August 29,2019
The online educational platform MyopiaCare has added a digital calculator called Myappia to help eye care practitioners illustrate the potential impact of myopia.
This online calculator, originally developed in 2016 as an Android app by Thomas Aller, OD, FBCLA, uses the age, current prescription of the child and risk factors to create a “visual prediction” of the child’s myopia progression over 10 years, according to a release. It then adds various treatment options (atropine, ortho-k, spectacles or soft multifocal contact lenses) to outline their predicted outcomes.
ECPs can use this resulting images to help parents and patients understand their treatment options. Myappia also helps ECPs assess treatment effectiveness and adapt it as necessary. “Explaining the need for myopia progression therapy is a bigger challenge than explaining an existing condition,” said Dr. Aller. “It deals with a possible outcome and is preventative in nature, so the benefit is not immediately obvious. Education of parents as to the implications depends on a very clear explanation from the eye care practitioner, and good illustrative tools will be instrumental in achieving success in starting treatment.”
Myappia the calculator can be found at www.myopiacare.com.
MyopiaCare was founded in 2015 by Pascal Blaser, M.Sc., as an online platform developed to educate parents and support eye care specialists in their fight against myopia.
The platform includes three websites, an information page for parents (www.myopiacare.org), for specialists (www.myopiacare.com) and the web application with its questionnaire, myopia risk calculators and specialist locator (myopia.care).
