Measuring Contact Lens Color

Today, colored contact lenses are fashionable with richer and bolder designs and colors.The lens colors are complementary to cosmetics and with designers getting creative with new colors, manufacturers are allocating time and resources in ensuring the colors of contact lenses are manufactured to exact specifications and colors are achieved consistently.

Maintaining clear vision is of utmost importance in contact lenses, however tinting a clear medium results in loss of clarity. And with the surface curvature and small area, controlling color of contact lenses is challenging.

Color instruments using CIEL*a*b* color space are used to check the transmission, clarity and color of optical lenses.  And the measurement of contact lens generally follows the same principles except the lenses are smaller. With the right methodology and the help of jig, optical properties can be measured with ease and repeatability.

Color measuring instruments like the Konica Minolta Spectrophotometer CM-5 comes with a transmission chamber that is capable of performing transmittance measurement. A wide variety of accessories are also available to help hold and measure the small lens.

For more information on the CM-5 and how to measure the color of contact lenses, write or contact us at 6563 5533 to speak with our application advisors.