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Contact Lenses

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Albert and Jakobiec's Principles and Practice of Ophthalmology

Abstract

Contact lenses are ophthalmic devices primarily used for vision correction though other applications are utilized. Rigid glass lenses were the first to be used many hundreds of years ago. This was followed by polymethymethacrylate (PMMA) plastic scleral lenses. These essentially failed as they were difficult to fabricate and were not gas permeable leading to corneal edema. Contact lenses took off in popularity when PMMA lenses were made as corneal lenses. Soft lenses were invented in the 1970s leading to an explosion in popularity. This chapter reviews both the historical pathway of the contact lens field, lens care systems, and recent developments in lens design, type, and fitting methods, including the resurgence of scleral lenses made with gas permeable materials. Lastly the complications associated with contact lens use are reviewed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, USA

    Timothy T. McMahon

Authors
  1. Timothy T. McMahon
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Timothy T. McMahon .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Casey Eye Institute, Oregon Health & Science, Portland, OR, USA

    Daniel M. Albert

  2. Department of Ophthalmology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Joan W. Miller

  3. Department of Ophthalmology, University of Illinois College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Dimitri T. Azar

  4. Department of Ophthalmology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Lucy H. Young

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA

    Dimitri Azar

  2. Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    David G. Hunter

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McMahon, T.T. (2022). Contact Lenses. In: Albert, D.M., Miller, J.W., Azar, D.T., Young, L.H. (eds) Albert and Jakobiec's Principles and Practice of Ophthalmology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42634-7_238

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42634-7_238

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-42633-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-42634-7

  • eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine

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