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February 3, 2025
By Kylvin Ho, OD, FIAOMC
Practicing optometry in Canada has given me the opportunity to try different novel myopia management spectacle lenses with my patients. In my experience across three offices, SightGlass Vision’s Diffusion Optics Technology (DOT) spectacle lenses have become my myopia management spectacle lens of choice for young children. I’ve been prescribing DOT lenses for a few years now. From my own clinical experience, I have noticed that young children respond exceptionally well to this novel technology, showing minimal myopia progression after initiating treatment. In fact, I recently realized that some of my patients have been wearing DOT since 2021!
With all this patient history to dig through, I conducted a retrospective study focusing on Asian-Canadian children, to evaluate their success with DOT spectacle lenses. My goal with the study was to assess the real-life efficacy of these lenses in young patients with a history of DOT lens wear.
I reviewed the records from my clinical practice to identify children aged 6 to 10 who had worn DOT spectacle lenses for at least one year. I routinely measure axial length with our optical biometer, and I used these data to calculate axial length growth after one year of DOT lens wear. Additionally, I included the manifest refraction data, the metric parents use to gauge their child’s progress, as it indicates whether or not their prescription has changed over time.
How Effective are DOT Spectacle Lenses?
For my study, I analyzed the records of 61 patients who wore DOT lenses for one year and split them into two groups according to their age. One group had 6-7-year-olds, and the other group had 8-10-year-olds. Overall, my findings showed that SightGlass Vision’s DOT spectacle lenses are an effective myopia management tool — especially for younger patients.
After one year, the mean change in axial length (±SD) was 0.24 ± 0.17 mm for the 6-7-year-old group and 0.12 ± 0.13 mm for the 8-10-year-old group. These results are similar to those from the one-year North American clinical trial known as the CYPRESS study.1 That study showed a change of 0.22 ± 0.15 mm in DOT lens wearers aged 6-7 years and 0.12 ± 0.14 mm in DOT lens wearers aged 8-10 years.
For comparison, the mean change in axial length in the control group was 0.41 ± 0.20 mm in 6-7-year-olds and 0.25 ± 0.13 mm in 8-10-year-olds after one year of wearing standard single-vision spectacle lenses. Considering the age 6-10 group as a whole, axial length progression of the DOT lens wearers (0.17 mm) was similar to expected emmetropic eye growth (0.15 mm).2
These real-world findings highlight the substantial benefits of myopia control spectacle lenses in younger children, particularly those aged 6 and 7, who face a greater risk of progressing to severe myopia. My own clinical observations reveal excellent myopia stability after one year of DOT lens wear. I look forward to further evaluating their long-term performance as more of my patients reach the two-year wear milestone.
An Effective Myopia Management Treatment Option
From my personal experience working with patients and the data I’ve collected in this one-year retrospective study, I believe that DOT spectacle lenses are more effective than the defocus spectacle lenses I use in my practice at slowing the progression of myopia in younger children.
Interestingly, I have also evaluated progression of 51 patients wearing defocus spectacle lenses for at least one year, and the data showed that myopia progression was faster than observed in the patients wearing DOT lenses. In the 6-7-year-olds wearing a defocus spectacle lens, I saw a mean axial length change of 0.46 ± 0.23 mm, while 8-10-year-olds experienced a mean axial length change of 0.21± 0.15 mm.
The key takeaway message from these retrospective studies is that DOT lenses are highly effective at slowing the progression of myopia in Asian-Canadian children. These findings not only validate the outcomes from the North American CYPRESS clinical trial but also demonstrate the efficacy of the lenses in children in a real-world setting — beyond the controlled environment of a randomized clinical study. Eye care practitioners can feel confident in prescribing DOT spectacle lenses to their younger patients, as the evidence strongly supports their success in slowing myopia progression.
Armed with successful and proven treatment options, it is now imperative for us, as ECPs, to take a more proactive role in educating parents about the importance of early intervention in myopia management.
Disclaimer: DOT lenses are currently not available in the U.S. but are available in selected countries outside the US.
This article is sponsored by SightGlass Vision.
References
- Rappon J, Chung C, Young G, et al. Control of myopia using diffusion optics spectacle lenses: 12-month results of a randomised controlled, efficacy and safety study (CYPRESS). Br J Ophthalmol 2023;107:1709–15.
- Jones et al. Comparison of ocular component growth curves among refractive error groups in children. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2005;46:2317-2327
