CooperVision launches lens to combat digital eye strain

CooperVision has announced the launch of a mass-market contact lens designed specifically to combat digital device-related eye fatigue, according to sources in the industry.

Biofinity Energys, the name for the silicone hydrogel lens created to help thwart dry and irritated eyes, blurred vision, eye strain and other symptoms associated with technology use, was launched at the American Optometric Association’s annual meeting Wednesday in Boston.

CooperVision, based in Northern California, runs 80 percent of its operations at three sites in the Rochester area and employs about 1,200 people.

►Focus on one: A look at CooperVision's Scottsville facility

Designed for single-vision contact lens wearers, Biofinity Energys will start to roll out in the U.S. in July, then throughout Europe in the fall.

“I think the fact that a major contact lens manufacturer has created a new product specifically for digital device use says a lot,” says Gretchyn M. Bailey, editor-in-chief and content channel director of trade magazine Optometry Times. “We’re likely to see more patients with more complaints, and more products coming to market.”

According to The Vision Council’s 2016 report Eyes Overexposed: The Digital Device Dilemma, one in 10 people spend at least three-quarters of their waking hours on a digital device. Sixty-five percent of Americans experience digital eye strain.

Additionally, studies show humans blink half to one-third as often as usual while using computers and other digital devices for work or play, reports the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

While all demographics increasingly use digital devices, “millennials could be the sweet spot” as far as a target market for Biofinity Energys, said Victor-based Doug Brayer, CooperVision’s director of marketing in the U.S.

Millennials prefer digital

The first generation to be referred to as digital natives, millennials prefer getting their news from smartphones, computers and tablets.

Researchers at The Vision Council discovered that nearly 90 percent of people in their 20s use two or more devices simultaneously, as well as check their devices in the hour before falling asleep; 73 percent of them report symptoms of digital eye strain.

“There is what’s called a crystallin lens inside our eye that expands to help us focus on things up close, and there are muscles inside our eye to help bring in that focus,” said Gary Orsborn, an optometrist and vice president of global professional and clinical affairs for CooperVision in Victor. He has been following the digital eye-strain trend since late 2013.

“The sustained focusing effort” required for our increasingly heavy digital device use “is causing a certain amount of stress on our visual system,” he added.

Smaller screen sizes don’t help. Though text size can be altered, most people still don’t enlarge it enough to match the size of newspaper print.

Some take no precautions

Yet one-third of Americans who are aware of the dangers of that stress still don’t take precautions to protect their eyes, or even bring up the subject with their eye-care provider, according to The Vision Council.

“What that tells me is that if I’m a patient, I think this is normal and just how my eyes are,” said optometrist Pete Kollbaum, director of the Borish Center for Ophthalmic Research at Indiana University. “Eye fatigue is common, but maybe it doesn’t have to be normal.”

A study Kollbaum co-authored that was published in the Review of Optometry in May surveyed 609 people ages 18 to 39 who do not wear multifocal correction or gas permeable contact lenses.

When asked how often their eyes experienced physical discomfort after spending periods of time throughout the day in front of a digital screen, more than one-quarter reported experiencing eye fatigue at least one time per day, and more than half reported experiencing eye fatigue more than once per week.

Kollbaum said there is little of the necessary background science surrounding eye fatigue to know its underlying causes or associations. The problem historically has been called computer vision syndrome, but “as technology changes, our description of the problem, required understanding and treatment approaches must also change,” he said.

Studied ages 18-34

The Biofinity Energys lens combines CooperVision’s proprietary Aquaform Technology, which prevents eye dryness, with a new optical design called digital zone optics, which integrates layers of aspheric curves across the front of the lens. The layers distribute more positive power across the center of the lens to help wearers shift between on-screen and off-screen activities without any impact to their distance vision.

While he cannot comment on the efficacy of CooperVision’s newest lens specifically, he called it “a sensible approach to aim to reduce both the visual and surface sensation components common to eye fatigue,” which appears to be an escalating problem.

CooperVision is currently wrapping up a two-month test market in Chicago.

Orsborn said the company’s numerous studies on the product, with contact lens wearers between the ages of 18 and 34 who use digital devices at least four hours a day and self-report symptoms of digital eye fatigue, found that eight out of 10 experienced less eye fatigue while wearing Biofinity Energys.

The lens is priced at the upper end of CooperVision’s premium line, and will retail for approximately $250 for an annual supply. CooperVision’s products are sold in more than 100 countries.

Robin L. Flanigan is a freelance writer in the Rochester area.

Reducing digital eye strain

To reduce digital eye strain, follow the 20-20-20 Rule: Every 20 minutes, look at an object at least 20 feet away for 20 seconds.