Tired of wearing heavy glasses? Or perhaps you want a smart make over? Then you can definitely try for contact lenses that fit your persona. You can be sure that you would not mind the make over and will be surprised by the kind of attention you receive which will be strikingly different than what you experienced before. But before you get on with your make over activities, it is a good idea to know about the history of contact lenses, perhaps that would interest you to more to go for contact lenses.
As we know history is full of surprises and mysteries too, the history of contact lenses too is full of surprises. According to a particular source, it was Leonardo da Vinci who in 1508 actually made the first major breakthrough by sketches that described several types of contact lenses. The first lenses were unique in their own respect and comprised of heavy glass lenses that used to cover the whole eyes and could not be tolerated for more than few hours. These were also known as the scleral lenses and were used to correct nearsightedness and farsightedness.
In 1948, a Californian optician named Kevin Touhy started manufacturing contact lenses that were made entirely of plastic. George Butterfield an Oregon optometrist in that same year made some improvements to Touhy?s invention by the addition of flatter peripheral curves to the lens so it more closely matched the shape of the cornea. This ensured that the lenses did not pop off easily. Over the years these lenses were developed in several forms, thinner or smaller, sometimes into hard lenses as well that are still in use today at some places.
Another data that surfaces from the history of contact lenses is that, there was a major progress in the field of contact lens development after which the lens market came face to face with one of the most advanced lens that were made in Czechoslovakia by Otto Wichterle and Drahoslav Lim. The kind of lenses that were produced and attained overnight popularity were the ?soft lens? that became a rage in the second half of the 20th century. However it needs to be mentioned that soft lenses were first introduced in the U.S in 1971 by Bausch and Lomb. These lenses were very much thinner and comfortable to use and therefore became a major hit with people from around the globe. The contact lenses industry developed really fast in 1978; also it was in this year that silicone acrylate rigid gas permeable (RGP) lenses were also produced.
The history of contact lenses also reveals about the dramatic change in the market of contact lenses with more and more people availing the luxury of the contact lenses. In 1981 the first contact lenses for immediate wear were introduced. Again, it was during the years 1981-1984 Ciba Vision introduced two varieties of contact lenses, bifocal soft contact lenses (bi soft) and tinted soft contact lenses (soft colors). The introduction of the disposable soft contact lenses happened around 1987. Later in that year disposable soft contact lenses were introduced, along with soft contact lenses that also changed the eye color as well. The early 1990?s brought with it some main changes concerning contact lenses. Two new types of lenses were introduced, daily wear and two-week replacement lenses. Several other types of lenses were developed in between keeping pace with the technology of the time. With the help of contact lenses numerous medical problems were solved over the past years and people got to wear them as they offered more advantages than the plain eyeglasses.
contactlensesxl.com informs you about history of contact lenses, to avail more information regarding other aspects of lenses, do keep browsing the pages!
|
