Abstract

The daily experience of a contact lens wearer is affected by many aspects of the design of the lens, from handling of the lens after removal from the package to the ease of insertion on the eye and the comfort throughout the day and finally to the removal in the evening. Different Finite Element Models have been developed that simulate these aspects independently. These simulations have provided great insights into how the mechanical design and shape of the lens relate to these aspects of wearer experience. Several simulation metrics have been identified that correlate with the experience of contact lens wearer, e.g. likelihood of lens folding inside the package (causing difficulty to pick up the lens), likelihood of lens flipping inside-out (inducing discomfort and uncorrected vision) or the deformed shape of the lens on the finger when picked up from the package (causing difficulty in inserting the lens on eye usually resulting in multiple attempts). It is usually the case that improving one aspect of lens wearer experience comes at the cost of compromising other. There is a need for integration of these models, a design optimization algorithm, and a global objective function that addresses all aspects of the wearer experience. This would enable the development of next generation lenses with a potential to significantly improve the wearer experience while reducing the time to market. An automated, integrated model has been created using modeFRONTIER to drive both MSC Marc simulations and analytical MATLAB post processing programs. A virtual DOE on multiple design parameters is conducted to identify the effects and interactions of individual design factors in lens handling performances. Then, with multiple objective functions, optimization has been performed to find the optimal set of design parameters, offering us with the potential to simultaneously improve comfort, handling and insertion aspects of the lens designs.