From 1930 to 1946, few people influenced the development of contact lenses in the United States more than William “Bill” Feinbloom, OD, PhD. (Figure 1).    

His optometric career began when he received his optometric degree and later his PhD from Columbia University.

Dr. Feinbloom’s entry into the field of contact lenses took place in 1936, when he began work on what eventually would become the first bifocal scleral lens, and he was granted a patent for this device two years later. An additional patent was granted in 1940, which described a “hybrid” contact lens that was formed with a central glass optic and a plastic scleral haptic.

The plastic haptic had projections on the posterior lens surface to reduce the area of contact with the conjunctiva/sclera. He originally manufactured this type of lens in 1936, making it the first “U.S.-made” contact lens.

Dr. Feinbloom’s lens had a ground glass corneal portion and a molded translucent plastic scleral band made from a synthetic resin developed for him by the Bakelite Corporation. The scleral haptic was toric, formed from a toric mold. The haptic was adjustable; however, the glass corneal portion frequently chipped at the glass/plastic junction. In 1937, Dr. Feinbloom developed special forceps for adjusting the scleral portion of his plastic contact lenses (Figure 2).

In the late 1930s, Bausch + Lomb (a very large optical company, even at that time) expressed an interest in the innovative “hybrid” design, and Dr. Feinbloom put his patents at their disposal, with the experimental manufacturing and clinical work beginning in 1940.

The Feinbloom/B+L design had a 12mm glass corneal portion decentered nasally, compensating for the temporal decentration of the scleral lenses. The sclera was whiteish, nearly opaque, and 0.50mm thick. The “T” series lenses fitted most patients with a posterior optic radius of 8.50mm with 500 microns of apical clearance. The “U” series had a central radius of 7.50mm and was used mainly for keratoconus and other cases not fitted by the “T” series.

The plastic haptic could be made either spherical or toroidal and the complete “T” series contained 64 lenses, eight of which were spherical and 56 toric. All the trial lenses were ground with a power of –4.00D, although they were available in powers from –30.00D to +20.00D (Figure 3).

In 1940, Bausch + Lomb began manufacturing investigator contact lens-fitting sets. However, the lenses were withdrawn from investigation in 1941 when the United States entered into World War II and were never marketed.

In 1946, Dr. Feinbloom introduced an all-plastic contact lens called the Feincone lens.

Today, he is perhaps best known for pioneering work in the field of low vision. In 1978, he founded the William Feinbloom Rehabilitation Center at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry.

In all, Dr. Feinbloom held more than 50 patents in the fields of contact lenses and low vision.

His contributions to our industry were many, and he will be forever remembered as an inventor, manufacturer, and clinician. CLS