subject: The History Of Contact Lenses [print this page] Contact lenses are mostly believed to be a recent invention, which embodies the modern technology, however, the fact is that contact lenses have come into being in the mid 1930's and the conception of contacts emerged as early as 1500s. It is a long of history of contact lens, and here below is a brief introduction to its history.
In 1508, Leonardo da Vinci sketched and described several forms of contact lenses, he once had written his idea of contacts in his Codes of the Eye, expressing the idea of putting a lens directly on the eye so as to correct the vision. However his idea was merely based on the practice of using a bowl of water to correct vision. Thus many scholars nowadays argue that Davinci was merely observing the function of the eye.
In fact, it was not until 1950s, an Oregon optometrist, George Butterfield designed a corneal lens, the inner surface of which follows the eye's shape instead of sitting flat, the shape similar to the modern contacts.
The lenses at that time were made from glass, which were heavy and could only be tolerated a few hours at a time. Zeiss, a Germany optical company in the 1920s was the first company together with another Germany company that invented the glass contact lenses.
In 1936, a New York Optometrist William Feinbloom introduced the use of plastic rather than glass to make hard plastic contact lenses, before which the combination of both plastic and glass had also been applied since then plastic contacts lenses became popular, especially after a corporation named the Rhom and Haas Compny which had created a malleable substance called polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), a clear plastic that would be the foundation of contact lenses for forty some odd years.
Later, many changes had been made to contacts, Georage Butterfield was the one who, basing on the previous conceptions, made contact lens far easier to wear and easier to manipulate.
However, all in all, hard lenses were uncomfortable to wear, and various eye infections are easy to emerge.
Hard lenses decreased in popularity when Czechoslovakian polymer chemist Otto Wichterle and his assistants Dr. Drahoslav Lim produced the first soft contact lenses in 1950. In 1972 Bausch and Lomb took the concept and created the first soft contact lenses.Soft contact lenses were more pliable and comfortable to wear. With soft contact lenses, the possibility or eye infection of the wearers decreased greatly.
On the other hand, there are also disadvantages that soft contact lenses are hard to use and are easy to get lost.
As modern technology in contacts advance, contact lenses are created to treat various kinds of eye conditions, including that were once difficult to treat without glasses. The Torics and Bifocal lenses are good examples. Torics are designed to treat astigmatism while bifocal lenses are designed to correct problems that were assisted by horrendously thick eyeglasses once upon a time. Nowadays, contact lenses can even be used for cosmetic purposes and for eye color enhancement. Therefore, high-tech indeed brings us great deal of benefit.
It is estimated that there are 35 million people in the United States who have opted for contact lenses over the use of glasses because of their convenience and cosmetic value. Therefore, contact lenses are a mainstay for vision correction. Although many people initially feel discomfort when starting to use contact lenses, but the benefit outweigh those minor discomforts.
However, contact lenses should also be regarded as a medical prosthesis, and precautions and safeguards must still be understood by everyone and not only the wearer of contact lenses. The best way is to consult your eye doctor.
