Unilens Vision, which mostly manufactures and distributes specialty contact lenses, has announced the introduction of its latest product, C-Vue® HydraVue Multifocal contact lenses.

The new lenses are replaced monthly, made of a silicone hydrogel material and utilise Unilens’s patented technologies. According to the manufacturer, C-Vue HydraVUE Multifocal contact lenses are intended for individuals suffering from presbyopia, which is a condition affecting patients over the age of 40.

The company’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Kelly McKnight, stated that the lenses provide excellent near, far and intermediate vision thanks to the ‘rapid transition zone design technology’ that is incorporated within them. What is more, the new material they are available in is characterised by higher oxygen permeability, which means improved comfort and health.

It is believed that the number of presbyopic patients will rise dramatically in the coming years, so there will be a great demand for various types of multifocal contact lenses. Fortunately, contact lens manufacturers have recently launched a number of such contacts, and patients have an increasingly wide choice.

Most people wear contact lenses simply to see better, especially when it is difficult to wear glasses. However, as an eye care expert has recently pointed out, contacts could also be used as a fashion statement, which particularly applies to coloured contact lenses.

According to Melody Van Der Meer, despite being available for quite some time, coloured contact lenses have started to become really popular only recently. People come to optical shops not to find something that would just correct their vision problems, but something that would change their image. They look for a means to make a fashion statement and use contacts just like clothes, changing them regularly to suit their moods and situations they are in.

In addition, the expert stated, some people like making their fashion statements extreme in order to ‘freak others out’, wearing contact lenses with designs such as cats’ eyes or smiley faces.

Whatever contact lenses are used for, Van Der Meer emphasised, their wearers always have to keep them clean and follow lens care instructions.

It is hard to believe, but packets of daily disposable contact lenses helped a British backpacker to survive three days in the Australian outback.

Yes, those tiny amounts of contact lens fluid that protect daily lenses against contamination in transport allowed Samuel Woodhead (18) to avoid excessive dehydration and death at temperatures of up to 40°C.

Samuel had gone jogging in Queensland and got lost. The situation looked very serious, but when he searched through his rucksack, he discovered several boxes of daily contact lenses packed by his father some time earlier. He immediately started to unpack them and drink the fluid the lenses were placed in.

He was discovered after three days by a rescue team searching the area in a helicopter. Samuel’s family and friends were relieved to hear he was in good health and had no major injuries.

Daily disposable contact lenses have a great number of advantages, but the ability to save someone’s life is somehow never mentioned when they are discussed.

Researchers and specialist journals usually focus on contact lens technology, especially on the latest materials and designs. Contact lens care, which is almost as important to patients, tends to be overlooked. However, as Dr Loretta Szcotka-Flynn points out in her latest article published in Contact Lenses Today, a lot of progress has been made in this area recently.

At the 2013 Global Specialty Lens Symposium, which was attended by contact lens experts from different parts of the world, a special review of the research carried out by the American Food and Drug Administration into lens care was presented. It was based on several articles that appeared in Eye & Contact Lens and included information on the FDA’s examination of the characteristics of silicone hydrogel contact lenses and classifying them according to their water content, surface treatment and the content of hydrophilic monomers.

Thanks to this classification, lens care-related test will be much easier to conduct and their results will be much more reliable, resulting in improved standards of lens care and, hopefully, lower incidence of contact lens complications.

The fifth Global Lens Symposium was a great success and attracted a large number of contact lens practitioners. And it turned out that the most important trend in contact lens fitting is the use of scleral lenses.

One of the most popular of sessions of the symposium was entitled “Managing Large-diameter Lens Complications” and moderated by Dr Patrick Caroline. During this session, eye care practitioners mostly discussed ways of avoiding the pressure of scleral contacts on the cornea. The moderator described a study, which gave practitioners details on lens settlement and how it affects the process of fitting, including the level of initial central clearance.The symposium included several sessions associated with scleral contacts, providing attendees with information on various new designs, fitting techniques as well as solving different problems connected with large-diameter lenses.

Another session devoted to scleral contact lenses allowed practitioners to share experiences on the problem of decentration, which – though it is not very common, as scleral contacts are known for their stability – could prove difficult to deal with. 

The date of the next Global Lens Symposium has not been announced yet, but most of this year’s attendees declare their participation.