ACUVUE OASYS MULTIFOCAL is a two-week disposable soft contact lens and it's manufactured by Johnson & Johnson. It was released in the US and Canada in March 2021. So, is this the same lens as the ACUVUE OASYS for Presbyopia - a product that has been around since 2009? It's easy to get confused with two ACUVUE OASYS products that are both bi-weekly replaceable lenses and are both addressing a similar need: Helping patients that need vision correction for a condition (which is often age-related) called presbyopia.
Updated: Aug 31, 2022 (Added note about discontinuation)
Let's first have a look at the term 'Presbyopia'. Manufacturers of contact lenses have been using different names for the type of contact lenses that are available to patients with presbyopia: 'progressive', 'for Presbyopia', 'multifocal', and 'bifocal. This can be quite confusing for products with a similar purpose.
But, let's be very clear: ACUVUE OASYS MULTIFOCAL and ACUVUE OASYS for Presbyopia are NOT the same lenses. They are two different lenses! So let's have a look at the ACUVUE OASYS for Presbyopia and the ACUVUE OASYS MULTIFOCAL in more detail.
What's the same?
- Both lenses are soft contact lenses with a bi-weekly replacement schedule based on a daily wear modality. This means you take the lenses out at night and soak them in a cleaning solution before putting them back in again.
- UV blocking: This is a standard feature found in all contact lenses manufactured by Johnson & Johnson, so it's no surprise that these two products offer Class 1 UV blocking which is the highest level of UV blocking you can get in a contact lens.
- The base material of the two lenses is Senofilcon A, a silicone hydrogel that is highly breathable (147 Dk/t) while offering a close-to 40% water level with a PVP-based wetting technology called HydraClear Plus. This means that you can expect both lenses to be comfortable and moist throughout the day.
What about the differences?
Ok, let's talk about the lens design: The lens design couldn't be more different. ACUVUE OASYS MULTIFOCAL is utilizing a center-near design whereas ACUVUE OASYS for Presbyopia offers a center-distance design. Most people have an idea of how a multi-focal or a progressive pair of glasses work. It has different powers in different parts of the lenses and as you want to see something in focus that is close or far, you move your eyes and look through various parts of the lens. This approach doesn't work with contact lenses as contact lenses are 'attached' to your eye and whenever you move your eyes to the left, right, up, or down, your contact lenses move along and you are always looking through the same part of the lens.
Modern multifocal contact lenses have different powers built-in but you're simultaneously looking through the distance power, intermediate power, and the reading power. And we can leverage these different powers thanks to our brains as they can figure out how to get our eyes (or better pupils) to adapt to the different power zones in the lens.
To further explain: Most of the contact lenses for presbyopic patients that are on the market have the center portion of the contact lens being designed for near and the peripheral part of the contact lens being designed for your distance vision. And this is called a center-near design. However, there are a few lenses out there (primarily the older designs) that have the center portion of the lens designed for distance viewing and the peripheral part designed for near viewing. This type of lens design is called center-distance design. And that's the difference between the ACUVUE OASYS MULTIFOCAL and ACUVUE OASYS for Presbyopia. ACUVUE OASYS MULTIFOCAL has an updated multifocal lens design which is center-near and was launched in 2021 whereas ACUVUE OASYS for Presbyopia's design is center-distance and was launched in 2009.
Note: ACUVUE OASYS for Presbyopia has been discontinued in some countries such as the US and Canada.
A center-near design isn't new (in fact most multifocal contact lenses introduced in the last five years have a center-near design) but what is new is the additional pupil-focused approach. Johnson & Johnson calls this Pupil Optimized Design which was originally developed for the 1-DAY ACUVUE MOIST Multifocal (introduced in 2016) and is now available in the new ACUVUE OASYS MULTIFOCAL. What's so special about the Pupil Optimized Design? Our eyes and pupils are all unique and that includes the way our pupils react to focus on an object near-distance (when your pupils contract) or far-distance (when your pupils dilate). Also, light conditions and other parameters such as age play a role in how well a multifocal contact lens works. Johnson & Johnson has studied these parameters and collected data from thousands of patients under different conditions and situations to come up with a design that promises to optimize the optical zones and make them work for the majority of presbyopic people - with the goal to deliver a more personalized fit.
