unit 5 Flashcards
◦ Optical parameters
Power
Optical quality
Scattering
Material properties
Water content
Modulus
Wettability
Surface friction
Oxygen permeability
Refractive index
Spectral transmission
Lens geometry
Diameter
Sagittal depth
Thickness
Radius of curvature
Edge shape
Optical Properties
* Power
◦ ii) Lensometer/focimeter
Measure back vertex power (BVP)
Careful prep is required when measuring in air
–Clean, dab dry
State-of-the-art instruments immerse the lens in a saline-filled container
- Factors that compromise optical quality are:
◦ Inhomogeneous material
◦ Surface scratches/deposits
◦ Lathe marks (from manufacture)
◦ Material inclusions
◦ Air bubbles
- Equipment
◦ Slit lamp
On patient’s eye
Holding lens
◦ Contact lens loupe
Material Properties
Properties can vary widely between soft lens materials
◦ Most of the properties are linked to water content
◦ Need to be measured individually for each material
Water Content
- Gravimetric method is an accurate technique
- Mass of water in hydrated contact lens
- Compare to mass of the hydrated material
-Water content = (mhydrated - mdry) / mhydrated x 100
-m= mass - Requires specialized lab equipment
◦ Sample lenses are dried in an oven and the weight measured using an analytical balance
Modulus
Stiffness of material
◦ “Young’s modulus”
* Softer lens is more comfortable
* Stiffer lens easier to handle
Wettability
- Surface wettability is an important factor affecting comfort
- Conventional hydrogels
◦ Wettability increases as amount of water increases - Silicone hydrogels
◦ Hydrophobic nature
Need a surface coating
Wetting agents added to the material or packaging solution
Surface Friction
- Impacts comfort of the lens when blinking
◦ Friction between the contact lens, cornea, and lid - ‘Friction angle’ method is the simplest way to measure friction
◦ Sample material is placed on a flat plate and the plate is tilted slowly ◦ Static and kinetic friction - Want a low coefficient of friction
- Add surface coatings and plasma treatments to reduce friction
Oxygen Permeability and Transmissibility
- Oxygen permeability - how well oxygen passes through a specific material
◦ Dk (D = diffusivity and k = solubility) - Oxygen transmissibility – how well oxygen passes through a contact lens with a specific material and thickness
◦ Permeability divided by the lens thickness
◦ Dk/t (t = thickness)
◦ Is converted to permeability by multiplying it with the thickness, as oxygen flow can be measured through a CL - Research by Irving Fatt
Refractive Index
- Abbe refractometer - preferred choice of instrument for measuring refractive index of hydrogel CLs
◦ Measures the critical angle of incidence for total internal reflection, which is directly correlated to refractive index
- Spectrophotometer
Measure % transmission of different wavelengths of light
- For CL that claim UV absorption:
Class 1 Absorbers
Less than 1% UVB transmittance
Less than 10% UVA transmittance
◦ Class 2 Absorbers
Less than 5% UVB transmittance
Less than 50% UVA transmittance