CONTACT LENS I

(OD-137)

BY
Doctor of Optometry

MAIMOONA REHMAT
Lecturer
DOVS-FAHS
The University of
Lahore
 Course description
• after studying this course, students will have basic
knowledge of contact lens.
Contact Lens Terminology
 Learning aims
STUDENTS WILL LEARN:
• Different terminologies used in contact lens practice
 Contents
• Blank
• Semi finished blank
• Semi finished lens
• Finished lens
• Base curve
 Blank
• from which the rigid
soft lens is fabricated by lathe
• Also called button
Semi finished blank
• A blank where base curve is pregenerated.
Semi finished lens
• A lens that has the back and the front curve cut.
Finished lens
• The peripheral curves and the edge is fabricated.
• ready to be worn on the eye.
 Base curve
• Curvature of the central posterior
surface which is adjacent to the cornea
• back curve of the contact lens,
which contours the front surface of the eye
• also called as BOZR
• BCOR—Back central optic radius or
• CPC—Central posterior curve.
 Cont….
• Base curve is expressed in mm (millimeters) or diopters.
• Example—8.1 mm, 8.3 mm. 8.6 mm, etc.
• Also 8.1 mm is a steeper base curve than 8.3 mm, and
• 8.3 mm is steeper than 8.6 mm.
• So a longer base curve produces flatter base curves.
• In diopters 44.0 D, is said to be steeper than 41.0 D radius
of curvature.
 Cont…
• Base curves can be spherical or aspheric.
• An aspheric base curve as the name suggests flattens from
center to periphery and matches the corneal asphericity.
 Cont….
• The apshericity is specified by e-value. Following are the
evalues
• and their shape correlation:
• e-value shape
• Zero spherical
• Between 0-1 elliptical
• 1.0 parabolic
• > 1.0 hyperbolic
 Cont…
• Most aspheric contact lenses have e-values from 0.3 to 1.1.
• Larger e-values are fitted in multifocal designs.
 Cont…
• Since the base curve in case of aspheric lenses varies from
center to periphery,
• the base curve of the aspheric lens is denoted as PAR-posterior
apical radius
 Overall diameter
• The length of the lens across its widest diameter
• overall diameter or the lens diameter
• specified in millimeters
• A soft lens is usually 12-15 mm
• and a rigid lens is of 8 to 10 mm
 Cont…
• Diameter depends upon the corneal diameter
• and the palpebral aperture
• Larger the corneal diameter greater lens diameter is required
 Peripheral curves
• A lens with a single base curve is called a Monocurve Lens.
• A lens with two curves at the back is called a Bicurve lens.
• A lens with three curves is called as a Tricurve lens.
• A lens with more than three curves is called a Multicurve
lens.
 Cont…
• So a Monocurve lens will have one base curve and no
peripheral curve.
• A Bicurve lens will have 1 base curve and 1
peripheral curve.
A tricurve lens will have 1 base curve and 2
peripheral curves and so on.
 Cont…
• PC is the curve surrounding the base curve on the posterior
surface of the lens
• Alternatively called as PPCR – posterior peripheral
• curve radius
• If there is more than one peripheral curve then the inner
curves are called secondary or intermediate curves
 Cont…
• The peripheral curves are flatter than the base curve
• the peripheral most curves will be the flattest one in a normal
contact lens design
• It is done to match the corneal shape
 Bevel/blend
• Blending is the smoothening of the junction of the base curve
and the peripheral curves.
• The junction between the base and the peripheral curves are
blended properly to give a smooth transition and junction
• A well-blended junction is important
for the comfort of the lens
• Blending is soft, medium or heavy
 Peripheral Curve Width
• The peripheral and the intermediate curve have a fixed width
or size.
• usually 0.3 to 0.5 mm wide.
• depends upon the optic zone diameter and the overall
diameter
 Optic zone
• The central optic portion, which carries the base curve of the
• lens, is called the optic zone
• central circular portion of the lens where the power of the lens
is located
• The optic zone should cover the pupil properly both in scotopic
and mesopic condition of light
• to avoid glare and flare problems
 Cont…
• The average size of the optic zone is 7 to 8.5 mm in case of
• rigid lenses and
• 7 to 12.0 mm in case of soft lenses
 Optic zone diameter
• diameter of the optic zone specified in millimeters.
• It is also the overall diameter minus the peripheral curve
width.
 Power
• The power of the lens is ground on the front surface of the
lens.
• A plus lens will be thicker in the center
and the minus lens will be thicker in the periphery
 Central Thickness
• It is the center thickness of the
contact lens or
• the distance between the
anterior and the posterior
surface of the geometric center
of the lens
• usually specified in millimeters.
 Cont…
• Center thickness has its impact on fitting.
• The thickness of the lens also affects the oxygen
transmissibility.
• Each lens material has its critical thickness, reducing beyond
that leads to flexure problems.
 Single Cut vs Lenticular Lens Design
• Single cut design is the lens design, which has a single
continuous curve in the front.
• The back surface is either monocurve (with single curve),
• bicurve (with two curves—base curve and peripheral curve),
tricurve (with three curves—base curve,
• intermediate curve and peripheral curve ) or multicurve ( base
• curve and more than 2 peripheral curves).
 Cont…
• A lenticular design is a lens designed with the optically
powered portion of the front surface confined to the middle of
the lens surrounded by the peripheral portion.
• In this case the front optic zone diameter is reduced and a
front peripheral curve or curves are added.
• The portion of the lens- which does not
• carry the optic zone, is called the carrier.
• It is just like a spectacle lenticular designed lens.
 Cont…
• Lenticular lens reduces the thickness of the lens and thus
provides greater comfort and improves the transmissibility.
• Lenticular design is commonly made in high-powered lenses.
 Sagittal depth
• Sagittal depth or Sag is the perpendicular distance between the
geometric center of the back of the lens surface and the diameter
of the lens.
• Sag values have their importance in fitting soft contact lenses.
• The lens with a greater sag value will behave steeper than the
lens with the lesser Sag.
• Sag values are dependent on the diameter and the curvature.
• If the diameter of the lens is kept constant increasing the
• base curve radius decreases the sag or flattens the lens.
 Cont..
• suppose there are 2 lenses of same 14 mm diameter,
• if the radius of curvature is increased from 8.3 to 8.6 the lens
with 8.6 mm radius will have lesser Sag or will behave flatter.
• Similarly if the base curve is kept constant and the diameters
are changed, the lens with smaller diameter will have lesser
Sag or will behave flat
 Edge lift
• The terms axial edge lift (AEL) and the radial edge lift are used
to describe the distance between the lens and the cornea for
each of the lens zones
• AEL : vertical distance from lens edge to the extension of Base
curve
 Cont…
• REL: distance from lens edge perpendicular
to an extension of the base curve
 Cont…
• Edge clearance, is the distance between the peripheral curves
highest point (the lens apex edge) and the peripheral cornea.
• Edge lift and edge clearance are measured in hundredths of
a millimeter.
For example a normal peripheral system would have a radial edge
lift of 0.08 to 0.10 mm.
• This would be equal to an axial edge lift of approximately 0.11 to
0.14 mm (depends upon the diameter).
• The rule is that the axial edge lift or clearance will always be more
than radial edge lift or clearance.
 Reference
• Contact lens manual
THANK YOU!