I have to admit, when I heard about the launch of Acuvue Oasys 1-Day this fall, I was a bit confused about what was missing in the premium contact lens market place that another spherical daily contact could fill. Acuvue already had a silicone hydrogel lens in Acuvue TruEye, which never really took off as a premium product because it was too stiff in lens texture to keep pace with Dailies Total 1 in patients with sensitive or dry eyes. But Acuvue's latest launch is a truly successful contact lens that not only will compete with the two other premium lenses on the market, Dailies Total 1 and MyDay, but also offers the widest fitting range for a premium product to date.
The Details:
Power Range: +8.00 to -12.00
Base Curve: 8.5 and 9.0 in all power options!!
Diameter: 14.3
Material: Silicone Hydrogel/ senofilcon A with 121 Dk/t (oxygen transmissibility)
What's Different:
Acuvue Oasys 1-Day changes up the moisturization polymers within the popular Oasys senofilcon A material to create a lens that's made to lock in hydration and achieve that "no lens" feel. You'll notice "HydraLuxe" on the packaging which is a new innovation in their "Hydraclear" moisture network for keeping the Acuvue lens comfortable all day long -- this time the moisture particles (polyvinylpyrrolidone or PVP) are bound within the lens in a matrix that's made to mimic the mucin layer of your natural tear film, simulating your own eye to prevent lens drying. The lens is also packaged in a saline solution set to mimic the salinity of actual tear film, meaning less irritation or discomfort when you put the lens on your eye straight out of the package. Another difference is the increased diameter of the lens. At 14.3 mm it is one of the larger contact lenses on the market, which allows it to drape over a larger range of corneal shapes and sizes. They also expanded out the optical zones of the lens to help increase visual performance for patients with larger pupils. Like all Acuvue products the lens comes with a light blue visibility tint, and Class 1 UV protection against UV-A and UV-B rays.
My Take:
This is a truly comfortable contact lens, and where I never found Acuvue TruEye very comfortable (I'm pretty intolerant to most silicone hydrogel lenses, even dailies), this lens performed on par with Dailies Total 1 and MyDay in my experience. The truth is that all three of these premium contact lenses are fantastic in my book, and as a consumer and patient I would have a hard time deciding which one worked best for me. We are in a true renaissance for contact lens comfort and performance, but the biggest limiting factor on these premium contact lens products has been their limited parameters. This month Dailies Total 1 is now expanded to include plus powers, so now all three lenses are available to hyperopes as well as myopes. There are still no premium lens products for astigmatism or multifocal needs at this time. One place where Acuvue may have a leg up on it's competition is that it offers two base curves, letting patients with significantly flatter corneas enjoy the comfort of a premium lens product as well. It also handles extremely well compared to Dailies Total 1 which is known to be especially slippery when trying to remove from the eye. If you are having a hard time getting Dailies Total 1 out at the end of the day, Oasys 1-Day may be the product that you prefer.
While for me there is no clear winner against these three lenses for best performance, I'd love to hear your opinions! Please post your thoughts on this new product so we can learn more about what works for you and what doesn't.
