Ultralentes was founded in 1986 by ophthalmologist Dr. Saul Bastos and his son Luciano Bastos, they set up their own lens manufacturing laboratory initially for the Dr. Saul Bastos Eye Institute and some experts in Brazil who already knew the project. Since then, both have been in numerous national and international updating congresses and symposia and have traveled several times to the USA and Europe for studies and internships to improve the technology of Ultralente RGP contact lenses and to improve adaptation techniques. Both contributed to conferences and courses on the topic as speakers, teachers and collaborators. The scientific knowledge base on rigid lenses started with Dr. Saul Bastos when in 1970 and later in 1974 he worked with Joseph W. Soper and with Dr. Louis Girard, MD. In 1975 and 1976 Dr. Saul Bastos did internships in Boston at the Boston Foundation For Sight with Dr. Perry Rosenthal, MD, PhD and at Moorefields Eye Hospital in London. Luciano Bastos was fortunate and had the opportunity to do an internship with Joseph W. Soper in 1993 and later in the following century to have Dr. Perry Rosenthal, PhD. MD from Boston and Ken Pullum with whom he also took courses and internships in England at Morrfields Eye Hospital , at Mancherster Roayl Eye College and without his private clinic.

More than 50 years of clinical and scientific research started by Dr. Saul Bastos in 1969 and over the following decades, developing high technology solutions and working exclusively with the most experienced ophthalmologists specialized in adapting RGPs lenses. Around 2001, Dr. Saul asked his son, Luciano Bastos to research and study about a lens called Macrolens, a horny lens with a diameter between 13.5 and 14.5 mm that would be an alternative for cases of great complexity in which the lenses RGPs of diameters limited to 12.5mm. were insufficient to obtain a better result. When starting this research, Luciano discovered that the brand or technology of this lens had been sold to another manufacturer in the USA. It was no longer manufactured and marketed.

But the research initiated by Luciano led him to scleral lenses, from 2001 until mid-2007 there was very little updated information on scleral lenses because the adaptation of scleral lenses, in the past they were made of acrylic material and the patient could only use for a few hours to not induce corneal edema. Dr. Saul Bastos suggested to his son Luciano that he contact Dr. Perry Rosenthal MD, PhD, who was his professor and advisor in Boston, at the Boston Foundation For Sight. Luciano was very well received by Dr. Rosenthal, and has become, over the years to come, his main mentor in scleral lenses. There were countless hours and a large volume of documents, scientific works and exchange of information that provided a great basis for Luciano Bastos in scleral lens technology. Some years ago Luciano also had a second mentor in England called Ken Pullum who besides being a teacher and instructor became a friend today.

Luciano Bastos was also fortunate to have a vast library of ophthalmology on the fitting of contact lenses and found extensive documentation of period works, including by different authors. Although they were old books from the 60s and 70s, they contained a rich collection of information on the technology of manufacturing, adaptation and physiological analysis of adaptations, from indications for irregular corneas as well as for post-traumatic cases or therapeutic indications.

In 2003, a raw material supplier sent us samples of a 16.0 mm diameter high gas permeability material. and from 2004 we started the technical studies to adapt the equipment to manufacture the first prototypes. This year, Dr. Saul passed away and the project was suspended for about six months and then restarted in 2005. For several years the theoretical and practical basis was being built, in 2006 we started the manufacture of the first prototype scleral lenses, manufacturing diameters between 14.5 and 15.8 mm. in 2007, mid-2008, to start the first adaptations with the Dr. Saul Bastos Eye Institute, with about 20 patients who would be followed for 12 months.

In 2008, after reviewing the 20 patients, only one of them had abandoned adaptation, not because of complications but because he preferred to continue with RGPs. The results were surprising then Ultralentes would pioneer in Brazil the scleral lenses with oxygen permeable material, of DK 100. From 2010 Ultralentes gradually increased the availability of models with larger diameters, and currently it can manufacture horny lenses - scleral from 13.7 to 15.7mm. in diameter, semi-scleral from 15.8 to 17.8mm and scleral from 18.0 to 21.0 mm with three different designs that comprise practically 99% of cases of scleral lens adaptations. And currently with the best materials available for these lenses.

The scleral lenses have excellent indications in cases of keratoconus, from initial to advanced and extreme, marginal pellucid degeneration, keratoglobe, post corneal transplantation, post-implantation of intrastromal ring, post-crosslinking, post-sequelae of refractive surgeries, post- trauma, therapeutic indications such as sicca keratoconjunctivitis, Stevens Johnson syndrome, Sjögren syndrome, chemical or radiation burns, among other ocular surface pathologies.

