| Welcome to our monthly research update |
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| Research Update is a resource available exclusively to IACLE and BCLA members to support your teaching and practice. Each month we send you a summary of some of the interesting findings appearing in peer-reviewed journals that month. Our aim is to help you keep up to date with the latest contact lens and anterior eye research, and to locate articles when you want to know more about a particular topic. |
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| More information on Research Update and how to use it in your contact lens teaching here. Access archived issues via Member Login under Research. |
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| Issue 22 – October 2018 |
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 The potential for antimicrobial lenses to reduce contact lens-related infection and inflammation has long been a topic of interest. Weinclude a studyon the efficacy ofan antimicrobial coating on silicone hydrogels.A further study proposesa new method of evaluating the complex modulus of hydrogels.
We continue our quest to understand myopia better. One paper demonstrates that mean axial length/corneal radius of curvature ratio can be used to detect low and high myopia. Another explores the role of genetic risk score and parental myopia in predicting children’s refractive error.
On dry eye topics, a group from Canada look at whether refrigerating artificial tears enhances comfort on instillation. The Dry EyeBlink Testis compared withestablished clinicalcriteriafor diagnosing dry eye disease. And researchers from Australia-New Zealandinvestigate the influence of blinking on tear film parameters, ocular surface characteristics and dry eye symptoms.
Happy reading! |
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The IACLE Education Team |
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| Journal reviewed in this issue |
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JOURNAL |
VOLUME AND ISSUE NUMBER |
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Optometry and Vision Science |
95:10 |
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Contact Lens & Anterior Eye |
41.4,41:5 |
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Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics |
Early view |
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Clinical and Experimental Optometry |
101:5 |
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The Ocular Surface |
16:4 |
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| MATERIALS |
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| Antimicrobial contact lenses with peptide coating |
| Dutta et al investigated an antimicrobial coating on silicone hydrogel (SiHy) CLs by attachment of Mel4 peptide to reduce contact lens-related infection and inflammatory events. Five commercially available SiHy lenses were plasma coated with acrylic acid followed by Mel4 antimicrobial peptide immobilization by covalent coupling. In vivo safety and biocompatibility were determined in an animal model over 1 week. Three out of the five coated SiHys were associated with high antimicrobial inhibition suggesting Mel4 peptide coating could be an effective option.
Optom Vis Sci 2018;95:10 937-946. Click here for abstract |
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| MATERIAL PROPERTIES |
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| Oscillatory squeeze film analysis of soft CLs |
| While existing studies have focused on elasticity to describe soft lens behavior, Donnchadha et al propose using oscillatory squeeze film (OSF) analysis to evaluate the complex modulus of hydrogels. The effects of excitation amplitude, repeatability and surface wetness were examined for four commercially available lenses. To assess the suitability of the OSF test method, strain amplitude, repeatability, lens type and surface wetness were examined. The OSF technique was found to be a suitable technique for assessing these properties. The results were repeatable allowing for comparison between different lens types.
Cont Lens Anterior Eye 2018;41:4 377-388. Click here for full text |
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| MYOPIA |
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| The role of biometry in classifying myopia |
| To investigate the relationship of axial length/corneal radius of curvature ratio (AL/CR) with magnitude and progression of myopia, Jong et al conducted a retrospective analysis to compare high myopic (n=308, age 7 to 16 years, myopia sphere -6.00D or greater) and low myopic eyes (n=732, age 7 to 16 years, myopia sphere -0.50D to -3.50D). Mean AL/CR values were significantly different between high myopia and low myopia. AL/CR can be used to classify grades of myopia, but is not useful in determining the magnitude of myopia or monitoring progression.
Optom Vis Sci 2018;95:10 921-929. Click here for abstract |
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| MYOPIA |
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| Predicting myopia: genetic risk score and parental myopia |
| In this retrospective analysis from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) study, Mojarrad et al investigated whether a genetic risk score (GRS) improved prediction of refractive error compared to knowing a child’s number of myopic parents (NMP). A total of 2,048 participants were reviewed, at ages 7 and 15 years. NMP and GRS were weakly predictive of refractive error both at age 7 and 15. Combining the two variables improved predictive performance at both ages.
Ophthalmic Physiol Opt 2018; DOI:10.1111/opo.12579. [Epub ahead of print] Click here for abstract |
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| DRY EYE |
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| Does the temperature of artificial tears affect comfort? |
| To determine whether refrigerating artificial tears (AT) enhances comfort on instillation, Bitton et al recruited 18 participants with mild to moderate dry eye to this contralateral, cross-over, 2-week study. Participants were asked to report subjective comfort (on a 1-10 scale) immediately after morning and evening instillations of the drops. This was done for ambient and refrigerated drops. The study revealed no added benefit in subjective comfort when refrigerating the tested lubricant eye drops for mild to moderate dry eye participants.
Clin Exp Optom 2018;101:5 641-647. Click here for full text |
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| DRY EYE |
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| An online blink test for screening dry eye disease |
| Wolffsohn et al evaluated the online Dry Eye Blink Test against established clinical criteria for diagnosing dry eye disease (DED). They screened 87 participants using the TFOS DEWS II diagnostic criteria and Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire. The self-administered Blink Test, where the participant observes an image on a computer screen and reports the length of time (in seconds) they can refrain from blinking without discomfort, was repeated three times. Sensitivity and specificity results suggest the Blink Test offers health professionals and patients a simple and rapid method of identifying possible DED.
Cont Lens Anterior Eye 2018;41:5 421-425. Click here for full text |
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| DRY EYE |
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| Incomplete blinking and the risk of dry eye disease |
| This age, gender, and ethnicity-matched cross-sectional study conducted by Wang et al sought to explore the influence of blinking patterns on tear film parameters, ocular surface characteristics and dry eye symptoms. Of 154 participants, 77 exhibited clinically detectable incomplete blinking, and 77 did not. Overall, a higher proportion of participants with incomplete blinking fulfilled the TFOS DEWS II dry eye diagnostic criteria. Incomplete blinking was associated with a two-fold increased risk of dry eye disease.
Ocul Surf 2018;16:4 424-429. Click here for abstract |
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| For more information on Research Update visit www.iacle.org. |
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