Table of Contents

i. Introduction.............................................................1

ii. History And Development.......................................1-3

iii. Market Impact How Things Changed..................3-4

iv. Future Aspect...........................................................4

v. Conclusion...............................................................4-5

vi. Bibliography............................................................6-7

Introduction Contact Lenses are said to be the ideal solution to the problem of unclear vision. A Contact Lens is simply a thin curved sheet of transparent soft plastic that fits on the cornea of an eye. The main purpose of its invention was same as the spectacles which was the correction of the eyesight but in a more convenient way. The report later analyse how its actual purpose of use changed dramatically.

History and Development The invention of the Contact Lenses that we wear today has a long history, from its design in the 16th century to becoming its original form and its Image taken from: http://www.corriganopticians.co.uk/index.php?id=799 13&option=1230

development still continues. The first thought of its development was made by the great artist and scientist Leonardo da Vinci. His sketches described several forms of contact lenses. Then by the year 1636, a man named Rene Descartes took up the idea and thought of an actual contact lens. He used a water filled glass tube to neutralize the power of the eyes. In the year 1801, Thomas Young took this idea and made up a contact lens to correct his own vision. It was a quarter inch water filled glass tube that was really uncomfortable and also heavy. Then in the year 1827 Sir John Hershel, a British Astronomer, innovated this idea suggesting that the lens should fit contentedly on top of the eye. In the late 1880s several men worked on the concept of contact lenses attempting to make them fit more comfortably. These men included Adolf Eugen Fick, Eugene Kalt and Augusta Muller who produced Scleral Shells.

Then in the 1930s the plastic called Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) was invented and was the first plastic that was used for contact lenses. With this development, the American Optometric Association recognized the increase in demand for hard plastic contact lenses by people who wanted visual correction. Therefore in 1948 contact lens fitting became a normal part of an optometry visit. In 1950, an optometrist in Oregon, Dr. Butterfeild designed a contact lens which followed the eye shape instead of staying flat. A major development in this field was the creation of the first Soft Lens in 1960. This innovative idea was first experimented by Otto Wichterie and Drahoslav Lim who made contact lenses with soft water absorbing water plastic. The wearing of lenses was made a real possibility to the people who started becoming used to the new solution to the unclear vision. In the year 1979, the first Rigid Gas Permeable (RGP) contact lenses were made available. And in the following year soft contact lenses with tint of a colour were also made available for commercial distribution. The tint didnt change the eye colour but was made to locate the lens if they were dropped. The later years brought series of improvement with development of Bifocal Contact lenses, Extended Wear Contact lenses (allowing contact lenses to be worn for couple of days).tinted RGP lenses and extended RGP lens.

Image Taken from: http://www.discountlenses.com/blog/crazy-coloredcontacts/comment-page-1

The year 1987 made history with the first Disposable Soft Contact lens being made available for distribution. In the same year the first Coloured contact lenses were also developed which actually changed the colour of the eye.

A series of innovation then kept taking place in this field where the contact lenses were improved with newer and better versions. The RGB lenses with low silicone content had entered the market by 1995. Subsequently in 1996 the first disposable lenses with Ultraviolet Absorber hit the US market.

Market Impact How things changed With Eyeglasses being uncomfortable and unnatural, the invention of Contact Lenses made life easy for people with sight problems. Contact lens makes the entire field to be in focus with no obstruction or reflection. Where eyeglasses carry weight and have the problem of adjustment to almost every individual, Contact Lenses are weightless and have no frame to adjust. Contact Lens use is very common today. Approximately 168.5 million U.S. residents use vision correction such as eyeglasses or contact lenses, representing 75 percent of the country's total adult population. VisionWatch (Jobson Medical Information LLC and Vision Council of America), June 2006. According to eyeTopics.com 2001-2009, there are around 32 million people in United States (about 12% of the population) who wear contact lenses. The worldwide
Image from: http://www.cococontacts.com/ gothic_contact_lenses.php

users of contact lenses number up to 125 million in 2004 as mentioned by Contact Lens Spectrum's Annual Report by Joseph T. The contact lenses, besides serving its main purpose as mentioned above, have also been used to serve the fashion industry. Models and Celebrities around the world make use of trendy cosmetic lenses to make up their fashion statements. The coloured contact lenses have been popular among the young people who