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Accredited ophthalmologists rely on the specialized technical advice of their founder Luciano Bastos, one of the most experienced specialists in highly complex cases in the world today, with several designs developed for Ultralentes' RGPs and scleral lenses. He also developed the concept of digital consulting and personalized adaptation in which ophthalmologists send images of the adaptations produced in the slit lamp with the fluorescein contrast together with the data from the tested lens so that changes are made in order to personalize the adaptation and thereby get better results in the most complex cases.

Ultralente RGP lenses and SSB and SB scleral lenses are only available to accredited ophthalmologists certified by the laboratory. This certification serves to ensure that specialists (ophthalmologists) are properly able to use the maximum technology and services available to them, guaranteeing the best possible results to end users (patients). different types of lenses to facilitate patients looking for our lenses, whether they are rigid gas permeable such as Ultracone and the sclerals SSB and SB Full Scleral.

 

In the field of accredited ophthalmologists we try to differentiate the specialists who are adapting the different types of lenses to make it easier for patients looking for our lenses, whether they are rigid gas permeable such as Ultracone and SSB sclerals.

Luciano Bastos, director and consultant for special contact lenses at Ultralentes is also director and clinical instructor of contact lenses at the Dr. Saul Bastos Eye Institute. Luciano and the IOSB team of ophthalmologists work together to meet the patient demand of Dr. Saul Bastos and hundreds of patients who visit the IOSB all year, from different states in Brazil and abroad looking for personalized solutions for the most complex cases and that obtains excellent results.

About Luciano Bastos

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Director and consultant in special contact lenses at Ultralentes, director and clinical instructor of contact lenses at the Instituto de Olhos Dr. Saul Bastos. His main mentor was his father, Dr. Saul Bastos, a pioneer ophthalmologist in the adaptation of contact lenses in Brazil and a great specialist in special adaptations in irregular corneas. Luciano also mentored some of his father's teachers, such as Joseph W. Soper, the inventor of the Soper lens for keratoconus. He was one of Joseph Soper's most applied students, interning with him in the manufacture and adaptation of contact lenses during 1993.
To develop the scleral (SB) and semi-scleral RGPs (SSB) lenses he had the support and guidance of Dr. Perry Rosenthal, MD PhD (Harvard Medical School) who provided him with extensive documentation on the subject, tips, reviews and comments becoming a friend and mentor. Another expert who helped him a lot was Ken Pullum, BSc FCOptom DCLP (Manchester Royal Hospital and Moorfields Eye Hospital, United Kingdom) with whom he studied and interned in 2009 to improve his knowledge in adapting these lenses. Luciano also had the opportunity to establish a very close friendship with several Brazilian ophthalmologists with whom he has a close relationship.

The fact of accompanying his father since he was a child in countless ophthalmology congresses has made him have a great relationship with many of the greatest corneal specialists in the country, in contact lenses and surgeries, friends who have deep respect and admiration. The great technical and clinical knowledge of special adaptations is recognized by the most experienced specialists in Brazil. He has contributed throughout his career in congresses, symposia and ophthalmology courses as a lecturer, collaborating and coordinating classes on the subject of special contact lenses. He has a great relationship with ophthalmologists who are members of CBO, SBO and SOBLEC especially. Throughout his life he developed a great relationship with surgeons and specialists in cornea and contact lenses in several states in Brazil, especially with ophthalmologists at the Hospital and Eye Bank of Sorocaba, Hospital São Paulo - Unifesp, from the Institute Benjamin Constant and PUC-Rio. In Rio Grande do Sul, Luciano has excellent relations with ophthalmologists at the Banco de Olhos Hospital in Porto Alegre (where his father was a residence advisor in the contact lens sector), with corneal ophthalmologists at the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre and of the Hospital Complex of Santa Casa de Misericórdia of Porto Alegre where his father was a professor and one of the founders of the ophthalmology residency.

Curriculum
Internships and improvements:

• ›Dr. Saul Bastos Clinic - 1986 to 2004

• ›Concise Contact Lens - San Francisco, CA (1989)

• ›MidSouth Contact Lens - New Orleans, LO (1989)

• ›Lousiana eye Center - New Orleans, LO (1989)

• ›X-Cel Contact Lens - Atlanta, GA (1990)

• ›Soper International Laboratories - Houston, TS (1993)

• ›Joseph W. Soper, OD - Houston, TX - USA (1993)

• ›Lamda Optical Ltd - UK (1997)

• ›Jack Allen Contact Lens - London, UK Vistante (2005)

• ›Dr. Nigel Hodd, OD - London, UK Visitor (2005)

