Chapter 12: contact lenses Flashcards
What is the definition of aniseikonia?
inability to fuse images of unequal size, producing symptom of diplopia
What are 3 advantages of contact lenses as an alternative to spectacles?
- safer for sports, don’t break/fog/ spattered in rain, cosmetics
- reduce or eliminate aberrations in spectacles for high refractive errors
- reduce aniseikonia associated with anisometropia and high degrees of astigmatism
What are 2 uses of contact refracting lenses in ophthalmology?
- diagnostically to view fundus
- to view trabecular meshwork
What are 3 examples of non-refracting contact lenses used in ophthalmology?
- bandage contact lenses (precorneal membranes) - ocular surface disorders, healing + relieving pain
- painted contact lens - small/unsighly blind eye to / artificial iris in aniridia
- contact lens in attached electrode to perform ERG
How can cylindrical refractive errors be corrected by contact lenses?
lenses in which the front surface, back surface or both are toric can be used
What are 2 ways to prevent torsion of a toric contact lens?
- incporating an up to 2.00D base down prism to weight the lower pole of the lens
- removing lower 0.5-1mm of lens (truncation) to allow to sit on edge of lower eyelid
What defines the posterior surface of the optical zone of a contact lens?
posterior central curvature - aka base curve
What property must the posterior surface of a contact lens importantly have?
should conform closely to the aspheric surface of the cornea to ensure a correct fit
How can a contact lens be made to be a close fit for the aspheric cornea?
by encircling the optical zone with 1-2 concentric zones of increasing radius of curvature to produce bicurve or tricurve lens; junctions between the zones made smooth by process called blending
(computer does it now)
What 2 properties determine how closely a contact lens fits to the surface of the cornea?
- base curve
- diameter of contact lens
How does the size of corneal contacts diameter relate to the cornea?
lenses have a smaller diameter
How do scleral (haptic) contact lenses work?
have a peripheral rim which is supported by the sclera
What provides oxygen to the corneal surface?
precorneal tear film
How can contact lenses made of gas impermeable materials facilitate the circulation of tears behind the lens?
may incorporate fenestrations, slots or grooves to facilitate the circulation of tears behind the lens
Why do contact lenses used to correct high refractive errors cause problems?
- greater thickness and weight
- upper eyelid grips thick upper edge of high power minus (concave) lens- cause it to ride high
- weight of high power (convex) plus lens causes it to drop to lower position
How can the upper eyelid gripping the thick upper edge of a high power concave lens be countered?
peripheral bevel
How can the weight of a high power convex lens causing it to drop lower be countered?
minus peripheral carrier portion which tends to be lifted by the upper lid
What is the refractive index of the precorneal tear film vs the cornea?
almost equal -
tear film: 1.333
cornea: 1.3375
What is the role of the refractive power of the tear film?
it neutralises corneal surface irregularity and the refractive power is effectivel that of the tear film-air interface
What is the tear lens?
tear film between the posterior surface of a contact lens and the anterior surface of the cornea
What is the power of the tear lens?
if it has uniform thickness is has plano power
What is the effect of a steeper base curve of a contact lens?
increases axial height of the tear lens, makes it more strongly positiive (converse makes it more negative)
What is the effect of a steeper base curve of a contact lens?
increases axial height of the tear lens, makes it more strongly positiive (converse makes it more negative)
What does the tear lens allow in corneal astigmatism?
allows spherical contact lens to neutralise the corneal astigmatism (base curve is same as corneal surface curvature in flattest meridian, so where cornea is steeper tear lens is thicker)
How should prescriptions for contact lenses be expresses in corneal astigmatism and why?
using negative cylindrical powers because only the spherical component need be prescribed
Why can soft contact lenses neutralise only a smaller degree of astigmatism (1.00D) compared with rigid?
they tend to adopt the shape of the cornea (so precorneal tear film doesn’t fill the space to carry out more refraction in flatter parts of cornea)
What is the only way to neutralise astigmatism from the crystalline lens/ implanted IOL?
front surface toric contact lens
What are 5 differences between contact lenses and spectacles?
- field of view
- optical aberration
- accommodation and convergence
- prisms
- tint