think it of being cool copying the actors looks. The new trends and styles include contact lenses as part of appearance. People even without visual problems wear coloured contact lens to look more attractive. Contacts have almost become a must-have in the list of accessories of the young generation ... Exclusive dresses, precious jewellery, elegant accessories are not enough to enrich ones looks; contact lenses are in high demand to enhance ones appearance Roger Willsman (Contact Lens Hottest Trend in the field of fashion - 2009). This shows how the true purpose of invention of the contact lenses is being distorted. Movies have been using the Contact Lenses to provide special effects like the old horror movies which used it to make the eye look scary. The use of lenses in movies has improved the the quality of the scenes. Moreover, the same scary lenses are now used in the Halloween Celebrations where people use them to complement their creepy costumes. Therefore contact lens made its successful progress in the fashion and film industries long time back and continues to serve these industries as a small yet important object. Future of Contact Lens Vision Health says that the future contact lens will automatically adjust focal length (focus) using liquid crystals and built-in range finder. Future contact lens research also focus on making the computerised lens. In other words, you can see your computer screen just by looking through the lens. Meghan Peter said in his article Contact Lens of the future: a computer in your eye January 31 2008 the display is seen by just one eye, but its possible that future models could utilize both, researchers said... The lens is remotely powered and would
University of Washington A researcher holds one of the completed lenses.

Image Taken From: http://uwnews.washington.ed u/ni/article.asp?articleID=3909 4

use a wireless link to connect to outside devices. Ideas like watching television and connecting to the internet through lenses have been coming up by many researchers where the researchers are trying to bring technology and contact lens together. Conclusion The contact lens has certainly brought a new revolution. Its innovation and development from the start has proved to be beneficial to the society. In comparison to eyeglasses, I prefer the use of contact lenses as it doesnt disrupt the appearance of the individual. The person with eye problem doesnt feel different as contact lens gives him an artificial eye rather than the support of a heavier glass that rests on his nose. But the past few years have proved how the contact lens lost its real function and how its use has been diverted from a problem solver to a stylish-wear. Its innovation and development (that still continues) has made it completely different from what it was. The future of contact lens gives us more idea of how things will change even more and contact lens will be used for more different uses.

Bibliography 1. EyeFreedom.com Contact Lenses Then And Now http://www.eyefreedom.com/conlens.php (Accessed: 17/11/09)

2. CLAO Quick Reference on Refractive Science Terminology: Contact Lenses, Optical Dispensing, Refractive Surgery. Copyright 2003, 2004, Contact Lens Association of Ophthalmologists, Inc. (Accessed: 17/11/09) 3. Pennie Markle (2006) Contact Lens History, Where Did They Came From http://www.articlealley.com/article_100668_17.html 15th November (Accessed: 17/11/09) 4. History of Contact Lenses Lensshopper.com(2006-2009) http://www.lensshopper.com/history-of-contact-lenses.asp (Accessed: 17/11/09) 5. All About Vision (2007) Statistics on Eyeglasses and Contact Lenses http://www.allaboutvision.com/resources/statistics-eyewear.htm November (Accessed: 18/11/09) 6. Barr, Joseph. "Contact Lenses 2002: Annual Report." Contact Lens Spectrum, Jan. 2003: 24-31. (Accessed: 18/11/09) 7. Contact Lens Council. "Statistics on Contact Lens Wear in the U.S." http://www.contactlenscouncil.com/pcon-stats.htm 7 Nov. 2004 (Based on 2000 data.) (Accessed: 18/11/09) 8. eyeTopics Staff Editor Contact Lens Statistics http://www.eyetopics.com/articles/8/1/Contact-Lens-Statistics.html Published 11/24/2004 (Accessed: 18/11/09) 9. Joseph T. Barr, OD, MS, FAAO 2004 Annual Report Contact Lens Spectrum's annual report of major corporate and product developments and events in the contact lens industry in 2004, as well as

predictions for 2005 January 2005 http://www.clspectrum.com/article.aspx?article=12733 (Accessed: 19/11/09) 10. Roger Willsman Contact Lens Hottest Trend in the field of fashion (2009) http://www.212articles.com/articles/68191/1/CONTACT-LENS---Hottest-trend-inthe-field-of-fashion/Page1.html (Accessed: 19/11/09) 11. Vision Health (2009) http://www.eyes-and-vision.com/contact-lens-of-thefuture.html (Accessed: 20/11/09)

12. Meghan Peters (2008) Contact lenses of the future: a computer in your eye http://dailyuw.com/2008/1/31/contact-lenses-of-the-future/ 20/11/09) 13. Priya Ganapati (2009) Contact Lens could bring TV Into Future Eyes http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/02/contact-lens-co/ (Accessed: 20/11/09) February 9 January 31 (Accessed: