Developed by Brighten Optix Co. (Brighten Optix), Polymer Material for Orthokeratology Lens for Myopia Control is designed for Asian people’s corneal shape. Its high tear exchange rate and oxygen permeability are rendered given the contact lenses worn at night. As the judge panel sees its global competitiveness, Brighten Optix wins the Innovation Award - Bronze Medal Award in the 2020 Taipei Biotech Awards.

Founded in 1976, Brighten Optix is the largest specialty contact lenses manufacturer in the Asia Pacific region. As the first company in Taiwan to obtain a license to manufacture hard contact lenses and night-wear orthokeratology lenses, Brighten Optix is also the only company approved on the TPEx that manufactures hard contact lenses. Accounting for the largest share in the specialty contact lens market in Taiwan, Brighten Optix is the only Taiwanese manufacturer in China’s orthokeratology lens market.

Among the treatments for myopia control for adolescents, orthokeratology lens is the only effective treatment comparable to mydriatics. After orthokeratology lenses are worn for 6 to 8 hours at night, their inverse geometric design moderately adjusts the curvature of the cornea and the refractive power of the eyes to restores the cornea to a smooth spherical surface. After taking orthokeratology lenses off the next morning, myopic children can maintain clear vision throughout the day without wearing glasses. It not only avoids problems such as photophobia or high intraocular pressure caused by mydriatics, but also reduces the chance of developing eye diseases such as cataracts and macular degeneration in the future.

When orthokeratology lenses are worn during sleep at night, oxygen permeability plays an important role in terms of avoiding hyperplasia or other eye diseases. At present, nightwear orthokeratology contact lenses are manufactured by several key players such as Bausch + Lomb in the United States and Menicon in Japan. No companies in Taiwan have invested in the research and development of polymer material for nightwear orthokeratology lens. Although materials of existing nightwear orthokeratology lens such as polymethylmethacrylate, acrylic polysiloxane, and acrylic polyfluorosiloxane have good optical properties and stability, there is a lot of room for improvement in oxygen permeability, wettability, material strength, stain resistance, and long-term wettability.

In view of this, Brighten Optix’s BTOX-189 is specially designed for nightwear orthokeratology lens with a DK oxygen permeability of 170~200. Compared with licensed orthokeratology lenses in Taiwan with the oxygen permeability of 82~140, BTOX 189 renders high oxygen permeability given the contact lenses worn at night and helps ophthalmologists improve the success rate of fitting with fluorescence imaging.

Brighten Optix’s BTOX-189 is specially designed for nightwear orthokeratology lens. (source: organizer)

The pre-clinical test of the polymer material for nightwear orthokeratology lens has been completed, showing a yield rate of 97%. With polarography, BTOX 189 is measured at a DK value of 188 (± 10%). Using bovine serum albumin (BSA) and (lysozyme), the anti-protein adhesion test has returned a small amount of protein adhesion (almost less than 0.5 mg/cm2), which is lower than that of other materials with high oxygen permeability on the market.

Brighten Optix has successfully integrated R&D, advanced manufacturing technologies and clinical research to develop various specialty contact lenses through a group of professionals in sight, optics, design, mathematics, chemical engineering, machinery, clinical research, and legal affairs. It aims at improving people’s eyesight naturally by constantly developing contact lenses that fit ophthalmic needs.