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Study: Wavefront-guided scleral contacts successful for keratoconus
A recent Optometry and Vision Science study found that individualized wavefront-guided scleral contact lenses were effective in reducing higher-order aberrations.
Marsack and colleagues also reported that these lenses, while successful, proved less time and resource efficient for both the patient and the doctor, according to the study.
Researchers designed an individualized wavefront-guided scleral contact lens for each eye of the seven participants with keratoconus enrolled in the study. To evaluate the lenses, the researchers used high-contrast visual acuity and visual quality metrics.
Results showed that 10 eyes achieved optic levels better than or equal to (within 1 SD) normal, age-matched subjects, the study detailed.
The researchers also noted: "However, visual performance as measured by high-contrast acuity did not reach normal, age-matched levels, which is in agreement with prior results associated with the acute application of wavefront correction to keratoconic eyes."
"Wavefront-guided scleral contact lenses are capable of optically compensating for the deleterious effects of higher-order aberration concomitant with the disease and can provide visual image quality equivalent to that seen in normal eyes," the authors concluded. "Longer-duration studies are needed to assess whether the visual system of the highly aberrated eye wearing a wavefront-guided scleral contact lens is capable of producing visual performance levels typical of the normal population."