Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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Tinted contact lenses (self.Blind)
submitted by clark3141
I recently found out that tinted soft contact lenses exist for people who are light sensitive. If you have experience with these I'd like to here about your experiences.
RockPaperAwesome 8 points 4y ago
I am an optician certified in contacts. They are available but limited availability. Usually a custom order. I will say I am excited that Acuvue is coming out with transitions lenses which adapt and get darker with bright light in contacts. With a big company maybe the availability and cost will be better.
saharacanuck 4 points 4y ago
Ooh transition lenses?! How long does it take to transition and who are they recommended for?
PseudoscientificFox 1 points 4y ago
I was curious and didn't see an answer so I tried to look it up but Johnson and Johnson didn't have it published anywhere that I could find.
I did find an article from 2009 that said. "The researchers say response time is 10 to 20 seconds." It is not Acuvue brand but gives an idea. I will copy and paste the text of article below.
**Contact Lenses that Respond to Light
UV-responsive dyes embedded in contact lenses can quickly adapt.**
**Sunglasses that darken automatically in response to bright sunlight have been available for eyeglasses for 40 years. But adapting this flexibility to contact lenses has proven challenging. Now researchers in Singapore have developed UV-responsive, or photochromic, lenses that darken when exposed to ultraviolet light, protecting the eyes against the sun’s damaging rays, and return to normal in UV’s absence.**
**Seeing the light: A new contact lens technology responds to UV light. The key is a novel polymer laced with an intricate network of nano-sized tunnels that can be filled with dyes. Initial studies have shown that the technology performs faster than the light-sensitive sunglasses on the market today, says Jackie Ying, director of the Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) in Singapore, and developer of the lenses. The research is part of a broader effort at IBN to develop new materials for contact lenses that can dispense drugs and diagnose diseases.**
**Conventional light-responsive sunglasses are coated with millions of molecules of photochromic dyes, which are transparent when out of the sun. These molecules change shape when UV light hits, enabling them to absorb UV light and triggering the darkening of the lens. When UV light disappears, the molecules change back to their original shape and transparent appearance.**
**Few previous attempts have been made to design light-responsive contact lenses, largely because it’s difficult to apply dye coatings uniformly to the delicate, soft surface of a contact lens. Ying and her colleagues got around this by developing a contact lens that embeds dyes uniformly throughout the material.**
**This approach allowed them to pack more dye molecules into the material, Ying says, giving the contact lens greater sensitivity to light and thus a faster response.
Researchers created the spongy nanostructure material by mixing specific combinations of water, an oil solution with monomers commonly used in contact lenses, and a novel surfactant–a compound that encourages mixing between water and oil solutions.**
**The resulting material is studded with tiny pores and tunnels, which can be loaded with agents such as UV-sensitive dyes. The lens material’s porous structure provides a flexible environment for dyes to transform from dark to light and back again, says Edwin Chow, team leader and senior research scientist at IBN. “If the polymer is too rigid, the dye is stuck and can’t transform,” says Chow. “This pore structure and polymer happens to give the best environment for dyes to react quickly.”-**
**Speed performance is crucial for photochromic eyewear, particularly for adjusting from high to low levels of light. “When your car suddenly goes into a tunnel, the amount of light is very dim, so you need your lenses to transform back immediately,” says Chow. While this can take minutes with sunglasses, he says, “Our response time is 10 to 20 seconds.” The team is getting ready to test the photochromic contact lenses in animals. The researchers have already tested the lens material, without dyes, on rabbits, and have determined that it is biocompatible. Ying says the main concern in animal tests is to see whether the dyes are successfully contained within the lenses, or if they leak out.**
**In addition, researchers will work to focus the dyes so that they cover only the corneal region of the eye, to block out the most UV light. The lenses now have dyes distributed throughout, and would darken a wearer’s entire iris–a potentially unsettling effect.**
**The institute has created a spin-off, iNano Pte Ltd., to commercialize the technology. It will initially target markets in Japan and Korea. Ying estimates that photochromic contact lenses will be commercially available within a year.**
**Jan Bergmanson, director of the Texas Eye Research and Technology Center in Houston, says athletes may benefit the most from such contact lenses. “If you are a tennis player, and you perspire a lot, perspiration on sunglasses may be a distraction,” he says. “If you had [photochromic] contact lenses, you wouldn’t have to deal with this dilemma. So this may have a market as a sporty lens.”-**
**In the meantime, Ying is exploring other applications for the photochromic material, for instance as UV-sensitive tinting for windows and windshields, or as a cheaper coating alternative for sunglasses.**
$1
I did find an article from 2009 that said. "The researchers say response time is 10 to 20 seconds." It is not Acuvue brand but gives an idea. I will copy and paste the text of article below.
