Preservative-Free Salines

VibrantVue is a preservative-free unbuffered saline (0.9% sodium chloride solution). It is packaged in 5mL vials and sold in a box of 100 vials. It has a low pH (between 5.1 and 5.6) according to the packaging.

Scleralfil is a preservative-free saline packaged in 10mL vials and sold in a box of 30 vials. It is a buffered saline, i.e. it has additives which stabilize the pH at a level similar to the eye.

Scleralfil vials are exceptionally user-friendly as they are easy to open and designed to stand up on their own.

Nutrifill is a preservative-free saline solution with electrolytes (Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium, Phosphate, Sodium). As a buffered saline, it has additives which maintain the pH at a level similar to the eye.

Nutrifill is packaged in 10mL vials and in a box of 35 vials. It is particularly popular with people who have ocular surface diseases.

Lacripure is an unbuffered preservative-free saline (0.9% sodium chloride solution) packaged in 5mL vials. It comes in a box of 98 vials. For people who need very little saline per session, it can last up to 3 months.

As an unbuffered saline, Lacripure is slightly acidic, though its pH seems to be significantly higher than the inhalation solution which are sometimes recommended for use with scleral lenses for cost savings.

Purilens Plus (and Purilens Mini) is a pH balance preservative-free saline sold in 4oz or 2oz bottles. It is buffered (i.e. it has additives to maintain a pH similar to the eye). It is very popular with new scleral lens users who need a lot of saline for multiple insertion attempts, and it is popular with people who, in general, need a lot of solution for rinsing, for example if they are repeatedly removing, cleaning and re-applying their lenses during the day.

Purilens is packaged in a multi-dose bottle. It is important to understand that these bottles can become contaminated and must be discarded within 14 days. You must be very careful to avoid touching the tip of the bottle to your lenses, eyes, or any surface. Some providers recommend refrigerating this product and some may recommend that you discard it within a shorter period than the FDA-approved 14 day labeling, if you are using it for filling lenses and not just rinsing.

The Purilens caps are the “puncture” type: you remove the cap, remove the white plastic ring, then replace the cap and screw it in hard to puncture the sealed bottle top.