Visual performance of the soft contact lens wearer

Abstract

Introduction The unstable visual results of soft hydrophilic contact lens wear have been remarked upon in the literature for over a decade now (vide, e.g., Ruben 1966, Grosvenor 1972, Sarver 1972, Wechsler 1978). This variability of vision, while acknowledged as a problem by manufacturer, practitioner and patient alike, does not seem to have detracted from the early commercial success of this form O f refractive aid (Holden 1973). Quantification of visual performance aspects of soft lens wear has remained elusive however (Applegate and Massof 1975, Rosenblum and Leach 1975, Remole 1977, Woo and Hess 1979), and it was to this end that the present author developed a semi-automated television visual test system (Figure 1: et vide Pointer et al. 1980, 1981, for the full description of the TV system and its operational variables) specifically to investigate this problem within a clinical context.