History Of Contact Lenses PDF

HISTORY OF CONTACT LENSES Noeh O. Fernandez Jr., OD, MATS  The Early Contributors The early ‘contributors’ were not describing contact lens applications Leonardo da Vinci (1508)  Sketches of a schematic eye  Describes the mechanism of image fo...

HISTORY OF CONTACT LENSES Noeh O. Fernandez Jr., OD, MATS  The Early Contributors The early ‘contributors’ were not describing contact lens applications Leonardo da Vinci (1508)  Sketches of a schematic eye  Describes the mechanism of image formation from the cornea to the optic nerve  Some drawings may represent the idea of a ‘contact’ lens Rene Descartes (1637)  Understood that better vision could be achieved by enlarging the retinal image  Sketched an elongated tube filled with water placed against an eyeball  Demonstrated the principle of telescope, not the contact lens Philip de la Hire (1685)  Attempted to show various optical phenomena in myopes were corrected with spectacle glasses applied to the cornea  Telescopic or image magnifying device  Not a contact lens Thomas Young (1801)  Used a water filled tube to study the accommodative process placed in contact with the eye  Proved that the cornea played no part in the accommodative process  Not a contact lens Sir John Herschel (1845)  Postulated the fitting of a spherical glass or jelly over the corneal surface, made from an impression of the cornea  First person to describe concept of cosmetic lenses  Father of Contact Lenses John Herschel (1845)  Described the following: - Need to correct irregular cornea - Contact with the eye - Eye impressions - Need for a transparent medium - Combining a soft material with a rigid overlying material William White Cooper (1859)  Recommended the insertion of a ‘glass mask’ filling the fornices, in order to prevent formation of a symblepharon following lime burns of the eye  Possibly the first to suggest use of a therapeutic contact appliance Xavier Galezowski (1886)  First person to apply a therapeutic contact device  Use gelatin square soaked in mercury chloride  First drug delivery system The Emergence of Contact Lenses Noeh O. Fernandez Jr., OD Inventors of Contact Lenses  Adolf E. Fick  Eugene Kalt  August Muller Adolph E. Fick (1888)  “Contactbrille” or Contact Spectacles  Used blown glass shells  Diameter = 14.00 mm  Scleral Flange = 3.00 mm  Corneal curvature = 8.8 mm  Scleral Radius =14.0 mm Fick’s Contact lens HVID: 11.7 mm Diameter: 14.0 mm OUCH !!! Adolf E. Fick (1888)  Precorneal space filled with 2% glucose  First published paper on practical clinical attempt to correct visual problems  Shells were fitted to six patients with highly irregular corneal surface due to scarring Eugene Kalt (1888)  Devised the first contact lens for keratoconus  Wanted to remodel the corneal curvature by using glass contact shells  Resulted in substantial visual improvement Eugene Kalt’s Contact Lens August Muller (1889)  Use the term “Hornhautlinsen’ or contact lens  Noted that a steeper corneal radius needed a larger dioptric correction which he attributed to the lacrimal meniscus De Sulzer (1892)  Observed that a ‘fluid lens’ acted as an artificial refracting medium Henry H Dor (1892)  First to replace the glucose solution used by Fick with normal saline Thomas Lohnstein (1896)  Bilateral keratoconic  Produced a spectacle with saline-filled lens cups- ‘water spectacles’  Cups could be worn for 1-1.5 hours  Device was known as ‘hydrodiascope’ 1896-1912  Very little progress in the contact lens field  Elschnig’s criticism of Fick:  CLs only usable in primary position  Difficult to manufacture  Difficult to insert  Cause mechanical irritation53  The Pioneering Contact Lens Companies Noeh O. Fernandez Jr., OD FA Muller and Sons (1887)  Artificial eye makes in Wiesbaden, Germany  In 1887 they fitted protective glass shell to the eye of a patient who had a partial lid removal FA Muller and Sons (1887)  Made lenses from blown glass  Very regular curvature, no sharp edges at the corneo-scleral junction  Generally better tolerated than lathe cut lenses  Designed a lens for ptosis correction CARL ZEISS of Jena (1911)  Made lathe cut lenses from molds  Lathe cutting resulted in a better optical performance  First commercially available trial lenses  Complete trial set contained 21 lenses  Lenses were afocal  Fitting determined by fluorescein and white