Many of the 25 million United States soft lenses wearers would prefer to use lenses on an extended wear basis rather than moving them each night. However, the increased risk of ulcerative keratitis has discouraged that option. New high oxygen transmissibility lenses improve the safety of extended wear, but trapped debris and metabolic wastes still pose a problem. The P.I. goal is to improve tear flushing through knowledge of ocular shape and soft contact lens dynamics, thereby further enhancing the safety of extended wear soft lenses. Several innovations are proposed that will allow the full relevant ocular shape (including limbus and sclera) to be measured. The shape of the soft lens as it drapes on the eye will also be measured. From that information and finite element modeling I will develop a map that predicts the movement and centration of the lens. The predicted motion and centration will be validated by direct video measurements of the motion of a variety of different lenses on a variety of different eyes. The resulting products will enable people to safely use contact lenses on an extend wear basis by allowing doctors to select the best soft lens design for the patients particular occular shape. Ocular shape and extended ware soft contact lens fitting.
Success in our extended coverage algorithm, lens fitting and lens design programs will have significant market impact. We are in licensing discussions with an instrument vendor for our hard contact lens splicing technology. The proposed products are even more desirable and therefore will be easy to license. Validation will potentially allow peripheral corneal shape measurements to help in designing ablation techniques for refractive surgery and contact lens application when the surgical outcome is a residual ametropia.
