Monitoring ocular discomfort using a wrist-mounted electronic logger

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Contact Lens Technology

Background:

• Ocular discomfort is a common issue for contact lens wearers.
• Existing methods for quantifying discomfort are often subjective and lack real-time data.
• Understanding the dynamics of lens awareness is crucial for improving contact lens comfort.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of a novel wrist-mounted electronic lens awareness logger (LAL) in quantifying ocular discomfort during contact lens wear.
• To compare the lens awareness profiles of two different contact lens materials using the LAL.

Main Methods:

• Thirty symptomatic contact lens wearers participated in a three-day study.
• Participants wore two types of contact lenses (senofilcon A and balafilcon A) over the first two days, and one type (balafilcon A) on the third day.
• Participants used the LAL to log instances and intensity of lens awareness and discomfort.

Main Results:

• The LAL recorded significantly more awareness events for balafilcon A lenses (21.6/day) compared to senofilcon A lenses (11.6/day).
• Lens awareness peaked after lens application and towards the end of the wearing period.
• Discomfort intensity, measured by LAL clicks, increased significantly in the final two hours of wear for balafilcon A lenses.

Conclusions:

• The lens awareness logger (LAL) successfully differentiated between contact lens types based on wearer awareness and discomfort.
• The LAL provides a valuable, objective tool for real-time monitoring of ocular discomfort.
• Findings suggest lens awareness and discomfort intensity escalate towards the end of the contact lens wearing cycle.