**Contact Lenses that Respond to Light
UV-responsive dyes embedded in contact lenses can quickly adapt.**
**Sunglasses that darken automatically in response to bright sunlight have been available for eyeglasses for 40 years. But adapting this flexibility to contact lenses has proven challenging. Now researchers in Singapore have developed UV-responsive, or photochromic, lenses that darken when exposed to ultraviolet light, protecting the eyes against the sun’s damaging rays, and return to normal in UV’s absence.**
**Seeing the light: A new contact lens technology responds to UV light. The key is a novel polymer laced with an intricate network of nano-sized tunnels that can be filled with dyes. Initial studies have shown that the technology performs faster than the light-sensitive sunglasses on the market today, says Jackie Ying, director of the Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) in Singapore, and developer of the lenses. The research is part of a broader effort at IBN to develop new materials for contact lenses that can dispense drugs and diagnose diseases.**
**Conventional light-responsive sunglasses are coated with millions of molecules of photochromic dyes, which are transparent when out of the sun. These molecules change shape when UV light hits, enabling them to absorb UV light and triggering the darkening of the lens. When UV light disappears, the molecules change back to their original shape and transparent appearance.**
**Few previous attempts have been made to design light-responsive contact lenses, largely because it’s difficult to apply dye coatings uniformly to the delicate, soft surface of a contact lens. Ying and her colleagues got around this by developing a contact lens that embeds dyes uniformly throughout the material.**
**This approach allowed them to pack more dye molecules into the material, Ying says, giving the contact lens greater sensitivity to light and thus a faster response.
Researchers created the spongy nanostructure material by mixing specific combinations of water, an oil solution with monomers commonly used in contact lenses, and a novel surfactant–a compound that encourages mixing between water and oil solutions.**
**The resulting material is studded with tiny pores and tunnels, which can be loaded with agents such as UV-sensitive dyes. The lens material’s porous structure provides a flexible environment for dyes to transform from dark to light and back again, says Edwin Chow, team leader and senior research scientist at IBN. “If the polymer is too rigid, the dye is stuck and can’t transform,” says Chow. “This pore structure and polymer happens to give the best environment for dyes to react quickly.”-**
**Speed performance is crucial for photochromic eyewear, particularly for adjusting from high to low levels of light. “When your car suddenly goes into a tunnel, the amount of light is very dim, so you need your lenses to transform back immediately,” says Chow. While this can take minutes with sunglasses, he says, “Our response time is 10 to 20 seconds.” The team is getting ready to test the photochromic contact lenses in animals. The researchers have already tested the lens material, without dyes, on rabbits, and have determined that it is biocompatible. Ying says the main concern in animal tests is to see whether the dyes are successfully contained within the lenses, or if they leak out.**
**In addition, researchers will work to focus the dyes so that they cover only the corneal region of the eye, to block out the most UV light. The lenses now have dyes distributed throughout, and would darken a wearer’s entire iris–a potentially unsettling effect.**
**The institute has created a spin-off, iNano Pte Ltd., to commercialize the technology. It will initially target markets in Japan and Korea. Ying estimates that photochromic contact lenses will be commercially available within a year.**
**Jan Bergmanson, director of the Texas Eye Research and Technology Center in Houston, says athletes may benefit the most from such contact lenses. “If you are a tennis player, and you perspire a lot, perspiration on sunglasses may be a distraction,” he says. “If you had [photochromic] contact lenses, you wouldn’t have to deal with this dilemma. So this may have a market as a sporty lens.”-**
**In the meantime, Ying is exploring other applications for the photochromic material, for instance as UV-sensitive tinting for windows and windshields, or as a cheaper coating alternative for sunglasses.**
$1
saharacanuck 1 points 4y ago
Thanks! This is pretty cool. :-)
saharacanuck 1 points 4y ago
Thanks! This is pretty cool. :-)
Snessrek 1 points 4y ago
That's awesome!! I've never used them but I can imagine permanently dark ones would be pretty annoying, you'd have to switch them out at night etc so transition contacts sound amazing :)
saharacanuck 5 points 4y ago
Hi! I use tinted contact lenses (sometimes). The ones I have cover the iris - they are entirely tinted.
