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There are 125 million contact lens wearers worldwide and most use some form of disinfection system for their safe use, accounting for a $1.5 billion global market per annum. In 2008, an outbreak of infection caused by the amoeba Acanthamoeba led to the global recall of the contact lens solution Complete® MoisturePlus®. Dr Kilvington led the root-cause investigation into the outbreak showing, for the first time, that components in contact lens care formulations can cause Acanthamoeba to transform into the highly resistant cyst stage. In 2008, he was seconded to the manufacturer of the recalled solution in the USA to develop and launch a new lens care product (AMO RevitaLens®) which has significantly improved antimicrobial properties, notably against Acanthamoeba. The outbreak and our subsequent work has had a global impact on the contact lens industry and regulatory bodies, resulting in a greater awareness of the risks from Acanthamoeba, development of new test methodologies and safer care solutions in the prevention of blindness.
Our research identified an epidemic of Acanthamoeba infection amongst UK contact lens wearers, established the epidemiology of infection, introduced improved approaches to contact lens hygiene, developed the most sensitive test to make a diagnosis and discovered a new treatment for established infection. This has impacted on contact lens wearers around the world, forming the basis for guidelines and patient information leaflets, types of contact lens solutions, and treatments for this rare but devastating condition.
The impact we describe arose from research led by Professor Brian Tighe between 1998 and 2013 involving research students and fellows of Aston Biomaterials Research Unit (BRU). We proposed [3.1] that responsive polymers modelled on nature's macromolecules would be required for successful synthesis of biomaterials analogues of natural systems. This led to health and economic impacts in the area of vision care, specifically: a commercially successful family of daily disposable contact lenses (current annual sales > 2 billion lenses), which use blink-activated release of hydrophilic macromolecules from contact lenses to mimic aspects of the corneal surface thereby enhancing ocular comfort.