Self-Cleaning Contact Lenses Maybe in the Future

“Scientists have developed a new adaptive material that can make liquid droplets of oil and water deposited on it defy gravity or let them slide off,” reports Business Insider. “The tunable composite of four layers — smooth, clear and flat in its resting state — can also change from transparent to opaque when stretched. Engineers at Harvard’s Wyss Institute who came up with the material say it opens up the possibility of self-adjusting pipelines that can change to optimize the rate that liquids flow through them, contact lenses that clean themselves and water-repellent transparent tents that can darken to block sunlight on bright days.” Read more.

The Bizarre and Unusual CL Solutions People Use

Twenty percent of consumers occasionally use unconventional solutions when cleaning, disinfect, and storing contact lenses: baby oil, beer, Coke, petroleum jelly, lemonade, fruit juice, and butter. That's one of the findings from research conducted in the United Kingdom by the Bausch + Lomb, makers of Biotrue multi-purpose contact lens solution. An overwhelming proportion of people reported using saliva or tap water as a solution when putting lenses in their eyes.  The average adult mouth contains 500 to 650 different types of bacteria. Both tap and distilled water may contain micro-organisms that can cause damage to the eye and have been associated with Acanthamoeba keratitis, a corneal infection that is resistant to treatment. Read more.