100% Optical presents fashion show premier

Ahead of 100% Optical Online this weekend, event organisers Media 10 hosted a premier of its fashion show, highlighting some of the frames that will be showcased during the event.

The industry show will run as a virtual event for the first time between 23–24 May.

Held on the SwapCard platform, delegates will be able to join the event on Sunday for a day of CET-accredited sessions, with Monday dedicated to meeting with suppliers.

The exhibitor list includes 40 brands and companies with over 100 products to display.

Presenting the premier of the fashion show, Nathan Garnett, event director, shared: “It is one of the trademarks of 100% Optical, we’ve always done the fashion show and the catwalk and we were posed with the challenge of how to do that in the virtual world.

“We sent the team into London and they’ve produced a beautiful fashion show in London in the spring.”

Filmed in locations across London, the fashion show has been curated and delivered by the 100% Optical Catwalk Team and features frames from brands including Dita, Elle, gotti Switzerland, Ted Baker London, Kaleos, Hackett and Wolf Eyewear.

The shows will feature six companies, 17 brands and 32 frames, showcased in four London locations.

Event organisers also took the opportunity to take delegates through the online platform, highlighting key features and explaining how attendees can tailor their profiles.

As well as hosting the CET sessions and exhibitor showcases, the online platform enables delegates to book meetings with suppliers and express an interest in a brand in order to be contacted after the event.

Delegates can also meet and network with other attendees through a system powered by artificial intelligence, which recommends contacts based on interests, job descriptions and companies.

A number of non-CET sessions will be presented on 24 May with topics covering retail design and marketing, practice management software and management skills, which will be recorded for attendees to be able to watch back on demand. The platform also hosts 100% Optical’s previous Tech Bites sessions and industry news.

Presenting the show preview, Media 10 confirmed the online platform will remain operational beyond the virtual event, meaning delegates can return to network and view new content including Tech Bites sessions, which will be uploaded to the platform, along with more education later in 2021.

Gain interactive CET points

Sunday 23 May will see a day of AOP-led education with seven CET-accredited sessions, each offering one interactive point.

Confirming the programme, AOP head of education and OT’s clinical editor, Dr Ian Beasley, said the sessions “cover the cornerstones of clinical practice.”

The day will begin with a session led by the AOP clinical negligence team on spotting the red flag signs and symptoms of intracranial tumours, followed by a session on the use of ultra-widefield imaging to detect and analyse changes in the peripheral retina, led by optometrist and lecturer, Simon Browning.

Myopia will be on the agenda, with optometrist, educator and researcher, Dr Manbir Nagra, exploring the barriers to myopia management, followed by a session on new approaches to subjective refraction, led by the director at Essilor International, Dominique Meslin.

Serena Dunwoody, senior professional affairs associate with Bausch + Lomb, will take delegates on a review “beyond the tears,” considering the composition of the tear film and its role in the overall health of the ocular surface. This will be followed by session led by senior lecturer, Peter Black, on spectacle frame dispensing, touching on key topics of materials and sustainability.

Finally, Nick Dash, optometrist and dry eye specialist, will close the programme with a session on dry eye in the digital environment.

More details on the sessions, including timings, can be found in OT’s recent article on the programme. Registration for the event is available on the 100% Optical website.

---

An insight into 100% Optical Online’s CET sessions

Speaker Q&A: Barriers to myopia management – an update

Dr Manbir Nagra, optometrist, educator and researcher in the fields of myopia, contact lenses and health technologies, gives OT an insight into her session at 100% Optical Online

What is the focus of your session for 100% Optical Online?

The talk considers the various influences upon practitioners when deciding whether to deliver myopia management. We also consider whether the current high levels of interest in myopia are being translated into action. It’s an update on a previous talk on the same topic, but since then much more research has been published – the world of myopia is fast changing.

What I’d like to do is just step outside the bubble for a moment and look at myopia management from a different vantage point.

What are some of the key points within the topic of barriers to myopia management that you wish to highlight to delegates?

That we are part of a system. While the practitioner may, or may not, have high levels of interest in myopia management, essentially the decision to pursue myopia management will depend on a myriad of opinions and factors.

