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FDA clears extended depth of focus contact lenses

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared extended depth of focus contact lenses developed by Brien Holden Vision Pty. Ltd., the company announced in a press release.

The lenses, designed for presbyopes, use higher-order aberrations to enhance image quality over a range of distances, Ravi Bakaraju, BOptom, PhD, FAAO, the scientist who invented the technology, explained in the release. They developed the contact lenses with a goal of minimizing halos and ghosting as well.

“Many claims are made that multifocal lenses provide simultaneous vision at various visual distances, but often this comes at the cost of reduced contrast, increased ghosting and compromised overall vision satisfaction,” he said in the release. “These shortcomings are often exacerbated with low illumination levels. Such visual compromises have been associated with an increase in patient dropout rate and lack of confidence in fitting by practitioners. Our comprehensive data tells us that our contact lenses will greatly benefit the U.S. market as well as others.”

As detailed in the release, the extended depth of focus contact lenses are a result of a commercial subsidiary spin-off of the Brien Holden Vision Institute (BHVI). They will be the first BHVI product brought to market by its own company, according to the release.

“This is a landmark for the Brien Holden Vision Institute, the creation of a new technology that provides clear vision from distance to near while minimizing ghosting or double imaging. This is a vital step forward in quality vision for presbyopes,” Brien Holden, PhD, DSc, FAAO, said in the release. “The contact lenses, available at the end of 2015, represent a significant growth opportunity for our robust science, technology, research and development, licensing, education, public health and blindness prevention activities, as BHVI will donate a substantial part of its profits to fund our work at a time when both science and humanitarian development funds are drying up.”