Every Wednesday evening this February, Optician will give you the opportunity to quiz some of the best brains in the contact lens business as part of Contact Lens Month (CLM).
Starting on Wednesday, February 1, CLM will deliver a series of webinars offering interviews and presentations on key sectors along with the chance for you to pose your own questions to our guests. The webinars are all free to attend and you can register by logging on to www.opticiancontactlens month.co.uk.
The first half of each webinar will feature a key opinion leader invited by Optician to give their thoughts on the night’s topic by the chair, Optician’s editor-in-chief Chris Bennett. As the interviews and presentations take place you will be able to pose your question through the webinar platform. These will be posed to the speaker by our chairman at the end of the interview. The second half of each webinar will feature a speaker nominated by the sponsor company for the night. These second sessions will follow the topic of the evening but be focused on lenses used in practice, so expect product launches, case studies and new data.
CLM will kick off on February 1 with the provocatively entitled EDOF: WTF (What’s the Fuss). Sponsoring the session is Positive Impact (PI) and the webinar will look at contact lenses based on the principle of Extended Depth of Focus (EDOF). The first speaker is Nick Dash and he will explore what designs are currently on the market, how and why EDOF works and the modalities available.
This session will also discuss the applications for EDOF. The second session will be led by Phil Thompson (pictured left), professional services director of PI, and look at the daily disposable NaturalVue EDOF contact lens from Visioneering Technologies and the Brien Holden Vision Institute design used by SynergEyes.
Sclerals fall under the spotlight on Wednesday, February 8, in a webinar sponsored by Bausch+ Lomb (B+L), entitled Scleral Lenses: A Fresh Perspective. This session will discuss the role of the modern scleral lens in everyday contact lens practice. There will be an overview of the history, benefits and fitting techniques for these lenses, followed by an examination of how B+L’s scleral lens can help to simplify the process and fast track a successful outcome. The session will conclude with some tips and troubleshooting and the opportunity for questions.
Speaking in the first half will be Nick Howard (right) who qualified as a contact lens optician in 1984. He is now a part-time lecturer, trainer and presenter at conferences, hospitals and universities at local, national and international events and the author of many articles. He is followed by Pauline Bradford product specialist for speciality vision products at B+L with some exciting news about its scleral offering.
The focus on contact lens comfort will make a return on Wednesday, February 15, when Alcon enters with the sponsorship of a webinar under the title; Dry Eye or Contact Lens Discomfort? Our first speaker for the evening is Ros Mussa who will be interviewed on the importance of distinguishing between dry eye symptoms and contact lens-induced discomfort. Make sure you have your questions ready for her to answer as she is a mine of practical tips and information. This interview will be followed by the latest information on Alcon’s Total 1 family delivered by Dr Sònia Travé Huarte.
Dr Travé Huarte (left) is a postdoctoral researcher and optometrist at Aston University. She specialises in dry eye diagnostics and treatments, anterior ocular surface disease management, specialty contact lenses, Meibomian gland dysfunction and corneal pain.
Week four, February 22, will look at arguably the hottest topic of them all, myopia. Kicking off the session is Dr Kate Gifford, optometrist practice owner, global speaker and founder of the Brisbane-based Myopia Profile, which offers a wealth of information for eye care professionals practising, or looking to get involved in, myopia management. Myopia Profile was founded by Dr Gifford and her husband Paul. Its mission is to improve the standard of paediatric care by offering evidence-based practitioner education. Optician will ask Dr Gifford how practitioners can get involved in myopia management and will review some of the latest techniques and theories.
This will be followed by a presentation from Neil Harvey (right) professional affairs consultant for myopia management at CooperVision. He will be delivering the latest clinical data on CooperVision’s MiSight myopia management lens, the launch of which marked a turning point in the development of myopia management. MiSight is a daily disposable that has been shown to be effective in 90% of young patients and reduce levels of myopia by as much as 60%.
Getting involved in CLM could not be easier, just log on to www.opticiancontactlens month.co.uk to register, find out more or view last year’s webinars.