The History of Disposable Contact Lenses
According to Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, about 34 million Americans wear contact lenses to improve their vision. Contact lenses have come a long way since they were first developed for practical use in the late 1880s.
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The Beginning
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Although the idea of creating an insertable lens to be used to heighten vision had been thought of and written about by Leonardo Da Vinci and Rene Descartes as long ago as the early 1500s, an actual lens was not created until the mid 1880s. In 1887 glassblower F.A. Mueller developed a lens that could be inserted onto a diseased eyeball, helping to protect it. This lens could only been worn for short periods of time due to its weight on the eyeball. The next year A.E. Fick also developed a version of the contact lens, which he created from glass. Fick is said to be the person who coined the term "contact lens."
New Material
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The lenses developed in the late 1880s proved to be impractical because they could not be worn for longer than an hour or two. Glass lens were heavy and uncomfortable and the glass material prevented oxygen from entering the eye, which is detrimental to the eye's health. Scientists worked to discover a material that could be used to create a lens that not only enhanced vision, but could be worn for much longer periods of time. In 1938 a lens was developed using a new plastic material called polymethylmethacrylate or PMMA, which was added to the perimeter of the lens. Although these lenses were more wearable as far as weight and the ability to stay put, they were made to cover the entire eye and therefore did not resolve the problem of oxygen not reaching the eye.
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Changes to Size
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In 1947 Kevin Tuohy developed a lens similar to today's "hard" contacts. He produced a plastic lens that only covered the cornea of the eye, as opposed to previous lenses that covered the entire eye. While this adjustment made lenses a little more comfortable and practical, they still did not allow oxygen to reach the eye. Throughout the rest of the 1940s and most of the 1950s developments and adjustments continued to be made to the size and shape of the lens.
Final Adjustments
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Finally, in the 1950s a new material began being used to make contact lenses. This new material, hydroxyethylmethacrylate, is primarily water and is unique in that it is hard when dry and soft when wet. However, when first created there were issues with poor optical quality, their ability to absorb bacteria, and they were difficult to handle due to their high percentage of water. It was not until 1971 that Bausch and Lomb finally overcame these problems and their soft lens was approved by the FDA.
Lenses Today
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The lenses developed in the 1970s by Bausch and Lomb are the same lenses available today. In late 1978 glass permeable lenses were created, which were made to be extra breathable and healthier for the eyes. Other additions that have been made in the recent past include, extendable or constant wear lenses, colored contact lenses and bifocal contact lenses.
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