Shamir launches myopia management lens

Shamir Optical Industry has launched a lens for myopia management.

The company shared that the Shamir Optimee lenses have been shown to slow axial length progression in children.

The lens has also been designed in consideration of children’s experience of wearing glasses and their wellbeing needs.

Shamir FocusFlow, a defocus technology, has been integrated into the lens, providing a clear central vertical zone with the child’s prescription. This clear zone allows for flexible eye movement so that children can focus on near-vision activities, and at all distances without over-flexing their neck.

The non-concentric lens design also results in thinner edges than regular lenses for myopia, the company argued, reducing distortion that can occur when looking at the wearer.

Shamir Optimee has been manufactured with FreeForm technology, as well as Shamir Metaform, making the lenses up to 18 times stronger than the FDA standard requirement.

A holistic approach

Recognising the “huge and growing need for effective child myopia management,” Shamir said it prioritised this as the first project in its new Shamir Child-care product portfolio.

Development began by considering how children feel about wearing glasses in various activities such as learning, playing, socialising, relaxing, and using digital devices.

Shamir worked with field experts to review research into psychological and ergonomic aspects of child development, vision correction, and myopia management.

Through this process, Shamir said it has developed “a unique holistic approach that corrects myopia and slows axial length progression while providing aesthetic, ergonomic, and safety benefits, so that children can enjoy all their regular activities with freedom and confidence.”

Monica Shahbaznia Alvarez, clinical psychologist specialising in family and child psychology and paediatric psychology, shared: “When designing spectacle lenses for myopic children and adolescents, it is necessary to address the emotional challenges they face and to understand the impact on their self-image and self-esteem in the context of feeling a sense of normalcy and belonging throughout their life.”

Orit Shenkar, an occupational therapist and ergonomics expert, commented: “Vision involves more than our eyes. Children tend to develop a variety of head and eye declination combinations for varied near-vision tasks, and many studies document evidence of the damaging effects of habitual high neck flexion and repetitive postural habits.”

Poor postural habits can affect attention and performance, Shenkar said, adding that because children’s bones and muscles are still developing, “how they habitually position their body is important for their future healthy development.”

Clinical trial

A clinical trial, led by Professor Yair Morad, has been comparing the progression of myopia and axial elongation when using Shamir Optimee or single vision lenses in 126 children between the ages of six and 13. Children wore the Shamir Optimee glasses for an average of 14 hours a day.

The first-year results, published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology, revealed that axial elongation in children under 10 slowed by 43% on average.

The same trial showed that one in three young children experienced natural eye growth, as if they were non-myopic.

When both parents were myopic, the study found, the Rx progression was 45% slower on average.

Yagen Moshe, Shamir’s CEO, said: “The holistic approach behind Shamir Optimee reflects the wide view that we take with the goal of improving the quality of life of our customers, kids and adults.”

“The launch of Shamir Optimee is an exciting step for Shamir,” Moshe added, suggesting that it continues the company’s legacy of innovative lenses while establishing a new childcare category, “in which we focus on safeguarding the eyesight and wellbeing of children, supporting their safety, comfort, confidence and sharp vision, now and in the future.”

Shamir Optimee lenses will be launching in the UK in 2024 in a range of indexes between 1.50 and 1.74, Rx range +0.5D to –10D. The lenses can be clear or Transitions green or grey.