I have albinism and therefore am photophobic and my acuity varies wildly depending on lighting.
Take the following with a grain of salt because everyone is different
The pros :
- you can add sunglasses on top of them
- you can choose the tint you want (there aren’t a ton of options, but there are a few gradients)
- they are pretty effective in situations with fluorescent lighting
- better acuity - I can read a line Lower than with regular contacts (not the whole thing but a good chunk of it) (like from line 2 to 3)
- good in snowy, reflective environments
The cons:
- they are thicker than regular contact lenses (or at least that’s how they feel to me). It takes a little while for me to get used to then when I pop them in, but afterwards it’s fine.
- I have yearly contacts. The closer I get to the end of the year, the less comfy they get and the less I will wear them
- my main issue with them is that I’ve had multiple pairs and after a while I have trouble focusing with them . Probably an issue with how they fit me personally.
- the ones I have make me look creepy.
- not great at night, unless I am going to a concert. Makes the bright lights less annoying.
That said, if you are photophobic or light sensitive, they are definitely worth a try. They take some getting used to, but if they turn out to be a good fit, than that would be excellent because I do see sharper with them (at a certain distance) and most importantly I am not as bothered by the sun or crappy overhead lights.
I don’t know where you are located but when I was in Canada i couldn’t find them (actually got laughed out of multiple optometrists offices....) so it would be about finding someone who is more knowledgeable.
I live in the Uk now and the eye hospital here is amazing. I get my contacts from them the overall care at my eye hospital is top notch. Regular follow-ups and check-ups.
I can find out what the brand name of my contacts are if you’ed like.
I have albinism and therefore am photophobic and my acuity varies wildly depending on lighting.
Take the following with a grain of salt because everyone is different
The pros :
- you can add sunglasses on top of them
- you can choose the tint you want (there aren’t a ton of options, but there are a few gradients)
- they are pretty effective in situations with fluorescent lighting
- better acuity - I can read a line Lower than with regular contacts (not the whole thing but a good chunk of it) (like from line 2 to 3)
- good in snowy, reflective environments
The cons:
- they are thicker than regular contact lenses (or at least that’s how they feel to me). It takes a little while for me to get used to then when I pop them in, but afterwards it’s fine.
- I have yearly contacts. The closer I get to the end of the year, the less comfy they get and the less I will wear them
- my main issue with them is that I’ve had multiple pairs and after a while I have trouble focusing with them . Probably an issue with how they fit me personally.
- the ones I have make me look creepy.
- not great at night, unless I am going to a concert. Makes the bright lights less annoying.
That said, if you are photophobic or light sensitive, they are definitely worth a try. They take some getting used to, but if they turn out to be a good fit, than that would be excellent because I do see sharper with them (at a certain distance) and most importantly I am not as bothered by the sun or crappy overhead lights.
I don’t know where you are located but when I was in Canada i couldn’t find them (actually got laughed out of multiple optometrists offices....) so it would be about finding someone who is more knowledgeable.
I live in the Uk now and the eye hospital here is amazing. I get my contacts from them the overall care at my eye hospital is top notch. Regular follow-ups and check-ups.
I can find out what the brand name of my contacts are if you’ed like.
moolahstonks 1 points 1y ago
I can’t find what you’re describing anywhere.. what are they called?
saharacanuck 1 points 1y ago
moolahstonks 1 points 1y ago
I’m in canada
saharacanuck 1 points 1y ago
Hi. Someone else from Canada messaged me a few years ago and couldn't find them. The brand I have is $1 . When I lived in Canada I got laughed at, at a few opticians... ridiculous. Anyway, I was offered tinted contacts in the UK. If you do find a source, please do let me know. It's insane that they aren't easier to find in Canada given how reflective the snow is.
spaceisglittery 1 points 4y ago
I'd love to know the name of the contacts that are helping you!
saharacanuck 1 points 1y ago
Hi. Sorry, I didn't see your messages. Contacts I have are from the following company, via a local eye hospital $1
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