Soft contact lenses offer wonderful comfort and vision for the large majority of patients needing vision correction, but some patients (due to corneal shape or refractive error) just can't achieve satisfactory vision with a standard soft contact lenses. Rigid gas permeable (or hard) contact lenses are still available largely because of this fact. Lately I have had the privilege of working with a new lens design that combines the optical quality of a rigid contact lens with the comfort of a silicone hydrogel (or highly oxygen permeable) soft lens: the Synergeyes Duette.
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| Picture courtesy www.synergeyes.com |
Synergeyes hybrid lenses are not new to the market, but the newer Duette design includes a silicone hydrogel soft skirt that improves comfort and oxygen permeability. For patients who aren't happy with the comfort or quality of vision with their current lenses, the Duette is a nice alternative.
Newer to the market is the Synergeyes Duette Multifocal lens that incorporates near and intermediate vision into a lens for presbyopes (or people typically over the age of 40 who are experiencing a natural reduction in their eyes' focusing ability). The Duette Multifocal lens is different from soft multifocal contact lenses in that the reading power of the lens is intrinsic to the aspheric design. That means that ONE lens will continue to work for your patient's reading needs even as their required reading power increases over time. There are 2 different reading zone sizes for the center of the lens. Small near zone is typically the most successful, but if patients are having difficulty with distance or intermediate vision in the lens, a large near zone is suggested.
What are the drawbacks? Like any multifocal contact lens, there is no way to return vision to the function that it had at age 20. There can be some shadowing around letters (but this typically resolves over a week of wear as your brain learns to utilize the lens). Some patients may never be satisfied with the quality of distance or near vision they are receiving from the contact lens, simply due to the fact that through the contact lens they are receiving information from multiple powers at the same time. I always like to tell my patients that their expectations may have to be tempered if they expect perfect clarity at all distances. It is a contact lens; not a time machine to recover younger eyes. A successful fit is functional vision for the majority of the patient's daily demands (which does not necessarily mean 20/20 at all distances!).
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| An ideal Synergeyes fit (courtesy Contact Lens Spectrum): Fluorescein staining should show even central clearance under the RGP (rigid) central portion of the lens |
As I continue to fit this contact lens (and others) I plan to post from time to time about my personal experiences with these lenses with tips for doctors on how to get the most successful fit!
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