Tangible® Science, LLC, is launching its Hydra-PEG, a new contact lens coating designed to reduce discomfort at this week’s Global Specialty Lens Symposium in Las Vegas.
Background
While there has been much innovation in contact lenses over the years, many lens wearers still complain about discomfort and the inconvenience that comes with it. This includes red, painful eyes, foggy vision, multiple cleanings throughout the day to reduce deposit build-up on the lens, repeated refittings and lens returns. Eye care practitioners remain frustrated by the lack of solutions for their patients.
Newcomer to our pages, Tangible Science claims to be an innovator in this field, telling us it is creating a dramatically better contact lens experience for patients and eye care practices. The newly launched Tangible Hydra-PEG has been shown to improve wettability, increase surface water retention and lubricity, and minimize deposits on the lens.
Tangible Hydra-PEG is a high water polymer coating that is permanently bonded to the surface of a contact lens. It creates a wetting surface that encapsulates the underlying lens material and enables it to integrate easily into the ocular environment without disrupting the tear film. Tangible Hydra-PEG can be applied to all contact lens materials, including hydrogel, silicone hydrogel, gas permeable, hybrid, and smart contact lenses. The coating should be beneficial to patients who experience ocular dryness or discomfort associated with contact lens wear, moderate or heavy depositors, and scleral lens wearers who experience fogging.
The coating is being launched at the Global Specialty Lens Symposium this week in Las Vegas.
Tangible Science has developed partnerships with Contamac™, which will offer Tangible Hydra-PEG on its Optimum gas permeable (GP) lenses, and SynergEyes®, which will offer the coating on its Duette® hybrid lens materials.
Physician comments
“My patients absolutely love Tangible Hydra-PEG,” said Melissa Barnett, OD, FAAO, FSLS, president of the Scleral Lens Education Society and principal optometrist with the University of California, Davis Eye Center. “They say that the lenses are slick, smooth, wettable, and do not fog up during the day. Some of my patients say that they can’t feel them at all.”
“It’s especially helpful for my patients with Sjogren’s syndrome or meibomian gland dysfunction, multifocal scleral lens patients, or those with dry eye and a history of wetting issues. It has been an incredible technology to have in my practice over this last year,” continued Dr. Barnett.
Company comments
“We are developing a family of contact lens and lens care products centered around the innovative Tangible Hydra-PEG coating that together are intended to transform the contact lens wearing experience for patients and improve eye care practices,” said Tangible Science Chief Executive Officer Vic McCray. “Our early clinical work has demonstrated the benefits and patients have validated them. We look forward to expanding the use of our coating across all types of contact lenses and practices nationwide, and to rolling out our additional products that will optimize the experience.”
Source: Tangible Science, LLC
published: January 30, 2017 in: Congresses and Meetings, Launches / Withdrawals, Ophthalmics