Another unique thing about the ACUVUE OASYS MULTIFOCAL is their Hybrid Backside Design. In a nutshell, the center part of the inner side of the lens is shaped differently than the outer part of the inner side (hence called hybrid back design). This improves how the lens sits on your eye and makes this lens very stable while at the same time keeps it centered without a lot of movement. These are all things that promise to deliver more stable and consistent visual acuity.
In looking at the technical parameters in the spec sheets below, you'll notice a parameter for the ability to let oxygen pass through to the cornea. This is called oxygen transmissibility and due to the silicon hydrogel lens, both lenses take a top spot amongst all silicone hydrogel lenses with a 147Dk/t value. By the way, this material is also being used for the ACUVUE OASYS 1-DAY and we certainly would love to see a multi-focal ACUVUE OASYS 1-DAY lens at one point - fingers crossed.
One last word about the cost. ACUVUE OASYS MULTIFOCAL cannot be purchased online right now (as it is a brand new lens that you have to get from you eye care practitioner), so we don't know what the price range is for this lens. We expect prices to be slightly higher than what you pay for the ACUVUE OASYS for Presbyopia. Stay tuned as we will update the spec sheet as soon as we see this new lens being offered by online merchants.
Side-by-Side Comparison
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ACUVUE OASYS® MULTIFOCAL
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ACUVUE OASYS® for PRESBYOPIA
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| Price Comparison | Compare Prices | Compare Prices |
| Manufacturer | Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. | Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. |
| Release Date | March 2021 (US & Canada) | May 2009 DISCONTINUED in some countries such as US & Canada |
| Prescription Parameters | ||
| Replacement Schedule | Two weeks or one week (for extended wear) | Two weeks |
Wearing Details
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Daily wear or extended wear | Daily wear or up to 6 consecutive nights extended wear |
| Sphere Powers | -9.00D to +6.00D in 0.25 steps | -12.00D to +8.00D (in 0.5 steps after +-6.00D) |
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ADD Powers
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+0.75D to +1.25D (LOW) +1.50D to +1.75D (MID) +2.00D to +2.50D (HIGH) | 2.50D (High) 1.75D (Mid) 1.25D (Low) |
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Base Curves
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8.4 mm | 8.4 mm 8.6 mm |
| Diameters | 14.3 mm | 14.0 mm |
| Technical Parameters | ||
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FDA Group
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V-C | V-C |
| Lens Material | Silicone hydrogel (Senofilcon A) | Silicone hydrogel (Senofilcon A) |
| Lens Design | Spherical with Hybrid Back Curve | Spherical |
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Wetting Agents
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Yes - PVP | Yes - PVP |
| % of Material | 62% | 62% |
| % of Water | 38% | 38% |
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Center Thickness
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0.07 mm | 0.07 mm |
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Oxygen Transmission
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147 Dk/t | 147 Dk/t |
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Modulus
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0.68 MPa | 0.7 MPa |
| Other Features | ||
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Special Features
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UV Blocking
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Class 1 90% UVA 99% UVB | Class 1 90% UVA 99% UVB |
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Dynamic Light Absorption
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No | No |
| Visibility Tint | Yes (blue) | Yes (blue) |
| Inside-out Mark | Yes (123) | Yes (123) |
| Packaging, Pricing and Offers | ||
| Packaging Details | 6 lenses per box, each lens in a foil-sealed plastic package | 6 lenses per box, each lens in a foil-sealed plastic package |
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Online Retail Price
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$33 - $74 (6 lenses) | |
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Cost per Day
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$0.39 - $0.88 (6 lenses) | |
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Online Retailers
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Special Deals Compare Prices | Special Deals Compare Prices |
If you have you tried these contact lenses we would love to get your feedback!