Sponsored by IOT

By Deborah Kotob, ABOM

Our patients live in a world of cheap and easy consumer solutions. They can buy a pair of eyeglasses for $30 or $40 with adequate vision and acceptable fashion. Providing a superior product and experience requires more than adequate, and it requires more than inexpensive finished single vision lenses. There are situations where an inexpensive backup pair is in order, but is this the best solution for the 40 to 60 percent of patients who are single vision lens wearers? Unique personalized lens technology is available, but we must shift our perception that only PAL wearers need it. Offering the most advanced technology and exceptional vision experience sets us apart from the crowd. Selling technology, selling advanced science-based lens improvements differentiates our businesses and elevates us above mediocrity. IOT president and CEO Daniel Crespo says: “Eyecare professionals want to utilize new technology to differentiate. This can be a challenge when offering advanced technologies to single vision lens wearers who do not always recognize the benefits of premium materials or designs. New IOT Endless Plus lenses address this need by offering an improved wearer experience that more patients can perceive, especially when compared to standard finished single vision lenses.”


FIG. 1   In studies, 83 percent of wearers experience significantly improved reading speed, up to 34 percent using anti-fatigue lenses

We live in a digital age where smartphones, tablets and laptops have changed our lives, but at what cost to our eyes? Hours of screen time require sustained near point focus—the result: eyestrain, headaches and physiological symptoms such as MSD or musculoskeletal disorders. Patients who spend two or more hours a day staring at a digital screen are prone to asthenopia (eyestrain) symptoms: watery eyes, dry, gritty eyes, red eyes, eye pain, eye fatigue and diplopia (double vision). We all know that presbyopes need reading power for near point focus. In our modern digital age, single vision wearers and emmetropes also benefit from a boost in reading power for near work to relieve overworked eyes and prevent digital eyestrain (DES) symptoms. Even relatively young eyes experience DES thanks to our modern lifestyle of relentless screen use.


FIG. 2

The average person spends over 11 hours per day viewing digital screens1 (Fig. 2). According to a 2017 Neilson study, half of the time we spend on digital devices is spent on our smartphones. We have shifted from reading print on a page to pixelated digital screens. Reading on screens is more fragmented, less concentrated and involves more superficial cognitive processing.2

When the topic of near vision correction arises, we think of presbyopes for whom we enthusiastically recommend premium personalized digital technology to enhance the PAL wearers’ vision. But the same does not apply to our single vision wearers. The majority of single vision lens wearers are fit with stock lenses or at best traditional personalized single vision lenses optimized only for distance vision. In IOT Free-Form Insights Parts 1 to 8, we learned how advanced free-form design improves the optics across the lens. We learned how IOT’s Digital Ray-Path® 2 Technology optimizes the lens for a volume of object space, minimizes oblique aberrations and incorporates the intelligent use of our eye natural accommodative amplitude into the surface design computation.

IOT Endless® Plus anti-fatigue lenses alleviate DES from overworked eyes. The design is part of IOT’s new family of Single Vision Lens Designs featuring Digital Ray-Path 2. The lenses are optimized for the complete volume of object space at all distances, making them perfect for everyday use, active pursuits and today’s digital lifestyle. Your patients benefit from the design’s expanded optimal correction area. Dispense with confidence—96 percent said they provided excellent vision when using electronic devices (Fig. 3).

1. Fisher, Nicole. “How Much Time Americans Spend in Front of Screens Will Terrify You” Forbes Jan. 24, 2019
2. Kovac et al. Reading on paper vs. reading on screen. CERLALC. 2018: Colombia