New Products for Keratoconus and Post Surgical Corneas

We have some exciting new products to help patients with keratoconus and post surgical corneas.  There are new designs in both scleral and hybrid lenses.  Scleral lenses are designed to rest on the sclera (the white part of the eye) and vault over the cornea.  This design allows the lens to avoid contact with the corneal surface.  This is especially helpful in advanced keratoconus or scarred corneas.  Hybrid lenses have improved recently as well.  These are lenses that have a rigid center and a soft periphery.  This allows the lens to have comfort like a soft contact lens and optics like a rigid lens.  The oxygen transmission of  hybrid lenses continues to improve.

The new kid on the block is a soft contact lens designed for keratoconus.  These lenses have a thickened central portion that allows the lens to mask the irregularity associated with the keratoconus.  I was initially skeptical about this lens design until I saw the results.  While the optics may not be exactly as clear as with a rigid lens, they are surprisingly close and often are very well accepted by the patient.   This is especially helpful when rigid lens designs have become intollerant.  It is also possible to correct any residual astigmatism by designing the lens in a toric configuration.  Because of the soft material, these lenses have proven to be very comfortable. 

More to come.........