History of Contact Lenses Timeline

In 1936, optometrist William Feinbloom introduced a hybrid contact lens composed of glass and plastic, combining materials in an effort to improve the practicality of contact lenses.

In 1939, Hungarian ophthalmologist István Györffy produced the first fully plastic contact lens, an important development in the transition away from all-glass designs.

The first corneal contact lenses were developed in 1949. Unlike scleral lenses, these smaller lenses were designed to rest on the cornea, helping make contact-lens wear more convenient.

Czech chemists Otto Wichterle and Drahoslav Lím published Hydrophilic gels for biological use in Nature in 1959. Their work provided the principal breakthrough in the development of soft contact lenses.

The work of Wichterle and Lím led to the launch of the first hydrogel contact lenses in some countries during the 1960s, establishing soft, water-containing materials as an important lens technology.

Dr. Alan Isen developed the first commercially viable soft-contact lenses in the United States and supervised President Lyndon B. Johnson's public appearance wearing them.

Following its sublicense from National Patent Development Corporation, Bausch & Lomb began manufacturing the hydrogel contact lenses in the United States.

In 1965, National Patent Development Corporation bought the American rights to produce the hydrogel lenses and then sublicensed those rights to Bausch & Lomb.

The first approval of the Soflens material by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration occurred in 1971, marking a significant regulatory milestone for hydrogel contact lenses.

In 1972, British optometrist Rishi Agarwal became the first person credited with suggesting disposable soft contact lenses, an idea that later influenced replacement practices.

Kyoichi Tanaka of Japan's Menicon Co. invented and patented the material later referred to as the Tanaka monomer in 1979. The monomer became associated with later silicone-hydrogel development.

In 1998, Ciba Vision released the first silicone hydrogel contact lenses in Mexico, an event associated with the initial commercial availability of the technology.

Silicone hydrogel, also called Si-hy, contact lenses became available in 1998, introducing a material designed to improve oxygen transmission compared with earlier hydrogel lenses.

In modern contact-lens manufacturing, a CNC lathe may turn at nearly 6,000 revolutions per minute while a cutter removes the desired amount of material from the inside of a lens.

In 1937, reports stated that approximately 3,000 Americans were already wearing contact lenses, indicating that the technology had begun moving beyond isolated experiments.

On October 18, 1964, Lyndon Baines Johnson became the first President of the United States to appear in public wearing contact lenses. The appearance took place in a Washington, D.C., television studio under the supervision of Dr. Alan Isen.

In 1989, thiomersal was reported to be responsible for about 10 percent of problems related to contact lenses, highlighting the importance of lens-care formulation and preservative safety.

The company now known as RLI Corp. phased out its original flagship product in 1994 after contact lenses became more affordable and easier to replace.

As of 2010, the average age of contact-lens wearers globally was 31 years, and two-thirds of wearers were female.

By 2012, more than 150 million people worldwide used contact lenses. The devices served ocular prosthetic, vision-correction, cosmetic, and therapeutic purposes.

In 2023, the worldwide contact-lens market was estimated at $18.6 billion. North America accounted for the largest share, exceeding 38.18 percent.

Multiple analysts estimated that the global contact-lens market would reach $33.8 billion by 2030, reflecting continued anticipated growth in the industry.