Tear Shaping Contact Lens With Central Opening
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional contact lenses can cause complications such as stasis and entrapment of the tear film, leading to corneal epithelial waste accumulation, abrasion, and reduced oxygen availability, limiting their effectiveness in refractive correction.
Innovation Solution
A contact lens design featuring a central opening that utilizes capillary action to form a meniscus of tears, with varying shapes and sizes to create concave or convex menisci for refractive correction, including non-circular openings for astigmatism correction, addressing the limitations of existing lens designs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a conventional contact lens covers the cornea to achieve refractive correction, then optical correction is improved, but tear film stasis and entrapment occur leading to corneal epithelial waste accumulation and potential toxicity
Solution Approach 1:
The contact lens is segmented with a central opening that allows tear film flow, dividing the lens into a peripheral zone for optical correction and a central zone for tear exchange. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by maintaining refractive correction at the periphery while enabling tear film circulation centrally to prevent stasis and waste accumulation.
Solution Approach 2:
The harmful entrapment effect is eliminated by extracting the central portion of the lens, creating an opening that removes the barrier to tear film circulation. This extraction allows continuous tear replacement at the corneal center while the peripheral lens material maintains optical correction functionality.
2Stability of the object's composition
If a contact lens maintains continuous contact with the cornea for refractive correction, then optical stability is improved, but mechanical abrasion and distortion of the corneal epithelium occur
Solution Approach 1:
The lens structure is segmented with a central opening that creates a gap between the lens and cornea at the center, eliminating mechanical contact and associated abrasion. The peripheral segment maintains stable contact for optical correction, thus resolving the contradiction between optical stability and prevention of corneal damage.
Solution Approach 2:
The tear film acts as an intermediary layer between the lens periphery and the cornea, providing a protective cushion that reduces direct mechanical interaction. This intermediary layer minimizes abrasion and distortion while allowing the lens to maintain its position for optical stability.
3Measurement precision
If a contact lens is placed over the cornea to correct refraction, then refractive power is improved, but oxygen availability to the corneal epithelium is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The lens is segmented with a central opening that creates an oxygen-permeable zone, allowing atmospheric oxygen to reach the corneal epithelium directly. The peripheral lens material provides refractive power while the central opening ensures adequate oxygen supply, resolving the contradiction between maintaining refractive correction and ensuring oxygen availability.
Solution Approach 2:
Different zones of the lens have different properties: the peripheral zone is optically active for refraction correction, while the central zone is optically neutral and permeable to oxygen. This local differentiation allows the lens to provide refractive power where needed while maintaining oxygen transport at the center.
4Measurement precision
If a contact lens covers the entire cornea for comprehensive refractive correction, then optical coverage is improved, but device complexity increases due to need to prevent complications
Solution Approach 1:
The lens is segmented into a peripheral optical zone and a central opening, simplifying the design by eliminating the need for complex mechanisms to prevent tear stasis and oxygen deprivation. The segmentation inherently provides tear exchange and oxygen permeability without additional components, reducing device complexity while maintaining optical coverage.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The lens design enhances refractive correction by forming a meniscus that improves light focusing, reduces complications by minimizing contact with the cornea, and allows for more effective oxygen exchange, providing improved comfort and correction for myopia and astigmatism.
Implementation Method 1
A contact lens design featuring a central opening that utilizes capillary action to form a meniscus of tears
Data Source
AI summary
A lens for refractive tear shaping, having a curved lens body with a peripheral edge and a central opening therein. The central opening is shaped and sized and has a tear shaping edge structured to form a tear meniscus within the central opening. The tear meniscus being formed by interaction of a tear film of the eye and the tear shaping edge and having a posterior curvature conforming to an anterior corneal curvature and an anterior curvature. The anterior curvature is dependent on the size and shape of the central opening and structure of the tear shaping edge.