Manufacturers of contact lenses for individual orders. Contact lenses

Modern rigid contact lenses are made from gas-permeable materials containing silicone, which makes them more flexible than earlier gas-permeable PMMA lenses, as well as being permeable. large number oxygen through the lens to the cornea. This allows rigid gas permeable contact lenses to provide a significantly more comfortable and healthier wearing experience compared to their gas-permeable predecessors, which are no longer commonly prescribed.

Advantages hard contact lenses

Compared to soft contact lenses rigid gas-permeable contact lenses provide significant better vision, since due to their higher rigidity they retain their shape during blinking and therefore the image remains stable at all times. Soft contact lenses crumple slightly when closing the eyelids, which leads to the fact that the picture seems to “float”.

With proper care, hard gas permeable contact lenses can be worn for at least 1 year due to the fact that they are resistant to almost all types of deposits, since their surface is less porous and easier to clean than the surface of soft contact lenses. They are also more difficult to damage or tear than soft contact lenses.

Rigid contact lenses are made taking into account the individual parameters of the patient's cornea, so their shape is more congruent with the shape of the cornea, that is, it fits it perfectly. The mobility of a hard contact lens is 2-4 times greater than the mobility of a soft one. All this ensures a much better exchange of tear fluid in the sublens space and a much greater supply of oxygen to the cornea, and therefore a less frequent development of hypoxic (associated with a lack of oxygen) complications.

In addition, there are situations where soft contact lenses cannot be offered to the patient in principle and hard contact lenses are the only option. possible means vision correction for such people.

Hard contact lenses for high degrees of myopia (nearsightedness) and hypermetropia (farsightedness)

The range of optical power (diopters) of most modern soft contact lenses does not exceed -12.00 D - +8.00 D. And the properties of the materials of those contact lenses that will provide high-quality vision at higher degrees of myopia and farsightedness ( up to 20.00 D), unfortunately, leave much to be desired, so wearing such soft contact lenses often leads to the development of complications. In addition, you need to understand that the higher the degree of myopia, the thicker the soft contact lens along the periphery, and the higher the degree of hyperopia, the thicker it is in the center, which, taking into account the tighter fit compared to hard contact lenses again leads to the development of hypoxic (associated with a lack of oxygen supply through a thick lens) complications when wearing soft contact lenses.
What can these unfortunate people do? Or be content with incomplete and insufficient correction, depriving yourself of the opportunity to see and enjoy well full life, or use soft contact lenses, wearing which will almost inevitably lead to the development of complications. They, of course, can be offered spectacle correction, but in glasses with such diopters, peripheral aberrations (distortions) will be very pronounced, which will make their use very uncomfortable, and their aesthetic properties will be very questionable ( spectacle lenses will be thick, and the eyes behind them will be either very large with high degrees of farsightedness, or very small with myopia).
But in reality there is a choice! Rigid contact lenses typically have more wide range refractions ( -25.00 D to +25.00 D), and due to the use of materials with high coefficient refractions remain quite thin even at large diopters. In addition, due to better exchange of tear fluid in the sublens space, they ensure adequate oxygen supply to the cornea.

Rigid contact lenses for high astigmatism

The optical power of the cylinder of most toric soft contact lenses does not exceed 2.25 D, some of them have restrictions on the axes of the cylinder, which in some cases makes it impossible to provide high-quality vision to patients who need it.
Rigid contact lenses, due to a fundamentally different system for correcting astigmatism, make it possible to cope with this problem.

Hard contact lenses for presbyopia (age-related farsightedness)

To correct vision in patients over 40 years of age, in addition to glasses, special multifocal soft contact lenses can be used. But all multifocals presented on the domestic market soft lenses have restrictions on optical power for distance ( -10.00 D to +6.00 D) and cannot be offered to patients with astigmatism, since toric multifocal soft contacts are not represented in our country in principle.
Hard contact lenses do not have such restrictions: they can be selected for patients over 40 years of age, both with high degrees of farsightedness and myopia, and for those who have astigmatism.

