Bausch + Lomb was having a busy time at the show being the only one of the big four contact lens suppliers exhibiting at Optrafair. It was showcasing its Ultra lens, designed for the demands put on the eye by the digital age. The lens is currently being trialled by 40 practices and will go live nationally with chosen independent customers in July.
Aishwarya Rao, marketing manager, said the lens addressed some of the comfort issues faced by users of digital technology and achieved a balance between comfort, health and vision by offering the breathability of a Silicone hydrogel lens with the comfort of a traditional hydrogel and aspheric optics.
She took the digital analogy further by suggesting the last new material – silicone hydrogel was launched in 2008 – the same year as the iPhone. ‘It’s a digital generation lens,’ she says which combats the dryness brought on by modern technology.
This is achieved through B+L’s MoistureSeal technology which boosts levels of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) which in turn retains greater quantities of water.
[CaptionComponent="2594"]This results in a high water content, Sih lens which has a lower modulus and therefore less stiff than previous Sih lenses. Vision is optimised through aspheric optics reducing spherical aberration. As the lens is less prone to dehydration it retains better optics and therefore maintains better vision for the wearer, claims B+L.
Professional relations consultant Wendy Sethi says: ‘We are staring at technology all day, we are also holding things closer, we just don’t blink enough.’
Sethi, who is also in everyday practice said it was her lens of choice. ‘It’s not stupidly priced, it’s what I have in there as a first choice lens. Why fit patients with something that might lead to problems when you can fit this?’ She says the vast majority of patients will love the lens and was actively seeking out visitors at the show and urging them to try the lens for themselves. ‘The drop out rate has increased, the key reason for this is dry eye and the number one factor for that is computer usage. We feel this is the lens most relevant to combat that. Digital technology is not going away so the problem is going to grow.’
The shape of the cornea
Chris Carter, sales and marketing director of Mark Ennovy, said his firm was using Optrafair as an opportunity to talk to practices about business and clinical issues. ‘From a clinical perspective we are looking at the shape of the cornea and how contact lenses work with that.’ He said for the average cornea mainstream contact lenses are not a problem, but what happens when the shape of the cornea starts to change?’
An on-stand demonstrator showing large, steep and toric corneas showed the problem. ‘The message we are trying to get across is that we have the ability, with Mark Ennovy lenses, to get a lens that fits perfectly.’ He said poorly fitting lenses would have a significant effect on drops outs. ‘On base curve alone one in four patients is fitted with the wrong lens.’ The vast majority of drop outs are in the first two weeks. ‘A mass manufacturer’s lens on the wrong eye will cause that. A properly fitting lens gives the patient the best possible chance of staying in lenses. Getting the fit right is bound to result in a better outcome for the patient.’
At the show Mark Ennovy was showing the suite of products it has to cope with all corneal shapes. ‘Gentle 80 is our hero lens but we also have a Sih with Saphir. It’s about empowering the practitioner to offer the right lens. We like to fit the lens to the patient rather than fit the patient to the lens.’
He said practitioners were surprised when they find out what is possible. They are genuinely surprised that lenses can be customised so much and fully supported and is available in 72 hours. The lenses are not available on the internet so its creates exclusivity too.
Overnight vision correction
No7 Contact Lenses was at the show demonstrating its EyeDream overnight vision correction system and the associated equipment. With EyeDream it was hoping to emulate Mark Ennovy’s success in last year’s Optician Awards and win the Contact Len Product of the Year Award for which it was shortlisted this year. Visitors to the show were keen to learn more about the myopia control potential of the lens, said Hans Sunassee business development manager. ‘The jury is still out on myopia control,’ he said but more and more parents were hearing about its potential and keen for their kids to try the idea out. He said practices were picking up on this and were having their hand forced to adopt the product to meet demand and differentiate their practice. Sunassee said of all the myopia control options ortho-k was the most promising, the safest and the most likely to be licensed. Proving the efficacy of any myopia control system is tricky but EyeDream offers all the benefits of safe vision correction plus the possibility of stalling myopia.
Tony Hibberd, business development manager said EyeDream was: ‘growing and growing.’ Practitioner were using myopia progression charts to try and build a case but anything that slowed myopia, and all of the health issues that go with it, must be a good thing.
