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Hybrid Contact Lenses
Hybrid contact lenses are a very special category of contact lenses. This contact lens is the
physical melding of rigid lens design with a soft lens. The lens has a rigid center with a
soft "skirt" surrounding this rigid center. The very first lens of this type was created a couple
of decades ago and considered revolutionary, but that particular design called the Saturn lens,
was fraught with a multitude of problems. Next there was a version of this lens called Softperm, which
was an improvement over its predecessor in many ways yet there were still some significant issues with
this particular design. The rigid center did not allow oxygen through the material just
like the older hard lens designs. This lens would also tighten during the day further
stressing the underlying cornea. The soft skirt would dry out as well as accumulate deposits easily,
so in general this would be a lens, in my opinion and practice, used only as a last resort.
Hybrid designs have now been significantly advanced in its new and modernized
form. Currently called SynergEyes, it has been redesigned with some very important
changes. The rigid center is made of a material that is very porous to oxygen so the cornea is
able to "breathe" very well. The soft lens skirt is made of a material that both resists
deposits and drying. Together, this rigid/soft lens combination is the best that has ever
been available, and is so revolutionary and different than the previous incarnations in this category,
that it holds five U.S. patents with many additional patents pending.
In general terms, the concept of the hybrid contact lens offers some very unique performance characteristics
and benefits. The rigid center is aligned directly over the pupil so the vision through this portion of the
lens is very crisp - much sharper than can be achieved with any soft lens design. This becomes especially
true when dealing with astigmatism. The soft skirt provides the benefit of initial comfort
because this portion of the lens ensures excellent centration, reduced movement, and virtually
no awareness since it is tucked under the lids.
SynergEyes contact lenses are available in four different designs. SynergEyes A is a contact lens
designed primarilly for "normal" corneas that need refractive correction for myopia, hyperopia, and
astigmatism. The SynergEyes Multifocal is used for all of the same conditions as the SynergEyes A but
when the patient needs the additional help of a reading prescription due to Presbyopia. SynergEyes KC
is a contact lens designed for the very unique requirements of fitting Keratoconus. The
SynergEyes PS is meant to be used for patients that have had refractive surgery for myopia/astigmatism and who
are now suffering with poor quality vision.
Although the SynergEyes hybrid lens can be used very effectively for people with irregular corneas from causes
such as disease, trauma, infection, or refractive surgery, this lens now can be used for the more normal
cornea and in more "everyday" and "routine" scenarios. This lens, due to its very unique nature,
may also be a lens that can succeed in situations where all other types of contact lenses have failed.
For SynergEyes related links...
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