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New lenses for 1997 are thinner, flatter and lighter
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When more than half the population in the United States wears eyeglasses for a variety of reading, working and outdoor activities, it is no surprise that the priority of lens manufacturers has been to develop lenses that both work and look better.
Advances in optics and coatings have given dispensers and eyeglass wearers the best of both worlds with glasses that help patients see better as well as look better. Specifically, the development of a "mid" high-index lens (1.55) has given dispensers another choice to work with between a low-index (1.50) CR-39 lens and a "high" high-index (1.60) lens.
"Materials and coatings are the two areas where a lot of time and money have been spent," said Gordon Terry, vice president of North America at American Optical. "The direction has been toward what is called the mid high-index lens which is thin, light, easier to process and also more affordable."
Mark Mattison-Shupinck, vice president, new products, at Sola Optical, said new lens materials and coatings also mean that optometrists can more easily meet a patient's expectations for quality eyeglasses that look good. And that patient is more likely going to be of presbyopic age, he noted.
"Many of these patients are older, and they have different needs," said Mr. Mattison-Shupinck. "Approximately half of the people who wear glasses are presbyopic and that percentage is increasing. It means people are looking for the best solution that's also most convenient."
Optometrists can take advantage of advances in lens material and design by choosing the right lens for an individual patient's needs and by expecting the manufacturer to explain the benefits of the lens and how it fits into their practice.
Lens material has continued to improve as well as lenses, said Mr. Terry, specifically antireflective (AR) coatings. "The standard is becoming one of using a multilayer, hydrophobic AR coating," he said. "AR coating is the biggest development right now. On a secondary level, better hard coats are also being developed that are harder than their predecessors and easier to tint."
The industry and dispensers are be coming more comfortable selling the value of AR coatings, Mr. Terry said, because the cost is continually coming down, they are easier to clean and they are usually scratch resistant. "The multilayer AR coating provides for 99% of antireflection, and hydrophobic is key is because it provides a finished surface that's easy to clean."
When multilayer AR coatings first came onto the market, many eyeglass wearers refused to purchase the coating a second time because it was too difficult to clean. "Only in the last 2 to 4 years have the companies provided a good hydrophobic AR coating that's easy to clean and more durable," he said.
For Your Information:
- Gordon Terry can be contacted at American Optical Lens Company; (508) 764-5036.
- Mark Mattison-Shupinck can be reached at Sola Optical; (707) 763-9911.
HERE'S WHATS NEW IN LENSES
AMERICAN OPTICAL LENS COMPANY | ||
Southbridge Business Center | The company recently released its AO 55 semi-finished single vision lens. The lens incorporates the best of spherical and aspherical designs in a 1.55 high index plastic material. The lenses are offered in seven base curves to accommodate a prescription range from -8.00 D to +8.00 D sphere, combined with a -4.00 cylinder. AO 55's design provides thinner, flatter lenses in the higher prescription ranges. AO 55 is 46% flatter at +4.00 D and 54% flatter at -4.00 D. The lenses are scratch resistant coated, impact resistant, fully tintable and antireflective coatable. | |
FASTCAST | ||
1500 Hempstead Turnpike | The recent introduction of a new, state-of-the art asymmetric progressive design has expanded the prescription range to a -4.00 to +4.00, up to a 2.00 cylinder in 0.25 D steps with add powers of 1.00 to 3.00 in 0.25 D steps. FastCast's proprietary liquid lens monomer, OMB-91, produces high-quality finished progressive, flat-top bifocal and single vision lenses, ready to be edged in 1 hour. The lens monomer has a 1.51 index of refraction, a specific gravity of 1.19 and an Abbe value of 59. | |
INNOTECH INC. | ||
5568 Airport Road | After several years of research, Innotech has developed a soft, variable progressive lens called Crystal Progressive. Launched at this year's Vision Expo meeting in New York, the new lens has an optimized and balanced channel width, length and reading zone width. Innotech Crystal is available in a variety of lens materials, including CR-39. | |
INWAVE OPTICS INC. | ||
29 West Milwaukee Street |
Inwave offers lenses that improve the field of vision for people with central, peripheral or hemispheric field loss. The Inwave Field Expanding 1/2 Prism hemispheric lens is a molded lens in which the apex line of the prism is placed as close as possible to the tangent of a patient's functional retina without affecting the usable field. The 12 D prisms are molded into the lens blank. The Inwave Channel (peripheral) lens design features two prisms molded at its edges and one prism molded at inferior. Inwave's available prescription powers are ±8.00 sphere and ±7.00 cylinder. Bifocals are available in 25 mm round segs only with ±2.00 and ±2.50 bifocal adds. Lens material is standard CR 39, which accepts normal tints and coatings. | |
ORCOLITE | ||
16016 Montoya Street | Together, Orcolite and Transitions Optical recently introduced polycarbonate Transitions III lenses. This partnership combines the comfort, safety and quality of Orcolite polycarbonate with the photochromic lens technology developed by Transitions Optical in its Transition III lenses. Orcolite's launch began in April with semi-finished single vision lenses, to be followed by the introduction of Premier Progressive Transition III lenses. | |
PENTAX | ||
Box 2300 | In April, Pentax announced the expansion of its UltraThin lens line, now available with antireflective coating or a tintable hard coat. These finished single-vision lenses have a 1.66 refractive index, 1.0 mm center thickness and an aspheric design, making UltraThin up to 45% thinner than conventional plastic lenses and 25% thinner than 1.60 high index. UltraThin 1.66 AR is available in prescription powers from +6.00 D to -12.00 D, to -2.00 cylinder. With a tint able hard coat, the lens is available from +0.25 D to +6.00 D, to -1.00 cylinder; and from plano to -10.00 D, to -2.00 cylinder. | |
SOLA OPTICAL USA | ||
1500 Cader Lane | In March, Sola launched Percepta, the first progressive lens design based on both refractive correction and add power, not just add power alone. Percepta compensates for the common nearsighted and farsighted vision corrections many people have while enhancing close-up vision. The lenses balance useful visual fields at all ranges, provide expansive fields of view at all ranges for myopes, emmetropes and hyperopes, and match the viewing zones of right and left lenses to ensure easy focusing at all distance ranges. | |
--- In addition to thinner lenses, ODs can also prescribe lenses like these from Inwave Optics that improve the field of vision for patients.