29 May 2026
A locum optometrist has designed, produced and released a kit bag that she hopes will help her fellow practitioners look after their optical equipment safely.
Aaminah Khan, a locum optometrist in Berkshire, designed the OptoKit by AK after realising her younger sister Zahrah, also an optometrist, did not have a practical and stylish solution to transporting equipment during her university clinics.
This was an issue Khan had also faced a decade earlier, whilst she was studying, she told OT.
“The table they gave us to do our clinical tests was tiny, and none of the equipment could ever fit on that table, especially if you were working with a partner,” she said.
“It was a flittering thought, about having something that felt like a nice case to be able to hold all the equipment, and I never thought about it again.”
She added: “Then, 10 years later, I had a family member study optometry, and she said the same thing: ‘I wish I had a nice case to fit all my equipment.’ And it occurred to me: ‘how has it been an entire decade and no one has thought of this yet?’ It is a problem that no one has really come up with a solution for.”
Optometry students can be asked to spend up to £2000 on equipment at the start of their course, Khan told OT.
She noted: “It didn’t make sense to me that we weren’t valuing our very first investment. If I don’t have this equipment and I go to my practice, it’s game over.”
Research and speaking to other locum optometrists revealed that many were using make-up bags or pencil cases, which were not suitable to protect optical equipment, or stethoscope cases, which were not designed for optometrists, Khan told OT.
Many of those she spoke to were using Tupperware to store their equipment because it was the only solution they had, she revealed.
A practical and stylish solution
The OptoKit by AK, which launched on 1 May, retails at £159.99.
There were two main aims when designing a product, Khan explained: “Firstly, provide a solution to hold the equipment that we spend so much money on, and secondly, to do it in a way that makes the optometrist feel valued and special.”
Her aim was for optometrists to look at their kit bag during busy and stressful clinic days and feel: “that’s a nice bit of kit, and I deserve it,” she shared.
Khan initially started working on the product three and a half years ago, after a period of maternity leave and leaving her optometry resident role.
“I took my little one to Hobbycraft and bought loads of card in different colours, and then I measured it all out and built a 3D paper model to see if all the equipment would fit in it. I still have pictures of it,” she told OT.
She then sent the prototype to a CAD designer, and eventually to a manufacturer.
“The manufacturer made sample pieces, which came back, and the equipment didn’t fit,” Khan said.
“I then had to send my equipment out, and they made it up based on my equipment, and came back with a second sample. That’s how the final product ended up being made.”
The final iteration of OptoKit has space for metal and plastic flippers, two Jackson Cross Cylinders, a 66D or 78D volk lens, a 90D volk lens, a SuperField volk lens, a budgie fixation stick, a pen torch, a lens pen, and a tape measure.
Layers have been built in to protect the lenses and a second layer within the bag has space for an occluder, a pupillary distance ruler, an ophthalmoscope, a retinoscope, a trial frame, and any leaflets that practitioners might want to distribute to patients, Khan said.
A lens cross also comes with the bag, she added.
A standout aspect is the fact that the OptoKit has space for three volk lenses, since optometrists might end up collecting them over the years, Khan said.
Another key feature is the solution for the trial frame section of the bag, which includes an elastic belt rather than foam. It took a lot of engineering to make sure the trial frames were secure, Khan explained.
The design keeps the trial frame safe, but means it is easy to take in and out when compared to foam, she said, adding: “Each tier is engineered and designed so it’s easily accessible for you to get to that kit, depending on what part of the eye test you’re at.”
A focus on luxury design
The bag, which Khan has designed with a heritage feel, is now available online.
“I went for a minimalistic design, with colour combinations that felt luxury,” Khan told OT.
She explained: “I do like handbag designs: I appreciate the structure of certain bags and the material they’re made from, and I wanted to bring that aesthetic in.”
The bag is available in two colourways: black with silver hardware, and a limited edition green, with gold hardware.
Khan added: “We work in an industry where we get to mix fashion and healthcare, and that’s very rare. I wanted to bring what we give to our patients to us as well.
“The colour combinations were those that I noticed sold out very well with certain luxury bags.”
Khan is also working with optical influencers to share the product on social media, where a 10% discount code is available.
Although the bag was designed with locum optometrists in mind, Khan is finding that she is receiving a high number of orders from newly qualified optometrists too.
“I think it’s for the everyday: for all optometrists,” she said.
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