US-based medical device company and inventor of the NaturalVue®
(etafilcon A) Multifocal 1 Day Contact Lenses, Visioneering
Technologies, Inc (ASX: VTI) (‘VTI’ or ‘The Company’) has
released additional data regarding its patented NaturalVue® Multifocal
(etafilcon A) 1 Day Contact Lens.
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Figure 1 – NaturalVue Multifocal Instantaneous vs. Sagittal Power Profile (Graphic: Business Wire)
Scientific Interest
Practitioners employing VTI’s NaturalVue Multifocal in managing myopia
in children recently announced updated data demonstrating in 141
children that wearing NaturalVue MF decreased the progression of myopia
by an average of 90%, compared to the average progression rate before
wearing NaturalVue Multifocal1. The treatment effect, which
included up to four years of treatment with NaturalVue Multifocal, was
consistent over time and across clinical sites. The strength of this
clinical performance has created excitement in the scientific community
and generated greater interest in the design and unique optical power
profile of the NaturalVue Multifocal.
The patent for the design of the NaturalVue Multifocal describes the
optics of this unique, extended depth of focus lens in terms of
instantaneous power. While familiar to many specialists, instantaneous
power may be less familiar to the broader community. VTI is releasing
additional information to assist in the understanding of the lens design.
The scientific community uses two methods of expressing the power
profile in a lens design:
- Sagittal (also called axial or radial)
- Instantaneous (also called tangential)
Both methods of description are useful in creating and describing lens
designs, but provide different information and are used for different
purposes.
Jim Schwiegerling, PhD., Professor of Optical Sciences & Ophthalmology
at the University of Arizona, commented on the importance of the use of
instantaneous profiling. He stated, “Instantaneous power is good for
progressive aspheric type lenses because it illustrates the power
progression more accurately, and provides different information about
the power profile than does the sagittal description. However,
instantaneous profiling is not appropriate for describing lenses with
annular rings of alternating power because instantaneous overemphasizes
the abrupt curvature change at the boundaries of the rings. Sagittal
power tends to underestimate the curvature of the progressive aspheric
lens but does a good job with ring-type designs since it effectively
ignores the transition between the zones.”
The NaturalVue Multifocal contact lens is a progressive aspheric lens,
and is best described in terms of instantaneous power, consistent with
how VTI’s and many other engineers think about progressive aspheric
optical designs. However, wavefront metrology typically describes power
profiles in terms of sagittal power and the conversions for calculating
the instantaneous power were lacking. VTI worked with Lambda-X, a world
leader in ophthalmic products including its NIMO instruments, to develop
customized software capable of measuring and illustrating the
instantaneous and sagittal power curves of the NaturalVue Multifocal, or
any other multifocal lens.
The Plot of Instantaneous vs. Sagittal Power Profile of the
NaturalVue Multifocal
The accompanying graph is a direct output from a NIMO wavefront sensor
of a -3.00D NaturalVue Multifocal lens over the central 5mm optic zone.
The Instantaneous profile is shown in red (“Instant”) and the Sagittal
profile is show in blue (“Radial”).
The Neurofocus Optics® technology of the NaturalVue Multifocal relies on
the rapid, continuous, and uninterrupted progression in plus power to
induce an aperture effect for clear vision at all distances. The
Instantaneous power representation of the lens design correlates to the
clinical performance. Published data suggests that significant levels of
plus power in the lens optical design is important to addressing
peripheral defocus in the eye, which is a contributing factor in myopic
progression2. The progression of plus power in the NaturalVue
Multifocal design is significant enough to induce peripheral blur which
generates a virtual aperture effect for an extended depth of focus.
Importantly, there are no spherical regions in the NaturalVue Multifocal
power profile, a distinct and unique feature of this lens.
VTI’s CEO, Dr Stephen Snowdy said: “The clinical results of our
NaturalVue Multifocal continue to generate a lot of interest in the
scientific and professional communities. We greatly appreciate the work
of the experts at Lambda-X who provided us with a tool to measure and
express the unique optics of the NaturalVue Multifocal. Dr. Richard
Griffin designed the lens based on complex calculations to achieve this
design. To finally have a tangible measurement of the power curve is
very satisfying for us and, we hope, enlightening for those interested
in better understanding the science behind the excellent performance of
our product.”
The full description of this information may be accessed at https://vtivision.com/practitioners/naturalvue-multifocal-lens/the-science-of-naturalvue-multifocal/.
For a more detailed explanation, contact Dr. Peg Achenbach, VP of
Professional Services and Clinical Science, at pachenbach@vtivision.com.
About Visioneering Technologies
Visioneering Technologies Inc. (ASX:VTI) is an innovative eye care
company committed to redefining vision. Since its founding in 2008,
Visioneering has brought together clinical, marketing, engineering,
manufacturing and regulatory leaders from top vision care businesses to
provide new solutions for presbyopia, myopia and astigmatism.
Headquartered in the US, Visioneering designs, manufactures, sells and
distributes contact lenses. Its flagship product is the NaturalVue® Multifocal
contact lens, and VTI has expanded its portfolio of technologies to
address a range of eye care issues. The company has grown operations
across the United States, Australia and Europe and is expanding into
Asia with a focus on markets with high rates of myopia.
MKT-VTI-PR73 r1
1 Cooper, J, O’Connor, B, Aller T. Clinical Research Update
with NaturalVue Multifocal presented at Global Specialty Lens Symposia.
January, 2019.
2 Peripheral Hyperopia explanation summarised from:
-
Gifford, P., & Gifford, K. L. (2016). The Future of Myopia Control
Contact Lenses. Optometry and Vision Science. 93(4): 336-343. -
Smith, E. L., Kee, C., Ramamirtham, R., Qiao-Grider, Y., & Hung, L.
(2005). Peripheral Vision Can Influence Eye Growth and Refractive
Development in Infant Monkeys. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual
Science. 46(11): 3965. -
Cooper, J., Schulman, E., Jamal, N. (2012). Current Status on the
Development and Treatment of Myopia. Optometry.
83(5):179-199.
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