Sponsored by IOT
By Tina Lahti, ABOC
An estimated 128 million in the U.S. are presbyopes, and as millennials turn 40, that number grows. Fortunately, modern free-form digital lenses vastly improve the visual experience of presbyopic patients in many ways. For example, customized free-form lens designs improve the speed of adaptation, the size of viewing areas, peripheral optics and expand fields of view. Additionally, the expanded Rx ranges and frame selection choices provided by customized free-form lens design and surfacing extend the benefits to more patients. The benefits are clear when comparing the limitations of molded progressive designs, which require a series of lens blanks with the Rx ground off the back of the lens, to free-form lens designs essentially produced by software, allowing virtually any design to be created on virtually any blank. The best thing about this for opticians is that it opens a whole world of designs as unique as the patients we serve. We make patients happier when we offer them more. It is a big win for our patients and our businesses.
A pair of eyeglasses made with general use free-form digital progressive lenses are an obvious solution for presbyopes. Even a general-use free-form progressive design can be customized to the individual patient’s needs. For example, all three families of general use progressive lenses from IOT, Camber Steady Plus, Endless Steady and Essential Steady, are available in a standard progressive design configuration, commonly referred to as a balanced design; additionally, there are three more specialty configurations specifically created for patients who benefit from more area for distance, intermediate or near vision. So for example, you might fit a calligrapher in a near design, a ride share driver in a distance design and an office manager in an intermediate design. There are all general-purpose designs, but each emphasizes the area of greatest need for the wearers while performing their dominant daily tasks.
Beyond progressives, there are also more specific designs for presbyopes that are fit, often as a second pair for more specialized viewing needs, including the following:
- These lenses are created for two specific viewing distances, intermediate and near. They are endlessly configurable for your patients. For example, Endless Office Occupational lenses are available with three different focal distances at the top of the lens; 1.3 meters for wide clear vision for objects up to 4 feet away; 2 meters, for up to 6.5 feet; and 4 meters for up to 13 feet. In addition to these options, the patient’s preferred near working distance can be specified by their optician in millimeters.
- Sport progressives are great for all kinds of active pursuits and are often created on higher (4 to 8) base polarized lens blanks for wrapped sunglasses. These lenses have a very large area for distance vision and a small area for near, and special care is taken to ensure vision is stable even when patients are moving fast. IOT’s Endless Sport progressive is a great choice for golf, running, bicycle riding and even water sports.
- Drive progressives are specifically created for driving, a very demanding visual task. They have very large areas for distance and intermediate vision and a small area for near. Special care is taken to ensure vision is stable even when patients are moving fast. They are often paired with polarized for daytime driving and on clear lenses with special notch filters to block specific wavelengths of light that contribute to disabling glare for more comfortable and safer night driving. IOT’s Endless Drive progressive design can be used under any lighting conditions but has an added benefit for driving at night, a zone at the top of the lenses created to compensate for night myopia. Learn more at 2020mag.com/article/iot-freeform-insights-part-4.
- IOT offers the Endless Pilot Progressive. This unique design includes a viewing zone for infinity in the center, a progressive design at the bottom and a unique upper segment for intermediate vision. This design was tested on pilots but has also been embraced by mechanics, production line workers, plumbers and hunters. Any patient that views a control panel or object above them within 7 feet can benefit from Endless Pilot Progressive.
- The IOT Endless Bifocal is a great solution for any patient that wants the best benefits of free-form digital progressives but in a segmented bifocal. These lenses have two viewing zones. In the distance, they include Digital Ray-Path II for better peripheral optics than conventional bifocal lenses. The near area is even larger, up to 40 mm. And because there is no progressive corridor, there is no peripheral blur. Endless bifocal lenses also have a smooth front surface for great cosmetics. They can be created on any spherical lens blank, which allows opticians to offer bifocal wearers virtually any combination of frames, lens materials and treatments.
The patient will be grateful to the optician who offers curated options available through the wonders of free-form. Free-form gives us the best tools to address the varied daily vision requirements inside and outside, day and night, near and far, and special use.
