Definition: Contact lenses made of a substance that is super-permeable to oxygen and yet made of a soft flexible substance, known as silicone hydrogel. They are healthier than conventional soft lenses because they allow up to 6 times more oxygen to pass through them, resulting in better overall eye health.
Advantages of silicone hydrogel lenses over conventional soft lenses include: greater resistance to protein deposits, decreased drying of the lenses, lower risk of eye infection, easier handling due to increased rigidity of material, and much lower incidence of complications with overnight wear.
The current brands of silicone hydrogel lenses available, in order of highest oxygen transmissibility to lowest:
- Focus Night & Day by Ciba
- Air Optix Aqua by Ciba (enhances comfort for people who wear lenses daily)
- Biofinity by Coopervision
- Acuvue Oasys by Vistakon (designed to be more wettable than the others, beneficial for people who have dry eyes)
- PureVision by Bausch and Lomb
- Acuvue Advance by Vistakon
There are also two toric (astigmatism correcting) silicone hydrogel lenses on the market:
- PureVision Toric by Bausch
- Acuvue Advance for Astigmatism