Who is this session for? Who might benefit the most from this session?

The talk is broad ranging, the focus is less on the specifics of various solutions and products, but more about the general process of myopia management uptake. Hopefully it will be of interest to both those already active in myopia management and those who are not.

What makes you want to share your insights on the topic of myopia management, and barriers to myopia management, in particular?

I’ve been involved with the field of myopia since 2006, when I was undertaking my PhD. While even then we were aware of attempts to arrest myopia progression and that commercialisation and entry into clinical practices was probably on the horizon, I don’t think anyone could have predicted the degree of interest myopia management has generated.

Back then, the barriers were clear, but now we have commercially available products and so the barriers are not so obvious.

What is your view on the role of optometrists in addressing childhood myopia?

For eye care professionals (ECPs) wishing to get involved, there are now plenty of opportunities to diversify clinical practice. Primary care ECPs are knowledgeable, engaged with community eye care, and so are well placed to deliver myopia management.

I don’t think anyone could have predicted the degree of interest myopia management has generated

Speaker Q&A: gO C The periphery

Optometrist and lecturer, Simon Browning, tells OT the key messages he wants to share through his session at 100% Optical Online

What is the focus of your session for 100% Optical Online?

The focus of the session is multimodal imaging. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a big factor in High Street optometry but alongside that is looking at the peripheral retina. The latest tranche of instruments that are coming out combine both an OCT and an ultra-wide field imaging device in the same box of tricks and use OCT right out into the periphery of the retina.

The session will look at a series of retinal conditions, centrally and peripherally using standard OCT imaging, and also autofluorescence imaging as well.

What are some of the key areas within this topic that you wish to highlight to delegates?

I think one of the key things to share is the absolute importance of looking at the peripheral retina. I always liken the peripheral retina to the anchor on a boat. If that comes detached the boat drifts away. If the peripheral retina detaches, then there is every chance the central retina is going to detach as well if it's not treated. With ultra-wide field OCT you can actually see some holes in the retina and make a much more accurate assessment of what's going on in the periphery and whether it needs to be referred and treated or not.

This ultra-wide field OCT is bringing out so much more evidence of why the peripheral retina is prone to its degeneration changes as life goes on. Having that data available is so important, especially in the light of the increasing frequency of myopia – being able to assess the peripheral retina is going to be so much more vital. People with myopia have longer eyeballs and they're much more prone to degeneration in the periphery of the retina.

Similarly, diabetic retinopathy is on the increase. There's a lot of evidence that diabetic retinal changes in the periphery of a retina occur earlier than in the central part and can be precursors to more aggressive changes in the centre. With the screening committee now saying that stable diabetics can be sent out to a two year review process rather than one year, this is potentially very serious.

So many times when an optometrist looks in a patient’s eyes, they will tell them that everything is nice and healthy. Evidence from a research study by Optos shows that people have a belief that when an optometrist looks in their eyes, they are probably looking at up to 75% of the retina. So a patient might hear that the eye is healthy and assume therefore that this means all of their eye, when in actual fact, the optometrist possibly only means 40%. One of the messages I want to put across is that it is so important when we talk to patients about what we've looked at in their eye, that we tell them what we're basing our assumption on.

A fairly simple point is, within and post the pandemic, the ability to sit patients at one machine and get all of this data and information just from one device is a much more streamlined way of working. It is also so much easier from an administrative point of view to talk to the patient about the charges of an enhanced exam.

What do you hope to achieve through this session?

Firstly, an increasing awareness of the importance of viewing the peripheral retina, and a greater understanding of the forces that are at play in the eye that can lead to retinal pathology. This is what these ultra-wide field OCT are showing us.

Secondly, an awareness of the technology that is readily available for clinicians to make decisions with an understanding of how to interpret these combined images.

Finally, a realisation of the importance of imparting accurate information to patients that doesn't mislead them. I think, in this day and age when we're all supposed to be given as much information as we can to make informed decisions on our healthcare, it is so important that the information we give to that patient is accurate.