TITLE:
Is the Use of Empirically Designed Custom Soft Contact Lenses a Good Option for Challenging Patients?
AUTHORS:
Frank Spors, Donald J. Egan, Lance E. McNaughton, Jie Shen, Matthew J. Lampa
KEYWORDS:
Soft Contact Lenses; Custom Contact Lenses; Toric Contact Lenses; Contact Lenses for Astigmatism; Empirical Contact Lens Fitting
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Ophthalmology,
Vol.3 No.3,
July
24,
2013
ABSTRACT: Purpose: Reasons for the lack of success for contact lens
patients range from poor fit, to discomfort or to a less than optimum wearing
schedule. This project was a preliminary investigation of customized soft toric
contact lenses as an alternative for unsuccessful contact lens patients or
potential drop-outs. Methods: Fifteen
healthy non-compromised, previously unsuccessful contact lens wearing patients
(13 women, 2 men) with ages from 21 to 33 years (25.1 ± 2.7 years) were the subjects for this
study. They were empirically fitted with 15 astigmatic and 5 spherical
customized SpecialEyes soft contact
lenses. Visual acuities, comfort, lens movement, and rotation were evaluated. Results: Patients fitted with customized SpecialEyes soft contact lenses had
statistically significant better visual acuities than with Phoropter Manifest Refraction. The lenses used in this study centered
well and moved no more than 1 mm upon each blink. Lens rotation was less than 10 degrees for all toric
lenses. Patients gave very
positive vision and comfort ratings. Conclusion: This preliminary study supports the application of a software program to
empirically design and manufacture Special Eyes custom soft lenses based upon corneal topographical parameters and
subjective manifest refraction for those patients who either have challenging
corneal parameters, high sphero-cylindrical prescriptions, or are currently
dissatisfied with their contact lenses and are potential drop-outs.