Selection of hard contact lenses

So what exactly is selection of hard contact lenses?
This procedure is carried out on the basis of examination data using an autorefractometer and visometry. After these studies are completed, lenses from a diagnostic kit are installed on the patient’s eyes, the “fit” of which is assessed after 20 minutes by a doctor during a slit-lamp examination and fluorescein staining. The visual acuity obtained with hard contact lenses is also checked. As a rule, in most cases, successful fitting requires trying on 1 to 3 diagnostic hard contact lenses in each eye. This is necessary in order to achieve complete perfect fit inner surface hard contact lens surface of the cornea, and thereby ensure its correct centering, sufficient mobility and, as a result, ensure comfortable and healthy wearing.

After completing all the described procedures, having decided on the parameters of the hard contact lenses the patient needs, we can send an order for their individual production.

Manufacturing of hard contact lenses

Wanting to offer our patients the best, we collaborate with the German company Wöhlk, which has 60 years of experience in producing premium hard contact lenses. The level of this company is evidenced by the fact that such an optical giant with a worldwide reputation and excellent reputation as Carl Zeiss entrusted it with the production of its soft contact lenses. The Wöhlk plant is located in northern Germany in the town of Schenkirchen, and every product produced there is subject to the strictest controls and has a guarantee of the highest quality. All orders for hard contact lenses are manufactured using high-precision equipment according to the individual parameters of each specific patient. The waiting time for such an order, including delivery from Germany, is usually 14 working days.

Training and dynamic observation

If you want to wear hard contact lenses, it is important to understand that they not only provide high quality vision, but also impose significant responsibility. Wearing such lenses requires more frequent visits ophthalmologist for dynamic assessment of eye condition than when using glasses and soft contact lenses. Yes, and lenses require certain procedures when caring for them. An important factor in the safety of wearing them is compliance with hygiene rules, including when putting them on and taking them off.
That is why in our vision correction offices final stage When dispensing hard contact lenses, we inform our patients in detail about how to wear and care for them correctly.
An indispensable condition is to purchase a starter kit, which includes a set of all necessary funds and accessories for the first time.
When purchasing a starter kit patient education independent skills of putting on and removing hard contact lenses, if they are choosing lenses for the first time, as well as dynamic observation by an ophthalmologist during the entire period of wearing the lenses, for free.

Contact lenses were invented over a hundred years ago. For a long time, only hard lenses were produced, but in 1960 soft contact lenses were invented and received widespread. Unlike hard lenses, they are comfortable to wear and do not take a long time to get used to. Today, about 90% of users prefer soft lenses made of elastic, gas-permeable materials. When properly selected, they provide the owner with comfort, safety and ideal vision correction. Modern hard lenses are also gas-permeable, but due to difficulties in getting used to them, they are usually used only in isolated, particularly difficult cases.

Lens making methods

The production of modern contact lenses is based on several technologies:
- turning (turning);
- casting;
- centrifugal molding;
- combined methods, combining elements of the above methods, for example, the reverse reverse process.

Turning

The turning method is used for the manufacture of both soft and hard ones. Their production is carried out on the same equipment, but has some differences. Disc-shaped blanks are processed on special lathes; this process is almost completely automated. A computer program monitors compliance with all parameters.

At the first stage, a diamond-tipped cutter forms the inner curve of the lens, then polishes the surface to make it absolutely smooth. Next, the outer surface that will be in contact with the eyelid is processed, and the workpiece is given the required diameter. Outer surface and the edges of the lens are also carefully polished. At the end of this stage, its thickness and other parameters are measured using a very precise instrument.

The difference between the production of soft lenses is that after the turning stage they are subjected to hydration - immersed in saline solution with optimal pH factor. Hydrogel and silicone hydrogel, from which soft lenses are made, absorb moisture well and swell, increasing to the right size. During hydration, the hard workpiece acquires the missing softness and elasticity. At the end, the finished product is tested for compliance with optical and geometric parameters. Before sale, lenses are cleaned, packaged and labeled.

Casting

Casting begins with the manufacture of a matrix with specified parameters that correspond to the characteristics of the future lens. Form copies are made from the matrix from plastic, which can be either disposable or reusable. The lower half is filled with liquid polymer and covered top part, forming an internal space shaped like a lens. The workpiece is irradiated with ultraviolet light, under the influence of which the polymer hardens. The lens is then hydrated, measured, cleaned and packaged.

Centrifugal molding

Centrifugal molding technology was developed by the Czech inventor of soft lenses, Otto Wichterle. A special mold with a concave bottom and cylindrical walls is filled required quantity monomer. During its rotation on special equipment, the composition spreads over the inner surface and hardens. The shape and thickness of the resulting lens depend on the amount of polymerization mixture and the speed of rotation of the mold.

