Contact Lens Holder

2023

WORK IN PROGRESS

estimated completion date: 2/1/24

I wear CRT (Corneal Refractive Therapy) contact lenses, which are hard contact lenses that shape your eyes while you sleep, so that you can see clearly during the day. These contact lenses last about 2-3 years and must be cleaned every night to get rid of protein and debris. 


For the last few years, I have been using product called CLEAR CAREĀ® Contact Lens Solution which contains purified 3% hydrogen peroxide to clean my lenses. The solution comes with a case with keeps the lenses submerged in the solution while a platinum-coated disc catalyzes the peroxide, turning the liquid into water and oxygen bubbles. The oxygen bubbles escape out of a small hole in the cap of the contact lens case. Hydrogen peroxide can remove protein, lipid, and mineral deposits on the contact lens surface.


The instructions recommend that the contact case should be kept upright for at least 6 hours to ensure that the neutralization reaction completes and that both the contact lenses and the platinum coated disc stay submerged in the solution. When I travel, this is sometimes an issue because the case may get stuffed into a bag and jostled around. If the reaction doesn't complete properly, the left over hydrogen peroxide could damage my eyes when I put in my contacts. 


To solve this, I want to create a spherical holder for the contact lens case with full rotational freedom so that the contact lens case stays upright, regardless of the orientation of the outermost sphere.