New technology for testing myopia management spectacle lenses

A study published in Optica has described new instrumentation for the analysis of myopia management spectacle lenses.

Researchers from the Zeiss Vision Science Lab at the University of Tübingen, in Germany, and the University of Murcia, in Spain, note that spectacle lenses have been designed, manufactured and clinically tested for the management of myopia in children.

“However, the optical characterisation of those lenses – with and without considering the optics of myopic eyes – has not yet been comprehensively evaluated and compared,” the authors shared.

To investigate the focusing properties of the lenses, scientists developed an instrument that reproduces the foveal and peripheral aberrations of myopic eyes.

The study authors used the instrument to test two types of myopia management spectacle lenses: defocus incorporated multiple segments (DIMS) and diffusion-optical technology (DOT).

The DIMS lens displayed an increased contrast and sharpness of images at the peripheral retina when compared to DOT lenses and single vision lenses.

Contrast reduction by the DOT lens strongly depended on the luminance of the pupil.

“The understanding of the imaging properties of the lenses achieved through our results might help optimise future spectacles designs for myopia progression management,” the authors highlighted.