Contact lenses for children which slow down the progression of short-sightedness (known as ‘Myopia') have been awarded the Grand Prize and Gold Medal at International Exhibition of Inventions in Geneva, Switzerland. These new contact lenses were designed and developed by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HKPU) and are known as the ‘DISC' lens. The new lens works on the natural homeostatic mechanism of the eye, also known as "emmetropization", by which the size of the eyes is regulated by optical inputs from the environment. The lens is a multizone bifocal soft contact lens which simultaneously provides clear vision and constant myopic defocus at all viewing distances.
Myopia is a major cause of ocular morbidity for school children and especially for ethnic Chinese, but there is so far no clinically acceptable method to control the prevalence and progression of the condition which affects around 80% of the adult population. In view of this problem, optometry researchers at HKPU have been looking for a method to control the progression of myopia. The results of a recent clinical control trial, the first of its kind in the world, has shown the DISC lens effectively slowed down myopia progression by about 50% for local school children aged from 8 to 13 years old. Based on this trial result, the DISC lens appears to achieve a similar benefit to overnight ortho-k contact lenses for children .
Since the DISC lens takes advantage of the natural homeostasis of the eye, wearers can avoid adverse effects from drug or surgery. Moreover, the functional element, optical defocus, can be incorporated into widely-accepted forms of contact lenses to provide clear and comfortable vision while myopia is being controlled. However, it appears that overnight ortho-k corrective contact lenses for children are capable of achieving even better results in terms of retarding myopia progression as demonstrated most recently with the Year 3 results from the US SMART Study. The latter shows that those children wearing the ortho-k lenses experienced virtually no change in their prescription after three years.
Check if your child is suitable for overnight ortho-k corrective contact lenses .