light Muller-Welt Contact Linsen  Founded in 1947, Stuttgart  Initially devloted to the advancement of glass, fluid lens scleral contact lenses  Established a Toronto and Detroit laboratory in 1949 Contact Lens Material Development Rohm and Haas (1930s)  Produced an acrylic resin (called Plexiglass) for the aviation industry J Crawford and R Hill of ICI (1934)  Developed and patented the material polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)  Trade name of Perspex (latin for transparent) PMMA for Scleral contact Lenses  Rapidly became the material of choice for the construction of corneo-scleral lenses for the following reasons:  Low specific gravity  Ease of manufacturing PMMA for Scleral Contact Lens  William Feinbloom (1936)  Ernest Mullen (1938)  Theodore Obrig (1938)  Istvan Gyorrfy (1938) William Feinbloom (1936)  Developed a hybrid contact lens consisting of a glass corneal portion and translucent plastic scleral skirt Ernest Mullen (1938)  Became interested in developing a totally plastic contact lens  Discovered the effect of the lens tear layer which altered the prescribed power of the lens Theodore Obrig (1938)  Discovered the use of fluorescein and cobalt blue light for examining the post-lens tear fluid  Established that comfort determined the success in wearing contact lenses Istvan Gyorrfy (1938)  Published a paper, “the history of the all- plastic lens”  Claimed to have identified “Plexiglass” as a suitable contact lens material PMMA for Corneal Contact Lenses Dennis England (1946)  Patent rejected on the first PMMA corneal contact lenses for the following grounds:  Many eyes present corneal surfaces of irregular curvature; keratometer measurements alone would not prevail  Corneal clearance is ordinarily a primer requirement for a comfortable fit of a contact lens  The objectives of such lenses are obviously met by the E. Kalt (1887) lenses Kevin Tuohy (1946)  Lenses were patented as the first corneal contact lenses George Butterfield (1950)  Described the concept of a multicurve corneal contact lens design  The flatter posterior peripheral curves approximated the non-spherical corneal shape Hydrogel and Silicone Contact Lenses (SOFT CL) O Witchterle and D Lim (1954)  Synthesized a hydrogel material that was compatible with the human body  First lenses fitted to human eyes in 1956 but were unsuccessful due to their heavy weight and fragility  Discovered the manufacturing technique of spincasting (witchterle)  Patented technique in 1961 Soft Contact Lens Develoment  National Patent Development Corporation and Dr. Robert Morrison bough spin-casting patent rights – 1964  Bausch and Lomb acquired licencse to manufacture spin-cast lenses - 1966 Soft Contact Lens Development  US FDA classified soft contact lens as a ‘drug’ – 1968  Bausch and Lomb obtain FDA approval to market Soflens - 1971 Silicone Elastomer  Walter Becker commenced his silicone elastomer contact lens patent – 1956  Joe Breger acquired the Becker patent – 1959  The Dow Corning Company acquired Breger’s technology - 1972 Silicone Elastomer  Dow Corning received FDA approval for silicone in 1981 called “Silsoft” (worn as a daily wear cosmetic lens and as an extended wear lens for aphakia)  Technology was bought by B & L in 1985 John de Carle (1970)  Pioneered the development of continuous wear soft contact lenses  Developed Permalens (71% water)  Rigid Gas Permeable Contact Lenses (RGP) J Teissler (1937)  Made scleral shells from cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB)  First gas permeable lenses  Poor optical quality The First Rigid Gas Permeable Lens  Silicone acrylate  ‘Polycon’ patented in 1972 by Norman Gaylord  Leonard Seidner – Father of RGP Disposable Soft Contact Lenses Orlando Battista (1978)  Developed collagen contact lenses  Conceived the concept of throwaway or disposable lenses Michael Bay (1980’s)  Developed ‘Danalens’ the first commercially available disposable lens  In 1984, the Dana disposable lens from Denmark was purchased by Vistakon Commercial Success with Disposable Lenses  In 1987,Vistakon released the Acuvue lens on a limited basis in the USA  In 1988, Vistakon launched Acuvue; B & L launched Seequence; CIBA vision launched NewVues Daily Disposable Lenses (1994)  First developed and marketed by Vistakon, Johnson and Johnson  Uses the automated continuous-flow process technique