Double network (DN) gels are anomalously robust but soft and wet materials, whose maximum stress in compression reaches 30MPa and surface friction coefficient reaches 0.001 simultaneously. The DN gels also have shock absorbency, permeability, and biocompatibility. Thus it is expected that the DN gels will be applied to artificial joints, artificial cartilages, and artificial blood vessels. In t...

PURPOSE To evaluate visual performance during concentrated visual work in patients wearing soft contact lenses or after LASIK. METHODS Thirty-one eyes of 17 patients who had worn soft contact lenses before LASIK were examined by the following tests immediately and 10 seconds after eye opening: 1) functional visual acuity, which is defined as visual acuity measured after prolonged eye opening ...

AIM To determine the common symptoms in current soft contact lens (CL) wearers and their association with other factors among Nepalese population. METHODS All the current CL wearers who started to wear soft CL in Nepal Eye Hospital between July 2007 and June 2012 were invited for the participation. Frequency of the ten most common symptoms, divided into never, occasionally, frequently and con...

PURPOSE To analyze the effects of soft contact lenses on central corneal thickness and morphologic characteristics of the corneal endothelium in diabetic patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS Ultrasound pachymetry and noncontact specular microscopy were performed on 26 diabetic patients who regularly use soft contact lenses (group 1), 27 diabetic patients who do not use soft contact lenses (group 2...

We report an unusual case of iris rubeosis and hyphema caused by chemical injury due to household detergent. A 74-year-old man with a 15-year history of diabetes mellitus was refilling a container with household detergent at home. He splashed the detergent in his eyes. Slit-lamp examination revealed extensive epithelial damage to the left eye, leading to a persistent corneal epithelial defect. ...

Aim of our paper is to present a case of painless Acanthamoeba keratitis in a soft contact lens wearer. A 17-year-old male, highly myopic, prolonged soft contact lens wearer, presented to us with painless red watery right eye having remarkably diminished vision. Last six weeks he was treated elsewhere for the microbial keratitis with no improvement. No pain was reported and on the direct questi...

PURPOSE To psychophysically measure spherical and irregular aberrations in patients with various types of myopia correction. SETTING Laboratory of Experimental Ophthalmology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. METHODS Three groups of patients with low myopia correction (spectacles, soft contact lens, and Intacs) and 4 groups with high myopia correction (spectacles, rigid c...

Extended wear of soft contact lenses is associated with an increased risk of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection of the cornea. To assess the role of bacterial adherence in the pathogenesis of these infections, superficial corneal epithelial cells and leukocytes from ten patients who use extended-wear soft lenses and ten control eyes were compared for their propensity to attach P. aeruginosa in vi...

PURPOSE To compare the efficacy of 2.5% sodium hyaluronate (BD Multivisc) with the soft shell technique in reducing corneal endothelial cell damage during cataract phacoemulsification in patients with hard lens nucleus (3+) and cornea guttata. METHODS Thirty patients (37 eyes) scheduled for cataract surgery at Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University Hospital San Raffaele, ...

A double cannula is described suitable for the aspiration of soft lens matter. The cannula is a modification of a double irrigation needle already marketed and will be available in a presterilised disposable pack for use with disposable syringes.