Reverse reverse process

The reverse reverse process successfully combines the two technologies described above. First, the convex side of the lens is obtained by centrifugal molding, then processed by turning inner part. The resulting lens acquires the advantages of each method - smoothness outer surface and edges are combined with excellent functional qualities obtained by turning.

We work with various types hard contact lenses (Wohlk, Boston, Rose-K, SoClear, etc.).

Our specialists can select exactly those contact lenses that will provide the highest quality of vision in your case.

What are rigid gas permeable contact lenses?

It sounds kind of scary.

Soft contact lenses – the name is much more pleasant. However, you will be surprised that hard contact lenses allow oxygen to reach the cornea at a much faster rate. more than regular soft contact lenses and even the newest silicone hydrogel lenses, which are now the safest and most advanced soft contact lenses. And this indicator is almost the most important for those who constantly wear contact lenses.

Besides this hard contact lenses provide higher clarity of vision, are more resistant to deposits, and are much cheaper than soft contact lenses, since one pair of lenses is designed to be worn for up to 1-2 years.

Why then doesn't everyone wear hard contact lenses?

First - You will need adaptation, i.e. necessary certain time to get used to wearing hard contact lenses. This time is very individual from 3-4 days to 2-3 weeks. And it doesn't hurt.

Secondly, to successfully wear hard lenses you need to wear them every day(with a few exceptions), because if you don't wear them for a while, then you will need some time to adapt again

Hard contact lenses - an excellent option for those people who cannot achieve ideal vision with soft contact lenses. This is possible in several cases:

those people who have higher demands on the quality of vision, for example shooters, operating surgeons, pilots, jewelers, etc.;
those. who has astigmatism, especially of a high degree, and due to this, 100% vision is not achieved in soft contact lenses;
patients with keratoconus ( irregular shape cornea);
patients who need correction after previously performed surgical operations on the cornea ( laser operations to eliminate myopia, corneal transplantation, lens removal).
patients who have problems wearing soft contact lenses (corneal vascularization, recurrent eye inflammation, excess accumulation sediments)

If you already use hard contact lenses and would like to purchase a new set, please note:

You can order or purchase hard lenses from us if the lenses were selected in our office. Hard lenses cannot be ordered in absentia, using a prescription for glasses/soft lenses or the parameters of old hard lenses. To purchase lenses in our office, you need to make an appointment, take a break from wearing your lenses for several days, and bring with you all the data that you have (from examination data to old glasses and contact lenses).

You can sign up for a consultation and selection of hard contact lenses...
Ask a question about hard lenses doctor online right now... or by phone. 730-52-60, 730-53-35.

ABOUT COOPERVISION (USA)

American company CooperVision more than 45 years. Over the past decade, it has firmly maintained its status as one of the world's leading contact lens companies.

The company was founded in 1958 in Rochester, New York by Dr. Stanley Gordon. Initially, it consisted of two small enterprises: a research laboratory (Cooper Laboratories) and a modest workshop for the production of hard contact lenses (The Contact Lens Guild), which at that time were just coming into fashion as an alternative to glasses. The demand for the workshop's products steadily increased, so the workshop itself expanded, and 7 years after its founding it was renamed Gordon Contact Lenses, Inc. Dr. Gordon himself had by that time become widely known as a public lecturer who actively promoted contact lenses.

Since the beginning of the 70s. The 20th century marked a historical turn in the fate of the company. In 1970, Stanley Gordon created tetrafilcon, a hydrophilic polymer for soft contact lenses. Six years later, the company began producing Aquaflex lenses made from tetrafilcone. It was the third US brand of soft lenses officially approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). medical drugs) for production and sale. In 1979, Cooper Laboratories became CooperVision. Later, this name was assigned to that part of the company that was engaged in the development and production of contact lenses. Precisely partly - since the range of the company's activities gradually expanded. By the mid-1980s. CooperVision was already a well-established and extensive enterprise, producing not only lenses and lens care products, but also a whole series medicines, as well as some surgical materials. The company has grown so much, and its specializations have become so diverse, that they had to be formalized legally. In 1986, the name Cooper Companies was registered - it now belonged to the company entirely, and the name CooperVision was given to a branch engaged only in the production of contact lenses and accessories for them.

