- August Müller
August Müller (1864 – 1949), born in
Mönchengladbach , was a medical student at theUniversity of Kiel ,Germany , and a pioneer in the manufacture ofcontact lens es. In 1889, he presented at the university his doctoral thesis titled "Eyeglasses and corneal lenses" [Müller A. "Brillenglaser und hornhautlinsen." Inaugural Dissertation, University of Kiel; p 20.(1889).] Pearson RM, Efron N. "Hundredth anniversary of August Müller's inaugural dissertation on contact lenses." Surv Ophthalmol. 1989 Sep-Oct;34(2):133-41. PMID 2686057] in which he described his efforts to grindscleral lens es from blown glass. Refinements in his process led him to be able to correct his own severe -14dioptre myopia to within 0.50 D. [http://www.college-optometrists.org/index.aspx/pcms/site.college.What_We_Do.museyeum.Online_Exhibitions.contact_lenses.hard/ "Hard Contact Lenses"] Royal College of Optometrists. URL accessed 09 March 2006]Müller's compatriot Adolf Fick had published his work on contact lenses earlier in 1887, but his lenses were heavy and could only be worn for short periods. Müller's lenses were lighter and shaped to match the curved contour of the
cornea . He suggested that the lens would remain in place on the cornea due tocapillary action lubricated by the tear film.Müller called his development "Hornhautlinsen" or 'corneal lenses'. His efforts to develop a new
corrective lens were ultimately unsuccessful, since a patient could only tolerate the lens bearing down heavily on thesclera for half an hour, less than those of Fick's. Moreover, it had to be inserted underwater to prevent trapping air bubbles, andcocaine administered to anaesthetise the eye, but he did however lay the groundwork for later researchers and his ideas and recommendations on fit, tear flow and rounded edges still form the basis for contact lens fitting today.In 1932, Müller donated three lenses to the German Museum in
Munich . These were the same lenses that he had discussed in his thesis.Further reading
* Heitz RF. "The invention of contact lenses by August Muller (1887-1889)." CLAO J. 1984 Jan-Mar;10(1):88-95. PMID 6368043
* [http://www.deutsches-museum.de/dmznt/ersatzteile/auge/kontaktlinse/ Müller's 3 lenses at the Deutsches Museum] de icon URL accessed 10 March 2006
* [http://www.oftalmologos.org.ar/biblioteca/resto.html Image of Müller at Biblioteca Argentina de Oftalmología] es icon URL accessed 10 March 2006Notes
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