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Art Optical’s MOONLENS Is a New OrthoK Option

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August 17, 2020

One of the best things about the MOONLENS “is how small we can make the increments of change,” says Steven Turpin, OD, who practices with Cascadia Eye, a six-location practice in Washington State.

Previous OrthoK products haven’t offered that option, according to Dr. Turpin. It makes a big difference. “The MOONLENS allows us to fit eyes we wouldn’t have been able to fit otherwise,” he says. “The lens is more forgiving in how it centers on the eye.”

The MOONLENS Orthokeratology Contact Lens System for overnight wear, which was introduced earlier this year, is a unique contact lens with a progressive design and fitting system that helps manage and temporarily correct myopia, as well as mild astigmatism. The MOONLENS also includes a myopia management feature allowing customization for a wide range of patients, from children to adults, offering eye care practitioners a unique, comprehensive orthokeratology lens and fitting system to treat a broader array of myopic patients.

Utilizing the MOONLENS OrthoK fitting software to construct individualized lenses for each unique eye is easy and efficient. The lens can be built from simple K readings or highly customized with topography data.

Dr. Turpin calls MOONLENS “the next generation of these tangent curve lenses. I’ve been using the MOONLENS for about a year. We’ve been doing really well and are really happy with it.”

The online MOONLENS calculator lets ECPs enter topography data to help with lens fittings. “With that you can basically build a lens that you know is going to work for a patient right off the bat,” he says. “Right now we’re getting to the point where, if you’re not having 90 percent first-fit success rate, your lens design is not competitive. And we’ve certainly been north of the 90 percent range.”

Patient acceptance is high, Dr. Turpin says. “I think the thing they really like about it is the ease of it. It’s about as close to a custom lens as you can get, which instills a lot of confidence in the patient. They get a lens they know is designed for them.”

As far as equipment, having a corneal topographer is key to building a lens, Dr. Turpin says. However, “with this lens you can design it strictly based on a patient’s refraction and keratometry values. As long as you have the ability to measure those two things, you can do it. So if you’re interested in OrthoK but don’t want to make a huge initial investment, you can still try it,” he says.

Patients also cite the lenses’ comfort, says Chad Rosen, OD, MBA, FAAO, an associate professor at the Michigan College of Optometry who works in both classroom laboratories and the department’s contact lens clinic.

“So far we’ve had some really good success with it. A lot of patients who come in have been in other lens designs before, and one of the common things we come across is that people noted there is a difference in comfort,” he says.

Some users might find it more comfortable than their previous lenses because of the MOONLENS technology allowing for specific adjustments in fitting, according to Dr. Rosen.

After fitting a lens, they schedule the patient for an immediate morning follow-up so they can check the fit after the patient has slept in it. Dr. Rosen also notes “pretty good results” when fitting the lens on patients with corneal astigmatism to 2.00D or 2.50D.

In presenting the MOONLENS to pediatric patients and parents, “we try to focus on the whole process of myopia control,” he says. That means discussing a child’s screen time and outdoor and social activities. “We tell parents, ‘We have the ability to slow this down.’”

Dr. Rosen’s team explains the importance of axial length, how the eye changes, and how OrthoK works to reshape the front surface of the eye during overnight wear. “Parents, especially if they are myopic, relate pretty well,” he says. They also appreciate that the lenses are used at home where they can help be sure they’re being used correctly.

MOONLENS is made in Boston lens materials and as part of the Bausch+Lomb Vision Shaping Treatment/VST Program, professional training/certification is required to prescribe MOONLENS. Certification is easily accessible at artoptical.com/mooncertification.

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