Designed and manufactured by the teams at Johnson & Johnson Vision Care (J&J), the lens was the first wetting multifocal contact lens (CL) to adapt to the diameter of the pupil as the cornea moves and provide therapy for dryness in presbyopia patients. It will enable CLs to be used by patients into old age, offering the option for prescriptions without invasive spectacle frames.
Practitioners selling the product can fit presbyopia sufferers across a wide range of prescriptions and ADD powers. With millions of Brits already having the condition diagnosed, awards judges wrote: ‘This product will help an undeveloped area of the market.’
Other products to make the shortlist were Clearcolor Phantom produced by Clearlab, Ortho-k by No.7 Contact Lenses, and OptiExpert by CooperVision. Kamlesh Chauhan, the J&J director of UK professional affairs, says: ‘It was particularly interesting to see the Clearcolor Phantom nominated, a contact lens which focuses upon enhancing the appearance of the eye as well as the vision aspect itself.’
Three months since the applause, Chauhan says: ‘Our category was, as always, a strong one. To win contact lens product of the year is very difficult. But we knew we had created a special lens that deserved the accolade of an Optician Award. There was a real need to satisfy the needs of this patient group and we created a lens that works with the eye. It’s gratifying to create technologies that make meaningful differences in people’s lives. The reception the lens has received from the profession has been incredible.’
The significance of the product to therapy for presbyopia patients is put in context by research published in journal Clinical and Experimental Optometry in 2008 under the title ‘Contact lens correction of presbyopia’. In it ES Bennett wrote: ‘With previous soft multifocal designs, success rates of just 50% were recorded and low vision quality was being reported.’
During the clinical trials, 234 practitioners fitted the lenses on 1,993 voluntary patients with a range of refractive errors. Feedback collected by the practice tells that 97% of the practitioners who took part in the trial found the lenses easy to fit.
Further independent studies published in Optician magazine include ‘Innovating for multifocal fitting lenses’ by Moody K, Hickson-Curran S and Woodley B, in 2015. It stated: ‘A further study with 275 presbyopes has found the product to deliver an exceptionally high fitting success rate of 94% with two pairs of the CLs.’
Chauhan says: ‘CL practitioners with varying amounts of experience have provided feedback that they are finding the lens easy to fit. Equally, the responses from their patients have been great with so many of them able to wear the lenses successfully.’
The Acuvue 1-Day moist multifocal CL was designed to be adaptable to natural physiological changes in the eye with old age. Accounting for refractive power led J&J to develop 183 variations for the lens for different prescriptions and is available in ADD powers from -9.00D to +6.00D, 0.25D steps. Centre thickness is -0.084 mm for -3.00D powers, but it is thicker with lenses of higher power prescriptions.
The wetting agent is applied to the presbyotic eye via a cushion within the lens, using the water-soluble polymer called embedded polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). The lens is constructed from etafilcon A, a soft material that allows oxygen to reach the eye. It is also fitted with a class 2 UV blocker.
The aspheric centre of the lens maintains the integrity of the complex front-surface optics. Its spherical periphery helps by ensuring centration of the optics over the pupil and a back curve in shape promotes comfort and easy insertion.
Middle to old-aged sufferers of presbyopia around the UK should soon be celebrating the benefits of this Optician Award-winning product with the CLs looking set to be fitted nationwide.
Meanwhile, Chauhan, says the recognition from the profession to the presbyopia lens motivates the J&J hierarchy to add further innovative lens products that increase the number of people wearing non-intrusive CL prescriptions.
He adds: ‘It’s great to be recognised by the industry and our peers. The award has been recognition for a huge amount of work. It is motivating the team to reach even greater heights in the future. The award is valuable to your team and can be a great way of celebrating the hard work that went into making a really special product.’
Contact Lens Product of the Year 2016
Winner: The Acuvue 1-Day moist multifocal, Johnson & Johnson Vision Care
Shortlisted: Clearcolor Phantom, Clearlab; OptiExpert, CooperVision; Ortho-k, No.7 Contact Lenses