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Eye-Opening Curiosities: Discover the Top 4 Fun Facts About Contact Lenses

illustration of contact-lenses
Dive into the fascinating world of contact lenses as we uncover quirky tidbits and entertaining trivia that will leave you wide-eyed with wonder!

1. Eye-conic Glass Lenses of 1888

Before Harry Potter made glasses fashionable and Lady Gaga made "eye-popping" outfits a thing, visionaries back in the 19th century were brewing up their own eye-conic inventions: Did you know that Adolf Gaston Eugen Fick created the first successful contact lens made of glass for correcting vision in 1888? These daring, double-sized predecessors of our modern lenses could only be worn for a few hours, until 1959 when fashion-forward scientists Otto Wichterle and Drahoslav Lím introduced more-comfy-to-wear soft hydrogel lenses.
Source => feelgoodcontacts.com

2. A Clear Evolution: From Glass to Plastic

Imagine you're in the mid-1880s rocking the latest fashion trend - glass contact lenses! You might say it was a "clearly" uncomfortable experience: This curious invention by Adolf Fick in 1887 initially used glass to correct astigmatism, but it wasn't until 1948 that California optician Kevin Tuohy improved upon the idea by introducing plastic contacts. Subsequent advancements during the 1950s and 1960s led to more comfortable, cornea-shaped designs, eventually helping over 100 million people globally see the world through their very own rose-colored... contact lenses!
Source => davison.com

3. Scleral Lenses: All-Day Eye Pool Party

Blink and you'll miss it, but your eyes could be taking a dip in a refreshing pool all day long: scleral lenses, large-diameter contacts, not only help normalize corneal irregularities and provide better optical quality, but also create a reservoir of fluid that hydrates the ocular surface, making them an effective treatment for dry eye disease.
Source => modernod.com

4. High-Tech Space-cessories for Astronaut Eyes

When space travelers become starry-eyed, it's not just because of their out-of-this-world romances: Astronauts on SpaceX's private Polaris Dawn mission are using high-tech contact lenses to measure intraocular pressure and study the recently discovered spaceflight associated neuro-ocular syndrome (SANS). Complete with micro-sensors, these stylish "smart" accessories monitor changes in the eye's shape and structure, as well as fluid shifts that could cause SANS symptoms, making them an interstellar fashion statement that's also scientifically eye-opening.
Source => futurism.com

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