WarmContact

The Warm Contact device has a dual function, designed to improve lens care compliance and reduce microbial growth by actively drying the lens storage case and to improve the comfort of inserting lenses by warming the lenses in their container to body temperature prior to insertion.

The Warm Contact lens warming device was invented by Mr Matthew Hadfield, a contact lens wearer, who found the process of fitting contact lenses at ambient temperature each day was uncomfortable.  He found the discomfort was associated with inserting something cold into the eyes and significant enough to warrant seeking a solution to the problem.  Warm Contact was initially formed to research and commercialise a device to alleviate this problem.

Later, the Company responded to the issue of patient non-compliance in daily lens case drying by incorporating an "active drying" feature into its design to address one of the major risk factors for eye infection, poor case hygiene. This active drying feature results in "improved performance of a multi purpose disinfection solution” reducing biofilms of both Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus to below detectible levels.  It reduces potential for patients to contract eye infections and provides a convenient and safe storage area in the bathroom for the storage container and lenses when not in use.

In 2011, a ground breaking clinical study undertaken in Australia established that actively drying the lens storage case after disinfection, in combination with the manufacturers recommended disinfection time, "resulted in considerably improved performance”.

Moreover, an independent study recently found that patient non-compliance to daily lens case drying is one of the major risk factors for eye infection, therefore the device is designed to deliver "Active Drying" which will always result in shorter drying times, reducing the potential for microbial growth and deposits of air born particles and organisms, which are known to exist in bathrooms.

In addition, it has been shown that warming lenses to body temperature (or the temperature of the Cornea) prior to insertion results in increased comfort, faster visual acuity, less tearing, lower lens rigidity during insertion and a feeling by lens wearers of  "inserting something less foreign" onto the eye.

Warm Contact’s universal design results in an easy to use device which can accommodate different contact lens container styles for long term contact lens users and also provides benefits to those using daily disposable lens by focusing on aiding lens insertion comfort.

These features appear particularly effective in countries where atmospheric temperatures result in extended lens case drying times and where temperatures are seasonally lower than body temperature.