to attend the winter Board of Directors meeting on January 25, 2004 in Orlando. To obtain additional information about this event call (800) 344-9060.

CIBA Releases Survey Results
In another e-mail survey of 127 U.S. eyecare professionals, CIBA Vision found that 74% believe that consumer advertising is effective in bringing patients into the office. Fifty-eight percent reported that messages regarding new technology have the greatest impact in consumer advertising, followed by 17% saying that messages about price have the biggest impact and 13% who say that the cosmetic appeal of a lens has the biggest impact. In addition, 61% of surveyed practitioners say that they are in favor of increased consumer advertising by contact lens manufacturers; many others feel that the level of consumer-directed advertising is about right as it is.

Abstract: Reducing Myopia with OCT and CRT
Using optical coherence tomography (OCT) to measure corneal thickness and Paragon Vision Sciences CRT lenses (Dk = 100 as specified by the manufacturer) fit on one eye overnight, the authors found significant central corneal epithelial thinning (5.1% +/-4.9%) for the test eye. Midperipheral epithelial thickness increased from 1.9% temporally to 2.4% nasally. The control lenses caused no significant epithelial thickness change. Average myopia reduction was 1.18D (0.81D).

Wang J, Fonn D, Simpson T, Sorbara L, Kort R, and Jones L. Topographical Thickness of the Epithelium and Total Cornea after Overnight Wear of Reverse-Geometry Rigid Contact Lenses for Myopia Reduction. Invest Ophthalmol & Vis Sci 2003 44(11): 4742-4746.

Editor's Commentary: Watch Out for Power Measurements with Autolensometers
Although I'm not familiar with all versions of modern autolensometers, the ones I'm familiar with may not give you the readings you're hoping for as compared to a normal manual lensometer because of spherical abberation and power shift in the aspheric lenses. For example, high plus lenses and posterior aspheric GP multifocals will read more plus (less minus) on the autolensometer because of off-center assessment as compared to the manual lensometer.

Fitting Tip: Getting a Better Grip
Do you have problems when trying to insert contact lenses into the eyes of patients who are lacrimating profusely? I insert the lens with my index finger and hold down the bottom lid with my second finger, which often slips from a wet lower lid. To get around this problem, I wrap a tissue around my second finger. It absorbs the tears and also makes it easier to grip on to the bottom lid.
--Simon Donne, MCOptom, BSc
Bedford, UK

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