Solutions and supplements
Solutions, supplementation and other related products has been a strong growth area for the last few editions of Optrafair and 2016 was no exception.
Macushield had perhaps the highest supplements profile with its Macushield and Macushield Gold products which draw on the AREDS and AREDS2 studies for their formulations and the inclusion of carotenoids which protect the macular pigmnent.
The resurgence of silicone hydrogel materials over the last eight years or so has seen new reusable contact lens materials emerge to compete with daily disposables. This has revitalised the reusable contact lens market and comes as welcome news to solutions maker Avizor.
[CaptionComponent="2595"]Gordon Hughes said the consolidation in the contact lens market coupled with Avizor’s opticians-only policy should act as an encouragement to independents to see contact lens solutions as a potential profit centre. He said practices were: ‘missing a trick’ by not specifiying solutions. Practice staff need to be trained more on contact lens aftercare. ‘There’s a big opportunity out there. Practices have got out of the habit of selling solutions.’
On its stand Avizor was exhibiting a range of solutions for soft lenses, RGP and Sih lenses. It also had preservative free options and a range of dry eye and comfort drops, eyewash and saline. Avizor was also displaying a range of Lacrifresh Ocu-dry products another rich seam of products at the show.
Moorfields Pharmaceuticals was typical with its spread of products: Lubristil, for dry and irritated eyes, Lubristil Gel for dryness and damaged eyes and Emustil to combat Meibomian Gland Dysfunction and the associated evaporative dry eye problems.
Kestrel Ophthalmics took therapy even further with its Oasis soft shield collagen corneal shield. This is used to protect the ocular surface after surgery or injury and dissolves over a range of time periods from 12 to 72 hours.
[CaptionComponent="2596"]Visitors were certainly being drawn to the Scope Ophthalmics stand, not just for a foot massage, but also to see a comprehensive selection of ocular surface products. Tom Frayne, commercial sales director, said Scope aimed to complete the whole journey for the patient from diagnosis to treatment across a range of conditions.
He said the Tearlab machine offered an assessment of dry eye which could be treated with an array of products and therapies. These included Hycosan with varying concentrations of Hyaluronic acid, blepharitis treatments and Omega 3 supplementation.
Frayne said Scope wanted to build a partnership with practices to help them understand how to use products such as dry eye treatments. It had a straight forward approach to conditions to try and smooth the path for practitioners.
Scope’s stand also boasted a range of moist heat therapies and products in this vein proved to be another strong theme at Optrafair with around half a dozen on offer.
Altacor had its BlephaMask alongside its Clinitas dry eye drops and its chocolate flavoured eyebar supplement.
Sam Wymer, sales manager on the Body Doctor stand said the growth in heat therapy products was growing as the demand grew. In the past patients put up with dry eye but now wanted a solution.
He said opticians were doing a better job of suggesting heat products and said his product was the only one with a washable cover. Other products from the firm include eyelid wipes designed to be used after the heat therapy.
[CaptionComponent="2597"]Eyebags
Johnny Cohen at Eyevolve said its flaxseed eyebag also had a removable cover and a velcro strap. It was wider to cover more of the eye and it could be used to ease migraines too. Cohen’s firm makes a range of heat packs which made the move into eye therapy a natural one.
Tefi James from the EyeBag Company started the whole genre off in 2004 when he developed the original EyeBag. As a consultant ophthalmologist he had often explained how a hot flannel could be used so developed the EyeBag. ‘The game changer for us was last October when the Eyebag became the first warming product to be available on prescription.’
James said evidence suggests the Eyebag can be an effective way to keep people out of NHS eye departments and save money when compared to drugs like hypromellose. On his stand he was avidly teaching practitioners the finer points of lid hygiene.
Half a million EyeBags have been sold around the world but there was much more to the product than a fish-shaped heat sack, he said. ‘On the vexed question of hygiene there’s less to go wrong with this than any of the others.’ Washing with detergent something that comes into contact with your eye is not a good idea he says. ‘That’s why I designed a product that doesn’t need washing.’
The weight, shape and size are all worked out scientifically to deliver heat to the Meibomian glands. The bag’s material is ultra-thin silk on one side and insulated on the other side to reach and maintain, the required temperature. The filling contains no oil, which can induce conjunctivitis.
Who could have guessed that there was so much detail in the, not-so-simple, EyeBag?