Contact lenses to clean

2002/08/22 Orobengoa, Olatz - Elhuyar Zientziaren Komunikazioa

• Osasuna

To facilitate the work there are in the market lenses that can be thrown every month and that serve for a day. Now, a team of scientists at the University of Texas has created new lenses that can be used year-round without cleaning them.

One of the biggest problems with contact lenses is the microorganisms that accumulate daily in the lenses. The risk of eye infections is very high, so it is almost mandatory to remove the lenses daily and clean them properly.

The new lenses that have been invented, however, allow a permanent use of them. To do this, these lenses have a layer of selenium that kills bacteria. Selenium is widely used in our immune system because it has the ability to kill bacteria.

The selenium layer does not adversely affect the eyes. In addition, the layer that forms is the thickness of a molecule and allows the eye to breathe. The only thing the user has to do is to have the lens submerged from time to time in the selenium solution so that the layer is reformed.

But other scientists working with lenses don't see progress as clear. They say that in addition to bacteria we must take into account the contamination of the environment. Foreign particles that are not bacteria accumulate daily in the lenses and their cleaning is essential to keep the eyes healthy. In addition, there are many other reasons for not using the same lenses for more than 30 days.

Therefore, this advancement may not serve everyone. The inventor of the new lenses has also recognized that there are still many trials to do, although all the results obtained so far have been very good.