What Are Hybrid Contact Lenses?
While contact lenses are made from a variety of plastics, they are typically classified as soft contacts or gas permeable contacts. A newer type of lens known as a hybrid contact lens combines features of both classes.
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Identification
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Soft contact lenses are made of a gel-like plastic that conforms to the shape of your eyes, while gas permeable contacts are more rigid and smaller in size. A hybrid contact lens is made of two plastics. These plastics produce a gas permeable center surrounded by a soft outer ring.
Benefits
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Hybrid contact lenses give users the best of both worlds. They receive the high-definition visual acuity associated with gas permeable lenses, and they also have the improved comfort delivered by soft contact lenses.
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Indications
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According to the Mayo Clinic, hybrid contact lenses can effectively treat visual problems that include keratoconus (a cornea that is cone-shaped rather than round), presbyopia (age-related blurring of the vision) or astigmatism (a visual defect caused by an abnormally curved cornea).
Considerations
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The gas permeable center of a hybrid lens allows the cornea to "breathe," reducing eye irritation and improving compliance with contact lens use.
Potential
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A hybrid contact lens can be designed as a multi-focal lens that directs light through two areas of focus. One is for distance vision, and the other focus is for close work.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Frédéric DUPONT