At that time, CooperVision produced three lines of soft lenses: Aquaflex, Permalens (“permanent lenses” - the first FDA-registered soft lenses for continuous 30-day wear in the United States) and Permaflex.

In the second half of the 1980s. The situation on the global market has changed somewhat, and CooperVision management responded to the changes late. As a result, the company began to lose its leading position, and production and business decline began. A crisis was brewing. CooperVision's prospects, in the opinion of its management and prominent specialists, are associated primarily with the production of contact lenses and, in addition, with surgical gynecology. The activities of the former “Dr. Gordon Contact Lens Guild,” and now one of the world’s largest medical industry corporations, concentrated on these two areas. Its main goal for the near future is to satisfy the demand of all categories of people in need of contact correction vision.

Products: Color Tones colored lenses. Replacement period: 1 month; Cooper Clear FW. Contact lenses long-term wearing. Replacement period: 9-12 months; Cooper Flex Premium. Contact lenses monthly. Replacement period: 1 month; Cooper Flex UV. Contact lenses monthly. Replacement period: 1 month; Crazy. Colored lenses with a pattern. Replacement period: 3 months; Expressions Accents. Tinted colored lenses. Replacement period: 1 month; High Time 55 UV. Contact lenses monthly. Replacement period: 1 month; Images. Colored lenses. Replacement period: 1 month; Silver 07. Long-term wear contact lenses. Replacement period: 6-12 months.

Johnson & Johnson was founded in 1886. This is one of the largest American manufacturers of cosmetics and medicinal purposes, as well as contact lenses. Johnson & Johnson products are known throughout the world and are sold in many countries.

In 1987, Johnson & Johnson introduced innovative contact Acuvue lenses, intended for a seven-day wearing period. Since that time, over 2 billion contact lenses have already been produced. Regarding the lenses supplied on Russian market, then most of them are produced in Ireland at the famous Limerick plant.

Popular brands : 1-Day Acuvue TruEye, Acuvue Oasys, 1-Day Acuvue Moist, 1-Day Acuvue Define, Acuvue Oasys 1-Day.

CooperVision

CooperVision is an American manufacturer of contact lenses. The company was founded in 1958. Cooper Vision's main contact lens manufacturing plants are located in English city Hampshire, as well as in the American cities of Rochester and Huntington Beach.

The company's headquarters are based in Irvine, California.

The US facilities primarily manufacture soft toric and spherical contact lenses, while the UK manufactures elective soft contact lenses.

It was the specialists from Cooper Vision who first developed soft contact lenses for regular replacement. The basis of these lenses is the innovative material tetrafilcon.

Popular brands : Proclear, Biofinity, Avaira, Myday, Biomedics 55.

Alcon

Alcon is a recognized world leader in the manufacture and sale of ophthalmic products. The company's headquarters is located in Texas. More than 2,500 employees work for the benefit of Alcon.

The company was originally founded in Fort Worth in 1947 (Texas). At the origins of the company were two American pharmacists - Robert Alexander and William Conner. It was the first syllables of their surnames that served as the basis for creating the name of the company.

In 1977, Nestlé acquired Alcon, as a result of which the sales area of this company's ophthalmic products was expanded. This is how the manufacturer entered the European market. Currently, Alcon factories are located in Spain, Belgium, Mexico, France and Brazil.

Subsequently, Alcon also began to develop and establish production of surgical equipment for ophthalmology.

Bausch & Lomb

Bausch & Lomb is a leader in the manufacture and sale of contact lenses.

The company was founded in America in 1853. The founders of the company were emigrants from Germany J. Bausch and H. Lomb. They chose to specialize in the production of special and high-precision optics: telescopes, microscopes, binoculars, night vision devices. In 1971, Bausch & Lomb was the first company to receive FDA approval to market soft contact lenses.

Bausch & Lomb manufactures a wide range of ophthalmic products and surgical equipment, which were previously produced under the Chiron and Stortz brands.

Bausch & Lomb has sales centers and factories in 25 countries.

Popular brands : PureVision 2, Biotrue ONEday, Soflens Daily Disposable, Optima FW.

Korean companies

In the last few years, several Korean companies have appeared on the contact correction market, such as OKVision, G&G Contact Lens. The most popular among their products are colored contact lenses due to their bright colors and affordable prices.