OD: All patients are candidates for photochromic contact lenses
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ATLANTA – A clinician in Florida said she discusses Acuvue Oasys With Transitions Light Intelligent Technology Contact Lenses with all patients in her practice.
Chandra Mickles, OD, MSc, FAAO, FSLS, told Primary Care Optometry News in an interview here at the SECO meeting that her staff added a question on their patient intake form asking patients if they are ever bothered by light.
“Initially I thought the lens was for patients who were outside a lot or athletes,” she said. “But I discuss it with everyone. It goes beyond traditional vision correction and comfort.”
The Acuvue Oasys contact lenses with Transitions, available from Johnson & Johnson Vision, were launched in April 2019, and Mickles has been using them in her practice ever since.
If patients say they are bothered by working on digital devices or under fluorescent light, she tells them about the lenses.
Zohra Fadli, a global research and development director at Johnson & Johnson Vision, previously told PCON that the Transitions Light Intelligent Technology works in these Acuvue Oasys lenses even when the lenses are clear.
“The photochromic molecules don’t need to be activated,” satisfying an unmet need in patients who complain about bright artificial light,” she said. “It offers visual comfort under artificial lights, even when not dark,” she said.
The lenses filter up to 15% of high-energy visible (HEV)/blue light when not activated. Outdoors, they filter up to 70% HEV, 100% UVB and 99% UVA, Fadli said.
She noted that the tint in Transitions spectacle lenses is dependent on temperature, while the contact lenses, constantly bathed in tear film, are at a consistent temperature. The contacts fade back to clear faster than the spectacle lenses, she said.
Mickles said that her patients have seen the biggest impact during digital device use and night driving.
“Since it seamlessly adapts to changing light, they may not notice it right away, but it also provides color contrast,” she said. “They see things sharper and more vibrantly.”
Mickles said she has had 95% acceptance in her practice, and “10% of wearers are patients who need no vision correction.”
She noted that the lenses do activate in the car, and that they are available in a spherical design with a bimonthly replacement schedule. – by Nancy Hemphill, ELS, FAAO
Disclosures: Fadli is employed by Johnson & Johnson Vision. Mickles reports she is a speaker for Johnson & Johnson Vision.