Contact lens manufacturers are continually developing new lens materials and designs to enable more people to enjoy contact lens wear.  Here's an update on the some of the newer contact lenses on the market and their features and benefits.

Soft Lenses

Extreme H₂O (Hydrogel Vision Corp.)

Extreme H₂O lenses resist dehydration and stay moist and comfortable on the eye longer than other soft contact lenses, according to Hydrogel Vision Corp.  The lenses are recommended for individuals with dry eyes or contact lens-related dryness symptoms. 

Though Extreme H₂O lenses have been on the market several years, the company recently introduced a new thicker version that is easier to handle and may be more durable than the original lens. 

Extreme H₂O lenses are daily wear disposable lenses designed for a two-week replacement schedule. They are available in prescriptions from +6.00 to -8.00 diopters (D).

Biomedics 55 Premier (CooperVision/Ocular Sciences Inc.)

This two-week disposable soft lens features a front surface that's designed to correct spherical aberrations of the lens and the eye and thereby provide greater visual clarity than conventional soft contact lenses. 

Biomedics 55 Premier lenses are available in prescriptions from -1.00 to -6.00 D.

Silicone Hydrogel Lenses

Silicone hydrogel lenses are made of a new type of soft lens material that allows significantly more oxygen to pass through it and reach the eye.  This high oxygen permeability makes silicone hydrogel lenses safer for overnight wear than conventional soft lenses.  It also reduces the frequency of contact lens-related red eye and other problems associated with inadequate oxygen supply to the cornea that can occur with contact lens wear.

Focus Night & Day (CIBA Vision)

Focus Night & Day silicone hydrogel lenses are approved for up to 30 days of continuous wear and are available in prescriptions from +6.00 to -10.50 D.

O2 Optix (CIBA Vision)

O2 Optix lenses are approved for up to six nights of continuous wear and are available in prescriptions from -1.00 to -6.00 D.

Acuvue Advance with Hydraclear (Vistakon/Johnson & Johnson)

Acuvue Advance for Astigmatism (Vistakon/Johnson & Johnson)

Acuvue Advance with Hydraclear lenses are daily wear silicone hydrogel lenses that are available in prescription powers from +4.00 to -6.00 D.  The company also recently released Acuvue Advance for Astigmatism lenses - the first toric silicone hydrogel lens available in the United States for the correction of astigmatism.  

Soft Multifocal Lenses

Soft multifocal lenses are designed for presbyopic contact lens wearers who require a bifocal prescription.

Proclear Multifocal (CooperVision)

Proclear Multifocal is made of a special soft contact lens material that resists dehydration and Protein deposits.  It is the only soft lens material approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the management of contact lens-induced dry eye.

Proclear Multifocals work on a modified Monovision principle: One multifocal lens is designed to act primarily as a distance lens and the other acts primarily as a near lens.  The distance lens (designated the "D" lens) has a central distance power zone, an aspheric intermediate zone, and a spherical peripheral zone for near vision.  The near (or "N") lens has central near power zone, an aspheric intermediate zone, and a spherical peripheral zone for distance vision.

Proclear Multifocal lenses are daily wear lenses designed for monthly replacement and are available in prescription powers from +4.00 to -6.00 D.

Rigid Gas Permeable (RGP) Lenses for Extended Wear

Menicon Z (Menicon Ltd.)

The Menicon Z lens is the only RGP contact lens currently approved by the FDA for up to 30 days of continuous wear.  It is available in prescription powers from +25.00 to -25.00 D for daily wear and from +8.00 to -25.00 D for extended wear.  The Menicon Z lens can also correct up to 5.00 D of astigmatism.    

Source Article

Landers RA and Rixon AJ. Contact lens materials update: Options for most prescriptions. Contact Lens Spectrum Mar 2005:24-28.