Gas-Permeable Scleral Contact Lenses

Originally glass scleral contact lenses were made by very skilled glass blowers at the end of the 19th century. They were fitted in England by Dallos until early 1970.The introduction of Polymethyl Methacrylate (Perspex) which could be made to fit eyes accurately allowed scleral lenses to be made to treat many medical situations these developments were minimised by the non-porosity and non-permeability of Perspex itself.

The "mini" or corneal lens was a natural follow on from the scleral lens and the discovery of gas-permeable plastics both in hard and soft forms caused the usage of Perspex based scleral contact lenses to recede in their favour. As with the glass blowers, the numbers of skilled conventional scleral lens fitters has also dramatically declined.

The last ten years has seen the gradual re-introduction of scleral contact lenses in higher permeable plastics with modified fitting procedures and improvements beyond initial expectations, surpassing the benefits of corneal and soft lenses for many moderate and severe ocular disorders.