Revolutionizing the contact lens industry.

• Position: Vision - Hyper-oxygen transmissible development by University of Texas

Researchers at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas report that contact lenses, both rigid and soft, made from new hyper-oxygen transmissible materials are expected to reduce the possibility of bacterial infection better than contact lenses currently on the market. Based in part on these findings, the Food and Drug Administration has approved hyper-oxygen transmissible contact lenses for 30-day continuous wear.

H. Dwight Cavanagh, senior author of the study and vice chairman of ophthalmology and associate dean for clinical services, indicates that study results provide a firm biological foundation for increased prospective safety of the new silicone hydrogel lens materials. "The significance of our study is that, for the first time, we have a scientific-based rationale that has passed peer review at high levels that exactly predicts our current epidemiological risk pattern and strongly suggests that these new lenses will be the breakthrough in reducing risk for infection that everyone has been waiting for."

He explains that conventional contact lenses disturb the surface of the cornea, thereby allowing pathogenic bacteria, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, to bind to the corneal surface cells and potentially initiate infection. The most-significant and devastating...