How contact lenses introduced?

Nowadays contact lenses are used widely as a prescription lens or as a fashionable eye wear. The history of contact lenses starts with the famous Italian scientist Leonardo da Vinci. He produced the first known sketches that suggested the optics of human eye could be altered by placing the cornea directly in contact with water. It is believed that da Vinci’s ideas eventually led to the development of contact lenses more than 350 years later. In 1827, an English astronomer Sir John Herschel proposed the idea of making a mould of person’s eyes. The idea was executed actually even more than 50 years after by someone.

Early contact lenses were heavy and that fully covers the eyes.  Since these type of lens hinders the lens supply to cornea. In 1936, An American optometrist named William Feinbloom (1904-1985) introduced scleral lenses made of a combination of glass and plastic those were comparatively lighter than glass blown contacts.

In 1948, California optician Kevin Tuohy(1919-1968) introduced the first contact lens that resembled modern gas permeable contact lenses. These contact lenses are called “corneal” contact lenses since they were smaller in diameter and covered only the portion of cornea. These lenses were made up of non -porous plastic material called polymethyl methacrylate.The PMMA lenses could move at each blink, so oxygen carrying tears could be “pumped” under the lens to keep the cornea healthy.

The properly fitted corneal PMMA contact lenses can be worn for 16 hours. Advancements in lens manufacturing techniques and fitting expertise among eye doctors led to the mass appeal of contact lenses in 1950s and 1960s.

The first hydrophilic or water loving hydrogel soft contact lens material is introduced by Otto Wichterle and Drahoslav Lim in 1959.This led to the 1971 launch of first FDA approved soft ontact lenses in the united states.

Since these soft contacts provide greater level of comfort, it became more popular than hard contact lenses made of PMMA. The contact lenses are now available in wide range as prescription lenses, colored lenses etc.