• ›Defense & Science Technology Laboratories (Ministry Of Defense) UK - (2005)

• ›Cambridge University - UK Guest visitor (2005)

• ›Oxford University UK - Guest visitor (2005)

• ›Manchester Royal Eye Hospital - UK (2009)

• ›Moorfields Eye Hospital - UK (2009)

• ›CNC Technology Training - Sterling Int. Technologies - Largo, FL (2012)

• ›CNC Technology Training - DAC Intl. - Carpinteria, CA (2014)

Member:

• ›Contact Lens Manufacturers Association (CLMA) - USA (until 2010)

• ›Rigid Gas Permeable Insitute (RGPLI) - USA

• ›Contact Lens Society of America University (CLSA) - USA

• ›British Contact Lens Association (BCLA) - ING

• ›Scleral Lens Education Society (SLS) - USA

Courses:

• ›Total Quality Management, CLMA - USA (1990)

• ›Statistic Process Control, CLMA - USA (1991)

• ›Aspheric RGP Contact Lenses, CLMA - USA (1993)

• ›Modifications of RGP Lens, CLMA - USA (1993)

• ›Joseph W. Soper, OD - Houston, TX - USA (1993)

• ›Contact Lens Technician Advanced - CLAO - USA (1995)

• ›Contact Lens Manufacturing Automation - Lamda Polytech UK (1997)

• ›High Index Aspherical Lenses - Essilor (2000)

• ›Clinical Training on Scleral Lenses - Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, UK (2009)

• ›Advanced Contact Lens Fitting - Moorfields Eye Hospital, UK (2009)

• ›Evaluation of Corneal Topography Technology - UK (BCLA - 2009)

• ›Tomography and Topography by Orbscan IIz - Gaucha Day of Ophthalmology (2010)

• ›Anterior Segment Tomography by Pentacam - Gaucha Day of Ophthalmology (2011)

• ›Clinical Pearls in Scleral Lens Fitting with Oculus Pentacam and WAVE (2020)

Lectures, Classes and Contributions:

• ›Speaker at the annual CLMA Congress - Washington, DC (1991)

• ›Speaker at the SOBLEC International Symposium - Rio de Janeiro, RJ (1994)

• ›Speaker at the SOBLEC International Symposium - Porto Alegre, RS (1996)

• ›Speaker at the SOBLEC International Symposium - São Paulo, SP (1997)

• ›Speaker at the Symposium 10 years of the Recife Eye Institute (IOR) Recife, PE (1998)

• ›Internship coordinator in special adaptations in irregular corneas - IOSB (2004)

• ›Collaborator at the XVIII Brazilian Congress for the Prevention of Blindness and Visual Rehabilitation Florianópolis, SC (2008)

• ›Professor of the Advanced Course of Contact Lenses - Ophthalmology PUC-Rio (2010)

• ›Collaborator of the Standard Book Cléber Godinho of Contact Lenses (2nd Edition)

• ›Collaborator in Scientific Research at UNIFESP - Decorin Project (2010)

• ›Articles published in the Global Contact Magazine - EU (1995 - 2007)

• ›1st. Best Cornea Photography Award - British Contact Lens Association - Manchester (UK 2009)

• ›Articles published in Contact Lens Spectrum Magazine - USA (2007 - 2020)

• ›Professor of the Advanced Course of Contact Lenses Ophthalmology PUC-Rio - Rio de Janeiro, RJ (2011)

• ›Discussant in the module" New Options for the Treatment of Keratoconus "at the Global Meeting - SOBLEC Curitiba, PR (2011)

• ›Speaker at the VI Brazilian Congress of SOBLEC and II Global Meeting in Contact Lens - São Paulo, SP (2013)

• ›1st. Best Corneal Photography Award - Global Specialty Lens Symposium - Las Vegas, NV (USA 2014)

• ›Columnist for Contact Lens Spectrum Magazine (Pentavision) - US (2014 - 2021)

Actuations:

• ›Marketing of the ophthalmology clinic.

• ›Specialized consultancy in highly complex cases of contact lenses.

• ›Researcher and creator of the Ultracone, Ultraflat and Semi-Scleral SSB and SB Full Scleral lenses and Thruster * technology, Spline Wave Technology and Flurescein Enhacer Device ..

• ›Numerous improvements in the contact lens manufacturing technique.

• ›Creator of Digital Consulting (in complicated cases" online "by digital means).

• ›Publications of specialized articles on the manufacture and adaptation of special lenses.

• ›Columnist hired by Pentavision, US for the specialized magazine Contact Lens Spectrum Magazine (2014-2021)