New Contacts Looking Up for Over-50 Set

A new contact lens developed in Germany could mean a fresh new outlook on the world for the over-50s. It's the product of research at Heidelberg University to try to improve night vision.

The lenses, expected to be available in two years as daily disposables at around $1.25 a pair, work by correcting refractive error that occurs around the edge of the pupil in the eye. Professor Josef Bille, who developed them, says the lenses will improve the ability to distinguish contrast five times over.

He expects the lenses' main use will be for night driving, but the over-50s also should be major beneficiaries. "Contrast sensitivity is reduced after we reach 50 because the pathways and receptors from the retina to the brain deteriorate," Billie says.

The over-50s will get more benefits from night vision lenses because they are more prone to driving accidents at night," he says. "If the lenses improved contrast vision by a factor of two or three, it should help."