Did you know that the concept of contact lenses came from Leonardo da Vinci? 

We are all quite familiar with contact lenses today. People with vision problems know the huge difference contact lenses make in their daily lives. But do you ever wonder when was this eye equipment invented? Who came up with the idea behind the contact lenses? These visual aids were not always this sophisticated and comfortable. Many scientists helped shape contact lenses in the form we see them today. Initial contact lenses were made of glass, replaced by better variants over the years. Let us take a journey the origins and evolution of contact lenses!  

Leonardo da Vinci’s healing poor eyesight 
The credit for devising the first concept of contact lens can be given to Leonardo da Vinci. During the 1500s, he proposed the concept of using water to correct poor eyesight. He demonstrated how seeing through a glass bowl filled with water could rectify vision. The idea of dunking your face in a water bowl might be impractical. Still, he did point out the necessity of contact between a surface and the eye. During the 1600s, another French philosopher René Descartes, furthered da Vinci’s idea and put forth a more practical and simplified way of correcting eyesight. He proposed a test tube filled with water to correct poor eyesight. He even pointed out how the water in the test tube need to only come in contact with the cornea and not the whole eye. This idea too was not very practical. Well, both these concepts, however non-feasible they might be, did open avenues for further research!  

Contact lenses during the 1800s 
During the 1800s, a scientist named Thomas Young put Descartes's idea into practice. He created a pair of lenses by utilizing Descartes's idea. By reducing the size of the tubes, he used wax to glue the lens to his eyes. However, the thought of using wax to glue glass to the eye did not sit well with masses, for obvious reasons! A British scientist named John Herschel tried a better idea closer to the contact lenses we use today. He thought of making moulds for the human eye in the year 1823. He proposed using this mould to design the front of corrective lenses for individuals with vision problems. This idea became a reality later that century!  

The first person to make glass contact lenses is still disputed. Two German inventors who are credited for giving birth to contact lenses are F. A. Mueller and Adolf E. Fick. They made prototypes out of glass and covered the entire front of the eye. The most obvious issue with these lenses was the heaviness of the glass on the eye after a few hours of wearing them. And since the lenses covered the entire eye, eyes could not get enough moisture, leading to dryness. Because of this, glass contact lenses didn’t become a massive hit.  

The major breakthroughs of the 1900s 
The 1900s proved to be the time of peak innovation for contact lenses. Scientists were able to reach many major breakthroughs. Here are the major milestones in the journey of the contact lenses in this century: 

• American optometrist William Feinbloom created a contact lens combining glass and plastic in 1936. The main advantage of this lens was its lighter weight. The glass portion only covered the cornea, while plastic covered the whites of the eye. It had the added advantage of higher moisture permeability.  
• Next, Kevin Touhy developed contact lenses in 1948, which only covered the cornea portion, leaving the white of the eye free to breathe. These lenses were made of a special type of polymer known as Polymethyl Methacrylate. These lenses helped increase the popularity of contact lenses during the 1950s and 60s.  
• Soon, Czech chemist Otto Wichterle had a massive breakthrough of creating the first hydrogel-based contact lens in 1952. He and his colleague, Drahoslav Lim, created a material that could absorb 40% water (hydrogel). This material was transparent and could be moulded into the shape of the cornea. They patented this material in 1953.  
• During the 1970s, manufacturing techniques became more advanced. The company Bausch & Lomb released the first commercial soft contact lenses made of hydrogel.  

The advent of silicone hydrogel 
In the late 90s and early 2000s, silicone hydrogel became the material of choice for most contact lens manufacturers. These could allow five times more oxygen to reach the eye, which helped keep the eyes feeling fresh and comfortable for longer. The material used for contact lenses is undergoing changes even today. Scientists continue to work on the hydration property of contact lenses to make them more comfortable for the masses.