Overview
Project status: In progress
The object of the research program is to make a detailed examination of the bulbar and superior palpebral conjunctiva in contact lens wearers using a Heidelberg Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope.
- Research leader
- Research team
- QUT
- Organisational unit
- Lead unit Faculty of Health Other units
- Research area
- Vision Improvement
Professor Nathan Efron
Dr Nicola PritchardDetails
Figure 1: Adenoid structures in the tarsal conjunctiva of a normal subject
A number of previous studies have reported compromise of the conjunctiva during contact lens wear, presumably as a result of the direct mechanical effects of lens wear; these include conjunctival staining, hyperaemia, chemosis and folding, and an apparent depletion of the number of conjunctival goblet cells (inferred from impression cytology studies). Direct in vivo observation of the conjunctiva at a cellular level using the confocal microscope is likely to provide important new insights into the impact of contact lens wear on the ocular surface.
Qualitative observations of the bulbar and superior palpebral conjunctiva of contact lens wearers are being made using the confocal microscope, and we are attempting to quantify superficial conjunctival epithelial cell density and superficial conjunctival epithelial goblet density. This research will lead to a better understanding of the ocular response to contact lens wear, and may assist in developing superior contact lens materials and designs.
Publications and output
- Kallinikos P, Efron N. On the etiology of keratocyte loss during contact lens wear. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2004; 45: 3011-3020.
- Efron N. Contact lens-induced changes in the anterior eye as observed in vivo with the confocal microscope. Prog Retin Eye Res 2007; 26: 398-436.
