Journal article
Scleral Lens Fenestrations and Fluid Reservoir Debris
Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics
25-Jul-2026
PMID: 42501255
Abstract
Purpose
The accumulation of debris within the fluid reservoir during scleral lens wear can adversely affect vision, resulting in the need for lens removal. This study aimed to quantify the effect of incorporating limbal scleral lens fenestrations upon fluid reservoir debris.
Methods
Twenty healthy adults (mean age 32 ± 11 years, 10 females/10 males) with normal corneas wore non-fenestrated and fenestrated (3 × 1 mm diameter limbal fenestrations separated by 120°) OneFitMed+ scleral lenses (No.7 Contact Lenses) in both eyes (on separate days) for 3 h. All other scleral lens parameters were held constant except for the addition of the fenestrations by the manufacturer. Customised image analysis (MATLAB) was used to quantify central fluid reservoir debris (an average and total intensity metric) from Scheimpflug images of the right eye.
Results
Fluid reservoir debris increased over time (p < 0.001), more so for non-fenestrated lenses. After 3 h, the increase in fluid reservoir debris was greater for the non-fenestrated lens design (total metric increase: non-fenestrated 66 ± 21 vs fenestrated 14 ± 7 arbitrary units [p = 0.03], average metric increase: non-fenestrated 9 ± 2 vs fenestrated 5 ± 1 arbitrary units [p = 0.07]). There was no significant difference in the magnitude of debris for fenestrated lenses fitted with or without an air bubble (p = 0.80). There was no association between central corneal oedema and the fluid reservoir intensity metrics for either the fenestrated (R2 ≤ 0.08, p ≥ 0.28) or non-fenestrated lenses (R2 ≤ 0.001, p ≥ 0.90).
Conclusions
After 3 h, non-fenestrated lenses displayed a 2 (average metric) to 4.8 times (total metric) greater increase in central fluid reservoir debris than fenestrated lenses. This suggests a potential role for fenestrated lens designs in managing fluid reservoir debris; however, longer-term studies of participants with ocular disease are required.
Clinical Trial
This study was registered on the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (Registration number 12622001164785p), date of registration 24/8/2022.
Details
- Title
- Scleral Lens Fenestrations and Fluid Reservoir Debris
- Authors
- Damien Fisher - Queensland University of TechnologyLuisa Holguin Colorado - Queensland University of TechnologyDavid Alonso-Caneiro - University of the Sunshine CoastStephen J Vincent (Corresponding Author) - Queensland University of Technology
- Publication details
- Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics
- Publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
- DOI
- 10.1007/s44402-026-00150-z
- ISSN
- 1475-1313
- PMID
- 42501255
- Copyright note
- This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
- Data Availability
- All data supporting the findings of this study are available within the paper.
- Grant note
- This research was funded by a CooperVision Science and Technology Award.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991247199002621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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