Scleral Contact Lens
Atlantis is a scleral lens design that
performs well on any patient with an irregular cornea, including
keratoconus, pellucid marginal degeneration, corneal
transplants, post refractive surgery, post corneal rings, and
ocular surface disease. Scleral lenses have also been utilized
on regular corneas, dry eye patients, and athletes.
What are Scleral
Lenses?
Scleral lenses are
gas-permeable lenses ranging from 14mm to 20mm that completely
vault the cornea, "land" and rest on the white part of the eye
called the sclera, and create a reservoir of tears.
Because of their size and this tear reservoir, they are
typically extremely comfortable and at times may provide better
vision correction than standard contact lenses, glasses,
and even surgery.
The
Atlantis proprietary lens design was developed to provide a
problem solving solution along with a simplified fitting system
with the 1-2-3 fit strategy.
The unique peripheral curve
calculation will allow central clearance while providing good
distribution of pressure in the landing area, adequate edge lift
and overall superior comfort.
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The white part of the eye is called the
sclera and these lenses are designed to vault the cornea and be
supported by the sclera with a fluid reservoir between the cornea and
the contact lens. |
| Liquid Filled Vault |
Scleral Lens |
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Scleral lens vaulting the Cornea with a
tear "cushion" |
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The smallest lens will cover the entire
colored part of the eye and will then extend a small amount onto the
white part of the eye.
The largest lens will continue to
extend onto the white of the eye so that every part of the eye that is
showing, and even some parts that are hidden by the lids, will be
covered by this lens.
Only the more oxygen-porous gas permeable
materials are used to ensure an adequate supply of oxygen for
the cornea. |
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An irregular cornea can be the result of a
disease such as Keratoconus, corneal trauma, corneal transplant, and
more recently refractive surgery. In many cases, the irregular cornea
prevents the proper positioning of a corneal lens but a scleral lens can
seat itself properly on the sclera and therefore be in the correct
position on the cornea.
The vision with a scleral lens as well as the
other gas permeable corneal lenses can be vastly superior to glasses or
soft contact lenses when considering irregular corneas. These
lenses provide the optical system a new surface that provides great
vision while neutralizing all of the irregular optics of the underlying
cornea. For many people with irregularly shaped corneas, these types of
lenses provide the only form of usable vision correction.
Additionally, scleral lenses can address many contact lens
failures that were secondary to dryness. Since Scleral lenses form a tear reservoir under the lens
to keep the cornea properly moist, foreign matter and
debris have a difficult time finding their way
underneath. This fact can be the single
entity that allows contact lens success while all other contact
lenses have failed. |