Optical and visual performance of aspheric soft contact lenses.
OBJECTIVE
This study was conducted to investigate whether aspheric design soft contact lenses reduce ocular aberrations and result in better visual acuity and subjective appreciation of clinical performance compared with spherical soft contact lenses.


METHODS
A unilateral, double-masked, randomized and controlled study was undertaken in which ocular aberrations and high and low contrast logMAR visual acuity were measured on myopic subjects who wore aspheric design (Biomedics 55 Evolution, CooperVision) and spherical design (Biomedics 55, CooperVision) soft contact lenses. Ten subjects who had about -2.00 D myopia wore -2.00 D lenses and 10 subjects who had about -5.00 D myopia wore -5.00 D lenses. Measurements were made under photopic and mesopic lighting conditions. Subjects were invited to grade comfort, vision in photopic and mesopic conditions, and overall impression with the two lens types on 100 unit visual analogue scales.


RESULTS
There was no significant difference in high contrast or low contrast visual acuity between the two lens designs of either power under photopic or mesopic conditions. Both lens designs displayed lower levels of spherical aberration compared with the "no lens" condition under photopic and mesopic light levels (p < 0.0001); however, there were no differences in aberrations between aspheric and spherical lens designs. There were no statistically significant differences in subjective appreciation of clinical performance between lens designs or lens powers.


CONCLUSIONS
At least with respect to the brand of lenses tested, the fitting of aspheric design soft contact lenses does not result in superior visual acuity, aberration control, or subjective appreciation compared with equivalent spherical design soft contact lenses.
Efron
Suzanne
S
Eurolens Research, Faculty of Life Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom.
Efron
Nathan
N
Morgan
Philip B
PB
D000328:Adult; D003263:Contact Lenses, Hydrophilic; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009216:Myopia / Q000628:therapy*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology*