Thursday, October 17, 2019

Slowing myopia in children with Hoya's MiyoSmart spectacle lens

Hands up if you're like me and spent the better part of your childhood seated in front of the telly, staring unblinkingly as vibrant cartoons and superheroes flashed across the screen. If I could go back in time, I would drag seven year old me far and away from the television, thus saving myself the torment of glasses and contact lens much later on.


But all the what-ifs in the world won't change the fact that I was one of the many children in Asia who had no choice but to grow up wearing glasses. If only Hoya Vision Care has come up with its new innovative spectacle lens MiyoSmart back then. Soon available in Malaysia, Hoya's MiyoSmart comes equipped with Defocus Incorporated Multiple Segments (D.I.M.S.) technology – offering an effective, comfortable and safe solution for myopia control innovated for children. The lens is the result of a collaboration between HOYA Vision Care and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University that began in 2012.

In a two-year randomised double-blind clinical trial involving 160 children with myopia aged 8 to 13, it was found that children wearing MiyoSmart spectacle lenses had reduced myopia progression in 60% of cases while myopia progression halted completely in 21.5% of cases[1]. The encouraging results of the clinical trial proved the effectiveness of the non-invasive lens in providing vision correction for myopic children while ensuring safety.

With more near-work activity, less time spent outdoors, the high value placed on education performance and other combined and interacting hereditary, behavioural and environmental factors, the incidence of myopia in children is expected to increase. It is predicted that by 2050, there will be 4.758 billion people with myopia globally (49.8% of the world population) and 938 million people with high myopia (9.8% of the world population)[2]. At the same time, effectively reducing the rate of myopia progression by 50% could reduce the prevalence of high myopia by up to 90%.

MiyoSmart lenses with D.I.M.S technology are comfortable and safe. Light and thin with UV protection for the eyes, the lens is made using the highly impact-resistant polycarbonate 1.59 that has passed the high velocity impact drop ball test, and is thus ideal for active kids from 6 to 18 years. The lens has a central optical zone for correcting refractive error and multiple defocus segments evenly surrounding the central zone (extending to the mid-periphery) of the lens to control myopia progression. This provides clear vision and myopic defocus simultaneously at all viewing distances. The lens makes use of the natural homeostatic mechanism known as “emmetropization”, whereby the eyeball adapts and shapes to receive focused images as it does for normal vision.

The MiyoSmart lens is able to:
· Curb myopia progression on average by 60%[3]
· Slow axial eye growth on average by 60%
· Halt myopia progression in 21.5% of children

Testament to its excellence, the MiyoSmart lens with D.I.M.S. technology won the Grand Prize, Grand Award and Gold Medal at the 46th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva in Switzerland in April 2018. 

MiyoSmart spectacle lenses will be available at selected Eye Care Professionals (ECP) beginning November 2019. A list of eye care professionals carrying MiyoSmart lenses will be available by 1 November 2019 on HOYA Vision's website as follows: https://www.hoyavision.com/my/find-optician/

Sources:
[1] Lam CSY, Tang WC, Lee RPK, Chun RKM, To CH. A randomized clinical trial for myopia control – use of myopic defocus spectacle lens. 8th International Congress of Behavioral Optometry (ICBO), 26-29 of April 2018. Sydney, Australia.

[2] Holden B.A., Fricke T.R., Wilson D.A., Jong M., Naidoo K.S., Sankaridurg P., Wong T.Y.,Naduvilath T.J., Resnikoff S. Global Prevalence of Myopia and High Myopia and Temporal Trends from 2000 through 2050. American Academy of Ophthalmology. 05/2016, vol.123, no. 5, p.1036–1042. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2016.01.006

[3] Myopia progression (SER) by 59% and axial elongation (AL) decreased by 60% compared with those wearing SV lenses.

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