What are scleral lenses?
Scleral lenses are larger contact lenses made from gas-permeable plastic. The outer edges of a scleral lens rest on the white of the eye instead of the cornea, allowing for increased comfort and improved vision.
The Advanced Specialty Contact Lens Clinic at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center offers the latest scleral lens technologies for evaluation, diagnosis and fitting. Optometrists Chantelle Mundy, OD, and Stephanie Pisano, OD, who oversee the clinic, are committed to helping you maximize your vision and improve the quality of your life.
Scleral lenses are designed to create a liquid barrier between the lens and the eye made from a preservative-free saline. This liquid barrier improves comfort while wearing the lens. Scleral lenses don’t shift on the eye or fall out while you're wearing them.
Replacement of scleral lenses depends on your doctor’s recommendation, changes to your eye health condition and care of lenses. Lenses typically last up to one year.
Conditions treated by scleral lenses
Scleral lenses are used to treat a variety of conditions. These can include disorders that alter the shape of the front surface of the eye such as:
- Keratoconus
- Keratoglobus
- Pellucid marginal degeneration
- Refractive surgery patients (LASIK, radial keratotomy (RK), photorefractive keratectomy [PRK])
- Corneal scarring
- Corneal transplants
- Other forms of irregularity, including high astigmatism
Scleral lenses can also treat conditions that cause dryness or inflammation of the eye, such as:
- Dry eye syndrome
- Sjogren’s syndrome
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS)
- Keratitis
- Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD)
Where is the clinic?
The Advanced Specialty Contact Lens Clinic is at the Ohio State Eye and Ear Institute, Havener Eye Institute Dublin and Ohio State Outpatient Care New Albany.
What to expect at your initial visit
You can be referred to the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center's Advanced Specialty Contact Lens Clinic by an ophthalmologist or optometrist, or you can schedule an appointment on your own.
At your first visit, your doctor will assess if scleral lenses could correct your vision. This process typically includes:
- Reviewing your health history, including any past history of contact lens wear
- Assessing your eye health
- Taking baseline measurements
If your doctor determines that you’re a candidate for scleral lenses, they’ll move forward with fitting you for lenses. All scleral lenses are custom-made for your eye. Scleral lenses can be fit in the office with diagnostic lenses or with eye-profiling technology.
Diagnostic scleral lenses are manufactured by a lens company with a set design. Your doctor will apply these lenses to your eyes during your appointment and can make changes to the lens based on how they fit you. Once fitted, the lenses will be ordered, and the manufacturer will create the lens for you.
Eye-profiling technologies are used for more advanced customization of scleral lenses. Your doctor will use scanning or impression-based technologies to obtain measurements of the curvature and shape of your eyes. These measurements are then sent to a manufacturer to create your custom lenses.
Eye-profiling technologies allow for a fully customized lens that can improve comfort, lens fit and vision over a traditional scleral lens. Types of eye profiling offered at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center include:
- SMap3D™ Eye Profiling – Your doctor will take a series of quick, pain-free scans of your eye in the office and send these images to the manufacturer. The manufacturer will use the images to create your scleral lens.
- EyePrint Pro technology – Your doctor will make an impression of your eye using molding technology. This impression is sent to the manufacturer, who will use an advanced scanning system to take images of the mold and create a scleral lens that will match the exact contour of your eye.
- PROSE – PROSE stands for Prosthetic Replacement of the Ocular Surface Ecosystem and is a technology that allows your doctor to use software to precisely design your scleral lenses to meet your vision needs. These measurements are sent to a manufacturer to create your lens.
Once your scleral lenses are created by a manufacturer, they will be sent to your doctor’s office. You will schedule an appointment with your doctor to go over application, cleaning and care of your scleral lenses. Then, you take your new lenses home and begin wearing them.
Why choose Ohio State for scleral lenses?
The Advanced Specialty Contact Lens Clinic at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center offers the latest technologies in scleral contact lens fitting and fits a higher percentage of patients for scleral lenses than the national average. We're accustom to evaluating patients with extensive eye history and advanced conditions requiring scleral lenses. Our experience means better care for you.
The Advanced Specialty Contact Lens Clinic:
- Offers SMap3D™ technology, one of 85 clinics in the United States with this device
- Is one of 15 sites in the U.S. offering PROSE treatment
- Is one of three clinics in Ohio offering EyePrintPRO
The breadth of fitting technologies at the Advanced Specialty Contact Lens Clinic gives patients who may have been unsuccessfully fitted elsewhere options to be custom-fitted for scleral lenses.