Protein and Microbial Determinations on Worn Contact Lenses Cleaned Conventionally Using the Lens2® Automatic Lens Cleaner

The accumulation oftear film proteins as well as microbes colonization onto worn contact lenses can be eliminated conventionally by mechanical rubbing during the cleaning process. Lens2® functions in rotation manner to loosen the deposits on the contact lens and has antimicrobial coating to keep lenses away from contamination. The objective of this study was to determine the efficiency of Lens2® to remove deposited protein and reduce microbial contamination compared to conventional method. Twenty-eight subjects each wore a pair ofcontact lens FDA Group 1 (Polymacon, SoftLens®38, Bausch Lomb) for one month and cleaned them using multipurpose solution (COMPLET®Moistureplus TM. Advanced Medical Optics) separately using two different methods. The right lens was cleaned conventionally while the left lens were cleaned using the Len2®. The control group of thirteen subjects each wore a pair ofcontact lensfor the same period and cleaned both conventionally. These lenses and its cases were then analyzed for protein deposition using Bichinchoninic Acid Assay (BCA) Kit (Sigma, USA) in 96-well plate. Microbial contamination was determined by culturing the samples on nutrient agar for bacteria and fungi and non-nutrient agar for amoeba isolation. The mean of total protein on control lenses (17.014 ± 13.246μg/mL) was not significantly different from those on the Lens2® (21.623 ± 19.127μg/mL). There were also low growth numbers ofamoeba in each group of samples. Interestingly, there were no growths ofamoeba from all Lens2® samples collected. There was also low growth numbers ofbacteria in each sample group whereby Lens2® had the lowest growth ofbacteria. No growth offungi was obtainedfrom all samples. The automatic lens cleaner, Lens2® was found to be as efficient as the conventional cleaning method. However, the Lensl has additional advantage because of its antimicrobial material and need shorter time in the cleaning process as well as easy and effective