ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--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.
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.
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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.