Intra-eye Visual Function Comparison With and Without a Central Hole Contact Lens-Based System: Potential Applications to ICL Design

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effects of a central hole contact lens-based design on visual performance and to compare it with the standard version of that same contact lens without the hole (non-hole scenario). METHODS: The visual performance of 10 myopic patients wearing either a central hole myopic contact lens or its corresponding standard version (non-hole contact lens) was assessed on the same eye. Monocular corrected distance visual acuity was measured under photopic conditions and monocular contrast sensitivity was measured under both photopic and mesopic conditions and higher-order ocular aberrations using Hartmann-Shack aberrometry. An in vitro optical analysis of both contact lenses was performed and a symptoms questionnaire was administered to the participants. RESULTS: No statistically significant differences in terms of corrected distance visual acuity were found: -0.091 and -0.098 logMAR for the hole and non-hole contact lenses, respectively (P > .05). Contrast sensitivity was comparable between lenses and no differences were found for specific spatial frequencies or a particular luminance level (P > .05). The hole contact lenses provided excellent outcomes, essentially equivalent to those of non-hole contact lenses, even in terms of subjective symptoms such as glare or halo. In vivo and in vitro optical quality analysis revealed no statistically significant differences between the hole and the non-hole contact lenses for either pupil size (P > .1). CONCLUSION: A contact lens having a central hole provides good visual and optical quality outcomes comparable to those yielded by the same lens without a hole. The results suggest that the impact of a central hole may be clinically negligible.