News of a technology firm receiving a grant could very easily have passed many practitioners by, but it should not, because development of such systems is likely have significant implications for dispensing opticians in future.
Last month, Fuel3D, a British image capture and imaging company, was awarded funding of €1.7million (£1.2m) from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme to support the development of a 3D scanning system for the eyewear sector.
Stuart Mead, CEO of Fuel3D, said: ‘We believe that the eyewear sector will benefit greatly from the advances we have made in fast, measurable 3D image capture, and we are looking forward to building a system that will help set new fitting standards and revenue models in the industry.’
In September 2015, Oxford University and Deloitte published the results of a study which gauged the likelihood of jobs being automated in the future and then ranked 336 professions. The role of dispensing optician was 71% likely to be replaced in future and was 118th in the standings. Optometrists faced just a 14% risk of automation.
Optician was then introduced to 3D facial scanning for eyewear at Silmo later that month. Danish brand Monoqool and German producer Mykita both soft-launched scanning systems which captured a series photos of the patients’ faces that were then turned into 3D models containing essential topography data needed to make a fully tailored pair of spectacles. Measurements included PD, pantoscopic tilt, back vertex distance, cranial dimensions, lens creation data and temple length. Once all this data was collated, the software generated a suggestion for a frame, or the patient could select their own. The practitioner could then toggle the sizing of the frame within certain parameters before the frame specification was sent off to be produced via 3D printing.
Stuart Mead, CEO of Fuel3D
Foresight
Earlier this year, the Optical Confederation and the College of Optometrists published the Foresight Project, a 12-month, £100,000 piece of research into how the landscape of optics in future might look.
Dispensing optician or ‘dispensable optician’? asked the report, which touched upon the role of such made to measure 3D printing services. ‘Over the next 15 years, processes will only become more digitised and automated. Manual measurement of facial parameters will disappear, even for children’s dispensing. Technology will allow faster and more accurate dispenses.’ As the Foresight Project authors state, questions have to be asked about the traditional function of the dispensing optician in future.
Optician asked Association of Dispensing Opticians (Abdo) president Fiona Anderson if the development of facial scanning technology signalled the end of the registered dispensing optician?She said, ‘Initially one could be “blown away” by such technology, however, like all new technology there will be early adopters who will embrace it wholeheartedly and those who will shy away from it.’
‘My personal view is that, far from instigating the beginning of the end, dispensing opticians have an opportunity to embrace technology and actively seek to integrate it with all aspects of dispensing. The bespoke service of 3D scanning to make spectacle frames and lenses will initially, I assume, be fairly expensive, so take up may be fairly slow.
‘But as with most new technologies, as more people invest, the costs will come down and make it more affordable for all. Those who seek to broaden their offering to their patients and broaden their scope of practice should see this as a golden opportunity.’
Leveraging the technology
Focusing on the positive aspects, the research also suggested that the ‘disruption caused by 3D printing’ could be harnessed by established manufacturers and optical practices. The report opined that a sense of co-creation was evident among millennials, who often sought personalised and unique experiences – which would include experimentation with design.
Practices offering 3D co-creation among their glasses ranges were much more likely to attract younger customers, and without any disruption to an older patient base, added the Foresight Project. ‘The independents have an advantage in this regard: they can potentially form partnerships with suppliers far more quickly and with greater flexibility than the multiples and supermarkets.’
Point of difference is something that Monoqool CEO Allan Petersen thinks could really help the independent practice: ‘Later this year, Monoqool, together with Dutch IT company Sfered, will launch its customised eyewear IT platform for independent practices. Custom-made frames are more relevant for independents than multiples because the technology requires training and a degree of craftsmanship that is difficult for the chains to offer.
‘It’s not about competing on price, but allowing them to compete based on offering the end user more.’
Whose law is it anyway?
So in a future where sophisticated algorithms calculate best fit and style choices, does the technology need to be regulated or operated by appropriately qualified members of staff?
Anderson said: ‘Bespoke spectacles such as these – both frames and lenses – will be truly tailor made for each patient, and, with the complexities of more and more advanced frame materials and spectacle lens designs, it would be in the best interests of patients that these spectacles (which are, after all, a medical device) be dispensed, checked, fitted and adjusted by a suitably qualified person such as a registered dispensing optician or optometrist, or at the very least under their supervision.
‘I strongly believe that technology such as this, in the hands of a suitably trained person, can enhance what we offer to our patients.’
From a regulatory perspective, the General Optical Council said the law sets out which optical professions could carry out which functions – testing sight and selling optical appliances. However, it does not specify which equipment they should or should not use in doing this, which is down to their professional judgment.
‘Therefore, whether someone would have to be registered would depend on whether they need to be registered to carry out the dispense in question, namely whether or not the patient is a child or is partially sighted as per the Sale of Optical Appliances Order of Council 1984,’ said a GOC spokesperson.
Strings to the bow
If technology like facial scanning frees up some time in practice for dispensing opticians, is it feasible that their role could broaden in future, possibly even with refraction functions? ‘Refraction, may well fall within the remit of the dispensing optician in the future, and I for one would welcome this,’ said Anderson.
‘It would indeed be a broadening of the dispensing optician’s skill set and increase in scope of practice. Again, with the advent of huge improvements in technology, and the accuracy of autorefractors, dispensing opticians would be well placed to carry out refraction – as registered opticians, they have an understanding of the process and an ability to use that knowledge to carry out this function.
‘I think dispensing opticians, just like their colleagues in optometry, are always seeking to challenge their minds and improve and expand their scope of practice. Significant numbers of dispensing opticians already choose to study for honours qualifications in contact lens practice, low vision and spectacle lens design as well as undertaking masters programmes. Some also opt to go on and study optometry.’
To help ensure the success of its facial scanning project, Fuel3D is currently putting together an advisory panel of industry experts, from opticians to eyewear manufacturers. The company said the panel would be instrumental in providing sector-specific knowledge that will drive the development of the system.
Fuel3D’s project manager, Alex McGrath, said: ‘We have already had many interesting conversations with eyewear industry leaders and the formalisation of our advisory panel will help us progress towards defining new standards in both technology and customer service.’
The advisory panel might also help dispensing opticians get a better handle on the technology that will be available to them in future. It may also help innovative companies like Fuel3D get a better understanding of how the experience and knowledge of dispensing opticians can be leveraged.