Lyndon Jones and colleagues were among the first to report on lipid deposition on silicone hydrogel contact lenses (Eye & Contact Lens) in 2003. Their study found that silicone hydrogel materials bind significantly more lipids and significantly less proteins compared to traditional hydrogel materials. Later studies have shown that the amount of lipids bound may not be all that different in comparison to traditional hydrogel contact lenses. It is obvious that more insight is needed to understand how silicone hydrogel materials interact with the tear components and how these interactions may be associated with reduced performance (e.g., corneal staining, comfort). Andrew Pucker and Jason Nichols in Optometry & Vision Science looked at different stains to detect tear film lipids deposited on silicone hydrogel contact lenses. Both Nile Red and Oil Red O were able to detect lipids on soft lenses in both in vitro and ex vivo conditions on silicone hydrogels. Oil Red O appears to be a better stain for silicone hydrogel lenses as it offers a higher signal to noise ratio. 

Pascal Blaser and Stefan Facher, who previously wrote for the Soft Special Newsletter, published a clinical article in th German contact lens journal 'Die Kontaktlinse'. In this article (in German) that is called 'Die Versorgung von irregularen Hornhauten mit weichen
Kontaktlinsen' they report on the important role that soft custom made specialty lenses can play in today's contact lens practice. They report on a sophisticated online software program, that helps them design the custom made soft lenses. Particularly in post-LASIK patients this can be an outcome they state, as RGP lenses may be extremely difficult to fit on these odd shaped corneas. 

Die Kontaktlinse, 1-2/1012 

At the association for research in vision and ophthalmology (ARVO) meeting held in Ft Lauderdale (US), many posters were devoted to contact lenses. Peripheral refraction of the eye was one of the main topics, as this may help in reducing the amount of myopia development in children. Brien Holden et al (poster # 6300) presented the 5-year follow-up data of a dual-focus soft lens, showing promising results of 40% reduction in myopia progression in children. This is just with a standard lens - the effect may potentially be larger with custom-made myopia-control lenses, as may be indicated because variation of the effect is very large among individuals. Higher order aberration correction on the front surface of soft lenses is another topic of interest. Ramkumar Sabesan et al (poster # 3661) presented a study in which they showed that higher order aberration correction can even increase the stereopsis in lens wearers. In keratoconus, the higher order aberrations can be six times higher than in the normal eye. Correcting this can obviously improve vision, but keratoconus patients may have to get used to the new correction through a system of neural adaptation, as they have become accustomed to the higher order aberrations present in their keratoconic eyes (Geunyoung Yoon et al, paper # 1718).