History of Contact Lenses – Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards summarizing key inventors, materials, terms, and technological milestones in the history and development of contact lenses.

Leonardo da Vinci (1508)

Sketched water-filled eye devices and described retinal image enlargement, inspiring later contact-lens ideas.

Rene Descartes (1637)

Demonstrated image-magnifying water tubes placed against the eye; conceptually closer to a telescope than a contact lens.

Philip de la Hire (1685)

Attempted to correct myopic optical phenomena with corneal-applied spectacle ideas; not a true contact lens.

Thomas Young (1801)

Used a water-filled tube touching the eye to study accommodation, proving the cornea plays no role in the process.

Sir John Herschel (1845)

Proposed molding the cornea to fit a spherical glass or jelly shell—first to suggest taking corneal impressions and cosmetic lenses; called the Father of Contact Lenses.

William White Cooper (1859)

Recommended inserting a glass mask filling the fornices to prevent symblepharon after lime burns; early therapeutic idea.

Xavier Galezowski (1886)

First to apply a therapeutic ocular device: gelatin squares soaked in mercuric chloride—earliest drug-delivery system.

Adolf E. Fick (1888)

Created blown-glass scleral “Contactbrille” shells filled with 2 % glucose; first published clinical contact-lens paper.

Eugene Kalt (1888)

Devised the first contact lens for keratoconus, aiming to remodel corneal curvature with glass shells.

August Müller (1889)

Coined “Hornhautlinsen”, replaced glucose with saline, built saline-filled ‘water spectacles,’ and noted the tear meniscus’ optical role.

De Sulzer (1892)

19th-century contributor to early contact-lens experimentation (details limited).

Henry H. Dor (1892)

Another 1890s contributor to contact-lens development (specific work not detailed).

Thomas Lohnstein (1896)

Late-19th-century investigator advancing glass contact shells.

FA Müller & Sons (1887)

Artificial-eye makers who produced protective blown-glass scleral shells—better tolerated than lathe-cut lenses.

Carl Zeiss of Jena (1911)

Major optical firm that commercialized glass scleral lenses during 1911-12.

Muller-Welt Contact Linsen (f. 1947)

Stuttgart company dedicated to glass fluid-lens scleral CLs; expanded to Toronto & Detroit labs by 1949.

Rohm and Haas (1930s)

Chemical company that created Plexiglass, the precursor to PMMA, for aviation and later contact lenses.

J. Crawford & R. Hill (1934)

ICI scientists who patented PMMA under the trade name Perspex for transparent applications.

Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA)

Lightweight, easily manufactured plastic that became the dominant material for early corneal and scleral lenses.

William Feinbloom (1936)

Pioneered hybrid glass-cornea / plastic-sclera lenses; emphasized comfort and tear-film optics.

Ernest Mullen (1938)

Helped develop all-plastic lens concepts and fluorescein assessment techniques.

Theodore Obrig (1938)

Co-developed plastic lens materials; researched tear-film power changes.

Istvan Gyorrfy (1938)

Contributed to early PMMA lens investigations and publication of plastic-lens history.

Dennis England (1946)

Designed lathe-cut PMMA corneal trial sets (21 afocal lenses) assessed with fluorescein and cobalt blue.

Kevin Tuohy (1946)

Patented the first 11 mm PMMA corneal lens, 0.4 mm thick—foundation of modern hard lenses.

George Butterfield (1950)

Introduced the multicurve corneal lens with flatter peripheral curves matching corneal asphericity.

Otto Wichterle & Drahoslav Lim (1954)

Synthesized body-compatible hydrogel PHEMA and invented spin-casting for soft lenses.

Poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA)

Original hydrogel material that absorbs water and lets nutrients pass, basis of soft CLs.

Hydroxyethyl Methacrylate (HEMA)

Modified, more stable version of PHEMA used in mass-produced soft lenses.

Spin-Casting

Manufacturing method (Wichterle, 1961) that forms soft lenses by polymerizing liquid monomer while spinning in a mold.

Bausch & Lomb

Licensed spin-casting (1966) and launched Soflens after FDA classified soft CLs as drugs (1971).

Soflens (1971)

First FDA-approved commercial soft contact lens by Bausch & Lomb.

John de Carle (1970)

Developed continuous-wear soft lenses and the 71 %-water Permalens (later bought by CooperVision).

Silicone Elastomer

Highly oxygen-permeable material patented by Walter Becker (1956); marketed by Dow Corning as Silsoft (1981).

Silsoft

Dow Corning silicone-elastomer lens approved 1981 for daily or extended wear, especially aphakia.

Permalens

71 %-water HEMA lens enabling early continuous wear; commercialized by CooperVision (1981).

Cellulose Acetate Butyrate (CAB)

Material J. Teissler used for the first gas-permeable scleral shells (1937), though optics were poor.

Rigid Gas-Permeable (RGP) Lens

Hard lens allowing oxygen transmission, evolving from silicone-acrylate and fluorosilicone-acrylate materials.

Silicone Acrylate (Polycon, 1972)

First successful RGP material patented by Norman Gaylord.

Leonard Seidner

Considered the Father of RGP lenses for his pioneering clinical work with gas-permeable materials.

Orlando Battista (1978)

Developed unstable collagen lenses and pioneered the disposable-lens concept.

Michael Bay (1980s)

Created ‘Danalens,’ the first commercially available disposable hydrogel lens.

Danalens

Early disposable soft lens later purchased by Vistakon (1984).

Vistakon (J&J)

Used continuous-flow automation to mass-produce soft lenses; launched Acuvue (1987-88).

Acuvue

First widely marketed disposable soft lens series by Vistakon; daily disposable version arrived 1994.

SeeQuence

Bausch & Lomb’s entry into the disposable-lens market (1988).

NewVues

CIBA Vision’s disposable-lens line introduced in 1988.

Daily Disposable Lens (1994)

Single-use soft lens popularized by Vistakon, improving convenience and ocular health.

Hydrophilic Material

Polymer that absorbs/retains water, keeping soft lenses flexible and comfortable.

Keratoconus

Ectatic disorder causing the cornea to thin and cone-shape; first addressed by Kalt’s lenses.

Keratoplana

Condition in which the cornea is unusually flat and less curved than normal.

Symblepharon

Adhesion between palpebral and bulbar conjunctiva; Cooper suggested glass masks to prevent it.

Contactbrille

Term used by Fick for his blown-glass scleral ‘contact spectacles.’

Scleral Flange

Peripheral portion of a scleral lens that rests on the sclera; Fick’s measured 3 mm wide.

Hydrodiascope

Müller’s saline-filled spectacle cups worn up to 1.5 h, creating a ‘fluid lens’ over the cornea.

Spin-Casting Patent (1961)

Legal protection of Wichterle’s soft-lens manufacturing process, later sold to U.S. firms.

Rigid Corneal Lens (Tuohy)

11-mm PMMA lens replacing full scleral shells, marking shift to smaller, cornea-only fits.

Multicurve Design (Butterfield)

Lens geometry with flatter peripheral curves to follow corneal asphericity for better fit and comfort.

Fluorescein & Cobalt-Blue Light

Diagnostic dye-illumination pair introduced by early PMMA pioneers to evaluate tear film under lenses.