How Contact Lenses Have Influenced Research Developments in Optics and Vision Science

Abstract

Initially, contact lenses were developed as the only viable option to provide improved vision for patients suffering from conditions which distortedthe corneal surface in an irregular fashion, rendering spectacle correction an unsatisfactory option. Developments in materials, fitting methods andmanufacturing technologies soon made contact lenses an appealing option for all spectacle wearers, particularly with the development of toricand multifocal lens options. Although the optical challenges of contact lenses appeared to be relatively straightforward in their early years, thedevelopment of improved in-vivo diagnostic and in-vitro metrology instrumentation led to a significantly greater understanding of the nature of theoptical errors (e.g. higher order wavefront aberrations) of the eye and contact lenses and the interactions between them when worn. The featuresof contact lenses having extremely steep curvatures and being aligned closely to the eye’s visual axis in all positions of gaze provide both uniquechallenges and opportunities for improving the visual performance of both physiological and pathological eyes, and have guided the efforts ofsignificant vison science research in more recent times.