CONTACT LENS MANAGEMENT
Great Leaps Forward
What's new in bifocal contact lenses.
BY RICHARD W. BAKER, O.D., F.A.A.O.

Many recent advances have been made in bifocal contact lens design and in manufacturing technology. Computer-assisted lathes have made possible the development of designs that provide sharper optics and better vision. Advanced materials provide improved comfort and help reduce the incidence of dry eye and its complications.

These changes are important to optometric practice. No doubt you're familiar with the active lifestyle and demands of the vast population of aging Baby Boomers. They aren't willing to settle for wearing spectacles instead of, or in addition to, their contact lenses, and you need to know what to offer them. Here's a look at what's new to satisfy this huge and growing group of patients.

New gas permeable products

New gas permeable lens options include the following:

Mandell Seamless Multifocal from Con-Cise Contact Lens. This new design uses advanced lathe technology to produce defined optics that provide a distance center with excellent mid-range and near-range of vision and add powers up to 3.00D. The lens can be manufactured in any current materials in spherical, toric or bitoric designs.

Essential Aspheric Multifocal from Blanchard Contact Lens, Inc. This new lens uses advanced design technology to produce aspheric powers on the front and back surfaces, with add powers of up to 2.50D. It works well for mid- and near ranges and is available in high-Dk materials.

Presbylite Translating Bifocal from Lens Dynamics, Inc. Unique manufacturing processes give this translating bifocal lens a thin design with 1.50 prism. It's available in add powers of up to 3.00D and is manufactured with Boston ES/Boston EO materials. It has an aspheric intermediate zone.

New soft multifocal products

Soft multifocal products that are new to the market include:

Ocu-flex-53 Multifocal Toric by Ocu-Ease Optical Products, Inc. This new lens comes in low (up to +2.00D) and high (up to +3.00D) add powers and cylinder powers of up to 3.00D. It's available in an ocufilcon B (53%) material with a handling tint.

Esstech PS Multifocal by Blanchard Contact Lens. Using S-Form technology to produce an aspheric front surface, enabling adds up to +2.75D, this lens is available in polymacon material.

Just a taste

These are just some examples of the new bifocal contact lenses that are available.

It's impossible to list all of the new products in this brief discussion, so ask your sales representatives for information and keep reading to stay current with new developments.

DR. BAKER PRACTICES IN LAFAYETTE, CALIF. HE'S ON THE CLINICAL FACULTY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY SCHOOL OF OPTOMETRY AND IS A CHARTER MEMBER OF THE CONTACT LENS SECTION OF THE AOA. HE'S A FELLOW IN THE AAO AS WELL AND SERVES ON THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE OF THE RIGID GAS PERMEABLE LENS INSTITUTE OF THE CONTACT LENS MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION.