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. 2022 Aug 1;99(8):652-654.
doi: 10.1097/OPX.0000000000001923. Epub 2022 Jul 14.

Clinical Report: Midday Removal and Reinsertion of Soft Contact Lens Cannot Prevent Post-lens Tear-film Hyperosmolarity

Young Hyun Kim, Thien Nguyen  1 , Meng C Lin, Cheng-Chun Peng  2 , Clayton J Radke
Affiliations

Clinical Report: Midday Removal and Reinsertion of Soft Contact Lens Cannot Prevent Post-lens Tear-film Hyperosmolarity

Young Hyun Kim et al. Optom Vis Sci. .

Abstract

Significance: Our analysis shows that post-lens tear-film (PoLTF) hyperosmolarity is not preventable with midday removal and reinsertion of soft contact lenses. However, low lens-salt diffusivity can prevent the PoLTF from becoming hyperosmotic. Lens-salt diffusivity should be lowered to minimize PoLTF osmolarity while also avoiding lens adhesion.

Purpose: Soft contact lenses with high lens-salt diffusivity result in hyperosmotic PoLTFs. If the time it takes for PoLTF osmolarity to reach periodic steady state is multiple hours, simple midday lens removal and reinsertion can prevent the PoLTF from becoming hyperosmotic. We investigate whether midday removal and reinsertion of a soft contact lens can prevent the PoLTF from becoming hyperosmotic.

Methods: Time to periodic steady state for PoLTF osmolarity upon soft-contact-lens wear is determined with a previously developed transient tear-dynamics continuum model. Interblink period, lens-salt diffusivity, and lens thickness was varied to assess their effects on time to periodic steady state for PoLTF osmolarity. Time to periodic steady states were assessed for both normal and dry eyes.

Results: Within the physically realistic ranges of lens-salt diffusivity, lens thickness, and interblink period, PoLTF osmolarity reaches the periodic steady state well within the first hour of lens wear for both normal and dry eyes. Time to periodic steady state for PoLTF osmolarity is predominately dictated by the salt transport across the contact lens between the PoLTF and the pre-lens tear film and water transport from the ocular surface to the PoLTF.

Conclusions: Since the time to periodic steady state is less than 1 hour for physically realistic ranges of lens-salt diffusivity, interblink period, and lens thickness, midday lens removal and reinsertion cannot prevent PoLTF hyperosmolarity. Instead, focus should be on using soft contact lenses with low salt diffusivity to prevent PoLTF hyperosmolarity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Disclosure: One of the authors (C-CP) is an employee of CooperVision Inc. and has financial conflicts of interest. CooperVision Inc. partially funded this research. Access, control, and ownership of the data belong to the authors and not CooperVision Inc. CooperVision Inc. did not have any decision in submitting this article for peer review. The authors (CJR and MCL) received research funding from CooperVision Inc. but are not financially affiliated with CooperVision Inc. CJR served as a consultant for Alcon and Verily in the past, but the work is unrelated to the manuscript topic. MCL received researching funding from Johnson & Johnson Vision and Verily, but the researching funding is unrelated to the manuscript topic. YHK and TN have no financial conflict of interest.

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