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Two years on from the launch of the Physio, last week Essilor announced its latest new lens, the Physio f-360. Practitioners from around the UK were invited to Leicester where the lens was introduced along with the latest innovation in facial and frame measurement, the Visioffice.
Keynote speaker at the event was Bernard Maitenaz, the original inventor of the Varilux lens. Maitenaz gave an entertaining resumé of the development of varifocal lenses, noting that the very first guinea pig to trial the Varilux 1 in 1953 was his father. The period from 1956 through to 1972 saw significant adaptation to the original design until the Varilux 2 was introduced. Newer lenses appeared, the VMD, the Comfort, the Panamic and, in 2003, the personalised Ipseo. Maitenaz described the introduction of the Physio in 2006, with its wavefront design aimed at reducing higher-order aberrations, as 'another leap forward'. He concluded his talk by reminding the audience that varifocals represented 'a concept criticised at the time that has now been adopted all over the world'.
Physio f-360
The new lens builds on the wavefront management and point-by-point twinning manufacture of the original Physio, with a personalised element aimed at making it more suited to an individual's use. As a result, the lens goes some way towards the idea of the Ipseo lens which is totally wearer-specific. The Physio f-360 requires five parameters to be measured before the lens can then be manufactured to suit the wearer:
- The vertex distance
- Fitting height
- Pupillary distance (monocular)
- Pantoscopic angle
- Dihedral angle.
To help with this data gathering, Essilor has produced a new hand-held measuring gauge (Figure 1). The new lens claims to offer sharper distance vision due to reduced aberrations such as coma, a tailored intermediate corridor resulting in an improved field width, and a near vision point tailored position giving better postural comfort and a wider reading field. The lens is to be available in all the Essilor materials including the high index 1.74 (Lineis) in which it can correct from -18.00DS to +13.00DS with a cylinder up to 6.00DC and additions of up to +4.00DS.
Visioffice
The Visioffice Universal Measuring System offers both accurate measuring capability but also a useful source of patient information to improve profitability. The unit is essentially a camera stack attached to a PC with a touch screen (Figure 2). It has three major functions.
Firstly, the 'frame on face' function allows up to four still images or a video movie of up to 20 seconds' length to be displayed on the screen to help a patient choose their frame. If they cannot decide there and then, a printout of the four images may be given to the patient. This may also carry patient details as well as practice information.
The instrument may also measure facial and frame characteristics, making up to 13 measurements in 20 seconds. These measurements are claimed to be within 0.1mm accuracy. To carry out the measurement the patient wears a special frame with four sensors on it (Figure 3). When positioned carefully at the predetermined distance from the camera the machine takes a range of measurements including all those required for Physio f-360.
The third function of the instrument is to provide patient information. It has many impressive graphics and animations, helping to explain items such as the benefit of high-index material on lens thickness or the different types of tint available. Retailing at £6,292, the Visioffice shows good potential at boosting dispensing value, while also ensuring accurate measurements.
When asked where the lens would be positioned in the UK market, Andy Hepworth, Essilor UK professional relations manager, replied that the Ipseo was still the premier personalised lens, but the Physio f-360 offered excellent vision for anyone wishing to upgrade from a previous progressive design.