A method of artificial eye manufacture.

In most hospitals in the United Kingdom and in many other countries, the provision of an artificial eye depends upon an exchange of information between an artificial eye fitter and an artificial eye manufacturer who may be situated some distance away and who, in most instances, does not see the patient. The centralization of manufacturing facilities may have some advantages and while, in general, the transfer of information between fitter and manufacturer results in an adequate prosthesis, there are inherent difficulties not only in the accurate interpretation of the fitter's instructions but also in relation to the commonly used methods of manufacture. Because of these difficulties, a modified method for the production of artificial eyes has been developed in Glasgow by one of us (HJ) and it is thought that the results obtained by this method justify its being more widely known. The information transmitted to the manufacturer by a fitter will usually include a wax model of the prosthesis into which a plastic disc has been set to indicate the position of the iris and pupil (Fig. i), together with written instructions about the colour and texture of the iris, the colour of the sclera, and the presence and pattern of vascular markings and other discolourations. The main bulk of the artificial eye is manufactured to conform with the wax model. A circular hole is drilled into its anterior surface to take a painted plastic disc representing the iris and subsequently a clear acrylic cornea is added anteriorly (lensing) after the addition of vascular and other markings to the sclera. The problems with this method are first, that the manufacturers are at a great disadvantage in never having seen the patient for whom the eye is being prepared. They must rely upon the interpretation of possibly ambiguous instructions, for qualitative information about the patient's normal eye is difficult to convey in writing. It is upon a combination of many small details that the appearance of an artificial eye depends and a perfect colour match of the iris, for example, can be spoiled completely