Optical Products & E-Buy

 

  A few years ago Ciba bought another large contact lens company, Wesley Jessen.  Wesley Jessen was the first company to popularize colored cosmetic contact lenses--contact lenses made to change appearance of the iris color of the eye.  This includes their FreshLook® line of contact lenses and others. Although these lenses are legally only available by prescription, they have somehow made their way into flea markets and uncontrolled street vendors in large cities.  Dr. E wonders about the motives of Ciba for allowing their cosmetic lenses, which can produce eye infections and need every bit as much care as other contact lenses, to be made available in such an uncontrolled way.  

 

Wesley Jessen had several contact lens designs for astigmatism, including Torisoft®, DuraSoft® 2 OptiFit® Toric, available as long term daily wear contact lenses that come in a vial. They still are used under the Ciba name because for certain kinds of astigmatism that are not correctable by disposable toric contact lenses. The Wesley Jessen line of Durasoft 2 and 3 contact lenses are also still made by Ciba.  These lenses all are more expensive than disposable contact lenses and must be maintained by rigorous cleaning.  They are available in powers and curves that are not available in disposable contact lenses, and because effective contact lens cleaners are no longer made (See Dr Elman's article All About Contact Lens Care Products), and their expense, these contact lenses have largely been replaced by disposable contact lenses. Ciba called its first line of  disposable and frequent  replacement contact  its Focus® series. More recently it brought out the silicone hydrogel AirOptix series.  One of the first disposable contact lenses available was a two week disposable lens called Newvue.  It was similar to the original Acuvue contact lenses. Ciba changed the name of the Newvue to Focus® 1-2 Week.  It, as well as the Focus® Monthly contact lenses are still made, but have never been as popular as some of the other disposable contact lenses. The Focus Toric Contact Lens was one of the first monthly (i.e. CL removed daily and replaced monthly) disposable contact lenses to correct astigmatism.  Newer Ciba Focus® lenses for astigmatism include the Dailies® Toric and the AirOptix® for Astigmatism (see below).

 

Besides competing with the Acuvue® 2 week disposable contact lenses, Ciba has  one day disposable contact (lenses disposed of after a single days use) to compete with 1-Day Acuvue®. Focus® DAILIES®.  with AquaRelease™ are made with a wetting agent that releases moisture throughout the day. In July, 2008 Ciba launched another one day disposable, DAILIES® Aqua Comfort PLUS, which releases twice as much water as the original DAILIES® with AquaRelease™.  Focus® DAILIES® with AquaRelease™ and DAILIES® Aqua Comfort PLUS are available in only 1 curve, but unlike 1-Day Acuvue® contact lens which are available in 2 curves but only   in corrections for myopia and hyperopia the Focus® DAILIES® (in its original material) are available in limited powers for astigmatism (Focus® DAILIES® Toric) and presbyopia (Focus® DAILIES® Progressives). Focus® DAILIES® Toric with AquaRelease™ is only available in two axes of astigmatism, 90 and 180.  Since astigmatism can be at any axis, from 0 to 180, it has limited use, but it is the only one day disposable contact lens for astigmatism. Single use lenses are popular because they require no contact lens cleaning or storage solutions.

    Ciba's most innovative lens, and another way to possibly avoid contact lens cleaning and storage problems, is the silicone hydrogel Night and Day ® contact lens, approved by the FDA for 30 days of continuous wear (see Characteristics of Silicone Hydrogel Contact Lenses).  It transmits more oxygen than any other lens material.  Oxygen transmission is measured as units of Dk/t and Night and Day has a value of 175 Dk/t, making it 8 times more oxygen permeable than earlier soft contact lens materials. In 2009 the name and material was changed to  AirOptix  Night and Day^® Aqua. It is available in myopic powers up to -10.00 diopters and hyperopic powers up to +6.00 D in two base curves (8.6 and 8.4) and one diameter (13.8).  In our office some of the earliest successes we have had with these lenses were not people who were trying to achieve long term overnight wear with lenses as much as people who had dry eye problems who found the low water content of the material (24%) conserved corneal tear film better than high water content contact lenses.  At this time the Night & Day Contact Lenses are not available in a toric design for astigmatism. Whether one wears the lenses continously or removes them, Night and Day Contact Lenses are considered to be 30 day disposable lenses, and because each box contains 6 lenses, a year supply is 4 boxes, similar to the only other FDA approved 30 day continuous wear contact lens, Bausch and Lomb's Purevision. Even with the higher oxygen permeability, not everyone can tolerate contact lenses overnight on a regular basis.  People with allergies and who are in dirty environments still may need to remove and clean contact lenses.

 

Ciba makes three other highly oxygen permeable Silicone Hyrogel contact lenses: O2Optix®, designed for 2 week wear, AirOptix®  Aqua Spheres (silicone hydrogel 2 week contact lens with special wetting progperties), and AirOptix® for Astigmatism, designed for monthly replacement.  The AirOptix® for Astigmatism, which became available in 2008,  is the second astigmatism correcting contact lens approved for overnight wear (the first was Bausch and Lomb PureVision® Toric, approved as a 30 day continuous wear lens). The AirOptix® for Astigmatism is approved for only 6 days of overnight wear, and then it is recommended that it be removed cleaned and soaked overnight, before it is resinserted.

  

Two unique and effective contact lens care systems which were made by Ciba are no longer available: AOsept,   a hydrogen peroxide based disinfection system (which Ciba acquired when it bought American Optical contact lens division in the 1980's ) and Quickcare, a two bottle care system which cleaned and disinfected contact lenses much faster and better than any of the more popular single  multipurpose solutions. Although AOsept solution is still available, the cleaning component of the system isn't. It has generally been replaced by Clear Care®, which is the same AOsept peroxide solution, but without the separate cleaner. For people who are allergic to other multipurpose contact lens solutions it may be the best choice, but one must remember to use the special case that comes with the solution to neutralize the peroxide.  See Dr Elman's article All About Contact Lens Care Products. 

 

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