July 31, 2019
Contact lens materials and designs require continuous improvement, as changing conditions and new usage patterns encroach on comfort and visual performance. A chemist with a top contact-lens manufacturer shares the technical challenges of research and development, and how you can best serve patients.
ROUGHER & ROUGHER CONDITIONS. Contact lenses need to withstand more than they did in the past, such as the long plane ride in which there is Wi-Fi that allows travelers to work on digital devices for hours in an arid environment.
STAY AHEAD OF KNOCK-OFFS. Contact-lens manufacturers and doctors need to stay ahead of the inferior product knock-offs sold by some direct-to-consumer retailers. To meet that challenge, contact lenses in new, more advanced materials are constantly being created in research and development.
EDUCATE PATIENT. Explain to patients that contact lenses are medical devices. Just as they probably wouldn’t buy any other medical device on the black market, they also shouldn’t buy their contact lenses from sources not trusted by the doctor. The OD can also note the small the difference in cost between an advanced contact lens and an inferior product if that cost is weighed against the importance of comfort and a superior wearing experience.
Steve Dimanti is Senior Manager, Technical Marketing, with CooperVision.
