A hybrid contact lens is a combination of a gas permeable lens at the center, with a soft contact lens “skirt.” The GP center provides for clear vision, to correct for any corneal astigmatism or corneal irregularity, while at the same time, providing the same level of comfort and ease as any other soft lens. 

Hybrid Contacts Lens = Hard Lens Clarity + Soft Lens Comfort

The road to the inception of hybrid contact lens began with the advent of gas permeable contact lenses. The clarity achieved with GP lenses was usually overlooked because of the reduced comfort that patients experience. One of the earliest trials attempted to place a GP lens on top of a hydrogel soft lens. With this “piggyback” system, comfort with GP lens was greatly improved, in terms of vision with the GP lens, and the added bonus of comfort with the soft lens. However, the main disadvantage of this “piggyback” system was the inconvenience of having to manage four separate lenses (two per eye). Secondly, reduced oxygen permeability because of the dual lenses caused a multitude of adverse effect on the anatomy of the eye (corneal swelling, blood vessel growth, and redness). Thus, the solution appears to come up with a contact lens that has the advantage of the GP lens, while maintaining the comfort of the soft contact lens.

In 1977, the first hybrid contact lens design, known as the Saturn Lens, became a reality and its goal was to improve the performance and comfort of GP lenses for irregular corneas! With advances in manufacturing and lens design technologies, the old hybrid lens has had many face lifts. Of particular note today are the hybrid lens from the company SynergEyes.

In 2001, SynergEyes, Inc. began work on a new hybrid contact lens design, and was ultimately granted FDA approval in 2005. The SynergEyes® hybrid lens has several advantages over its predecessors:

• SynergEyes hybrid contact lenses has much higher oxygen permeable materials.
• Patented technology called “Hyperbond®” that dramatically reduces the separation between the GP and soft junction of the lens.
• ‘HydrolEyes®’ coated technologies on the soft skirt to improve surface wettability and comfort.
• Adjustable soft skirt curves, with multiple fitting curves, thus, allowing for more customized fit for almost all patients!