Contact Lenses that Correct Color Vision Deficiency: Fact or Fiction?

Guest Post by Kristine [lizbeth_laila@yahoo.com]

Our good friend, Daniel Flück of Colblindor, has written about contact lenses that might actually correct certain color vision deficiencies. Is this the scientific breakthrough that we've all been waiting for?

Color vision deficiency is hereditary in nature. By this, it cannot be corrected by surgery or medications. However, special contact lenses meant to “correct” color deficiency have been developed, and can enhance color sensation in color blind individuals (but doesn’t improve overall color perception). These special contact lenses are tinted and it’s usually placed in your dominant eye with a different colored lens on the other eye (same color tints will not work).

Unfortunately, the contact lenses have many flaws. These contact lenses actually enhance color perception (depending on what type you have) and there is vast improvement in acing Ishihara tests (but not applicable in lantern and color arrangement tests), but they are very costly. Secondly, wearing them may pose an inconvenience to some, and it may even be dangerous to wear them in certain conditions (wearing them while driving, for instance, makes it difficult to judge speed and distance). Third, certain color areas may be enhanced but it diminishes color sensitivity in other color areas as a result.

I guess we'll have to keep waiting for that big scientific breakthrough.

Link: Improving Color Vision with Lenses for the Colorblind

Comments

[contact lenses]

if this technology is keep on developing, that will help the color blind people.