Improvment-Soft Contacts? 改進(jìn)：軟性隱形眼鏡的發(fā)明

延長(zhǎng)隱形眼鏡的佩戴時(shí)間同樣也是人們需要解決的一大難題。直到軟鏡的問(wèn)世，這一問(wèn)題才得到了解決。 1963年，捷克斯洛伐克高分子化學(xué)家Otto Wichterle研制了新型材料，同時(shí)開(kāi)發(fā)了這種材料制成的軟性隱形眼鏡。這種材料很適合眼球內(nèi)的濕度，與普通硬鏡相比，這種素材柔軟、異物感少、濡潤(rùn)性好，有一定透氣性能。1971年，博士倫公司軟鏡的專利技術(shù)獲得美國(guó)FDA自由銷售的許可，軟鏡因?yàn)槠涫孢m，易適應(yīng)，深受配戴者的歡迎，從而迅即取代了硬鏡。隱形眼鏡發(fā)生了歷史性的更新?lián)Q代。

Although more hours meant a broader appeal, it took 25 more years and several advancements in materials for contacts to break big.

It was the soft contact lens that did it, and Otto Wichterle was the unlikely inventor. Despite promising results from early experiments with hydroxyethyl methacrylate, a monomer suited to the moisture of the eye, Wichterle was told to stop the project by his employer—at the time Czechoslovakia's Institute of Macromolecular Research. In a quiet act of defiance, Wichterle took his experiments home, forgoing lab equipment for a child's mechanical kit. With the kit he was able develop a spin casting technique that made soft contacts viable. His patent was picked up by Bausch & Lomb, and in 1972 the moveable-and breathable!—lenses hit the market.

Today, 30% of all contacts worldwide are soft daily disposables, and glass ones are non-existent. Next time you pop in your lenses, give a little silent thank you the material is soft and your eyes are in tact. That's more than the bunnies can say about their experience.

以上圖片摘自laser-eye-surgery-review。