A new contact lens from Safigel that slowly releases a common eye drop lubricant — sodium hyaluronate — now is available in the United States for daily wear.

Safigel's new hyaluronate-gel contact lenses have received FDA approval.

Company promotional material says the lens “replenishes the pre- and post-lens tear film, maximizing lens comfort throughout the longest wearing times.”

Safigel lenses received FDA marketing approval in December 2009 for three versions (only the daily disposable version known as Safigel 1 Day currently is available):

• Daily disposable soft lens.
• Daily disposable toric for astigmatism, caused by an irregularly shaped eye surface.
• Daily disposable multifocal for people with presbyopia. Read more…
  

“Any contact lens you want. Anywhere in the world.”

This is the promise that CooperVision and Armed Forces Eyewear are making to members of the U.S. military on a new website at ArmedForcesContactLenses.com. (Armed Forces Eyewear is a service mark of Frames Direct, an online eyewear retailer.)

The site contains patient information about CooperVision’s portfolio of contact lenses, as well as rebate and free trial offers. And it provides access to the Armed Forces Eyewear site where patients can order the lenses and get guaranteed delivery, wherever they may be.

A percentage of each purchase of CooperVision contacts will be donated to the Army and Air Force Exchange Service fund, which supports youth services, recreation centers, and other morale and welfare programs for the military community.

A CooperVision official said in a release that the company’s wide range of contact lenses enables military eye care professionals to offer “the best fit and option for each patient.”

This week, Unilens Vision Inc. (Largo, Fla.) launched C-VUE Advanced Toric Multifocal contact lenses. These specialty lenses correct both astigmatism and presbyopia.

According to the 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), approximately 36 percent of Americans ages 20 and older have astigmatism. Presbyopia is an age-related vision problem that affects virtually everyone some time after age 40.

Eye doctors can customize the new C-VUE Advanced Toric Multifocal lenses for their patients by specifying astigmatic and multifocal powers, multifocal zone size, lens diameter, base curve and more. The monthly disposable contact lenses also feature advanced hydration properties for all-day comfort, according to the company.

Unilens Vision Inc. offers a free trial program and a 120-day performance guarantee. The lenses are available exclusively from independent eye care professionals. Read more at www.unilens.com.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham is taking part in a premarket research study of new contact lenses. The research team is evaluating contacts designed for people with presbyopia — an inescapable, age-related condition that causes a loss of near vision after age 40.

In addition to correcting presbyopia, the lenses are made of a “super breathable contact lens material and are much healthier for the eye,” says Dr. Adam Gordon, associate professor and director of the Cornea Contact Lens Clinic at the University.

Gordon says the new multifocal contact lenses will “revolutionize the way people see and encourage the evolution of contacts away from monovision lenses.”

He says that while patients who wish to wear multifocal contacts should understand the limitations of these lenses, he believes the new lenses being studied will be an “improvement in both vision and comfort” for contact lens wearers with presbyopia.