PR TO PRO CONTINUING EDUCATION Product Spotlight – Varilux® Comfort Max DELIVERING POSTURAL FLEXIBILITY FOR PAL WEARERS WITH THE ® NEW VARILUX COMFORT MAX LENS By Pete Hanlin, ABOM [1 CE CREDIT] t’s a fact—people are spending more time all-day-long vision comfort. In this ABO- Yet, according to Essilor’s internal estimates in front of digital devices than ever before. earning course, you will learn how Varilux of the 2.1 billion presbyopes worldwide, 85 Increasingly digital lifestyles often dictate Comfort Max lenses will help you elevate percent are not corrected with progressive I that progressive addition lens (PAL) wear- your mid-range progressive lens offering, lenses.3 In fact, 3 in 5 people over 40 years ers adopt rigid, uncomfortable postures in bring new patients into the category with a old have not tried PALs yet, according to a their daily lives.Varilux Comfort Max lenses lens preferred by 9 out of 10 new PAL wear- 2018 quantitative study.4 While price may adapt to the wearer’s natural posture, deliv- ers, and drive better patient retention.1, 2 be an obstacle, the main reasons for not ering the 20/Happy vision they desire and Progressive lenses are intended to provide wearing progressive lenses or abandoning providing enhanced postural flexibility for comfortable vision at all viewing distances. them are discomfort and non-adaptation.5 LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Participants will learn about: 1. Digital Life and Postural Constraints. 2. What made Varilux Comfort Max possible. 3. Unique Flex Optim™ Technology. 4. Real wearer approved innovation. 5. Your complete range of Varilux® lenses. TO EARN CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDIT: This course has been approved for one (1) hour of Ophthalmic Level 2 continuing education credit by the ABO. To earn ABO credit, please review the questions and take the test at 2020mag.com/ce. Note: As of January 2020, no tests will be graded manually. Please call (800) 825-4696 for more information. THIS COURSE IS SUPPORTED BY AN EDUCATIONAL GRANT FROM ESSILOR March 15, 2021 20/20 • 89 PR TO PRO CONTINUING EDUCATION: DELIVERING POSTURAL FLEXIBILITY FOR PAL WEARERS WITH THE NEW VARILUX COMFORT MAX LENS larger area of usable vision on the progres- sive lens allows the wearer to cope better with these daily fluctuations.13 Adaptation to progressive lenses requires not only eye movement adjustments but also new strate- gies to allow flexibility in head positioning. The restriction of head positions due to optical constraints related to PAL wear may lead to locked or frozen and uncomfortable head and neck postures which can eventu- ally lead to musculoskeletal disorders. Eye movement accuracy is not constant Adaptation to progressive lenses requires amounts of time spent working, socializing throughout the entire day, requiring more motor adjustments of the eye and head to and playing on digital devices. Due to this, effort to perform fine-tuned gaze changes. align the visual axis with the “good zone” progressive lens wearers may experience Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs): 62 of vision according to the target object’s dis- issues and discomfort fostered by this percent of office workers have neck and tance. A posturally flexible progressive lens intense increase in digital screen visual shoulder musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). solution that alleviates discomfort and demands.6,7 Adaptation to PALs requires Evidence suggests that sustained static head increases the ease of adaptation can tap into motor adjustments of the eye and head to postures may cause musculoskeletal disor- that vast market of underserved current find the right zone of vision in the lenses to ders. You could be putting as much as 60 and new presbyopes. This course will see target objects clearly. Rapidly changing pounds of weight on your shoulders just explore Varilux Comfort Max, a new inno- visual target distances throughout the day from reading a smartphone over a period vative PAL design, to help people deal with further complicates the use of PALs. Com- of time.14 the increasingly complex visual environ- puter users often experience visual fatigue. ment surrounding them. Smartphone users often experience neck POSTURAL FLEXIBILITY and shoulder pain due to musculoskeletal Ergonomic principles reveal that holding NEW VISION CHALLENGES disorders (MSDs). Postural inflexibility— one static or rigid posture for a given visual AND DIGITAL DEVICE confining yourself to one rigid, static pos- DISCOMFORT ture—strains your muscles.8 Our visual environment has become In the digital age, several factors contrib- increasingly complex, with increased ute to new vision challenges. They are the variation in focal distances of digital device screens, a closer than standard reading dis- tance (i.e., 13 inches for smartphone versus 16 inches to read a book)9 and a longer daily average screen time.10 EYE MOVEMENT ACCURACY Several studies show that discomfort may increase for the wearer during prolonged task is not ideal. The ideal posture is “the tasks, particularly computer11 use and driv- next one,” as regularly changing one’s pos- ing.12 In “The Ocular Assessment of Diurnal ture during a task helps prevent muscle ten- Arousal Variations,” Journal of Vision August sion and reduce stress on the body. Air and 2017, Vol.17, 1153. the author informs us that train travel provide a good illustration of eye movement accuracy is not constant this phenomenon. While we may start the A lack of postural flexibility—confining yourself to one rigid, static posture—strains throughout the entire day. We experience journey comfortably, sitting in one rigid your muscles visual fluctuations throughout the day. A posture with restricted movement can lead 90 • 20/20 March 15, 2021 CONTINUING EDUCATION: DELIVERING POSTURAL FLEXIBILITY FOR PAL WEARERS WITH THE NEW VARILUX COMFORT MAX LENS has the capacity to mimic the human visual system and in an industry first, can calculate THE NEW AVATAR USES TWO EYES postural flexibility for PAL wearers. The AND A ROTATING HEAD TO new Avatar uses two eyes and a rotating MODEL THE HUMAN VISUAL SYSTEM head to model the human visual system at multiple gaze directions and postures. The AT MULTIPLE GAZE DIRECTIONS model is able to recreate the conditions AND POSTURES. THE MODEL IS ABLE experienced by the PAL wearer in an infi- TO RECREATE THE CONDITIONS nite number of real-life vision tasks in a 3D EXPERIENCED BY THE PAL WEARER environment. The new Avatar model mea- IN AN INFINITE NUMBER OF sures a number of postures to see a vision REAL-LIFE VISION TASKS IN A target sharply at a given distance. A posture to long-term complications as seen in the is defined as a 1-degree angle variation ver- 3D ENVIRONMENT. case of MSDs. tically or horizontally. Continuing with the airplane analogy, you Visual acuity as a function of lens aberra- taining his fixation on a given object point. feel cramped and uncomfortable while sit- tions: In the Essilor Research and Develop- More specifically, postural flexibility corre- ting on an airplane because you are con- ment Avatar model, the visual task is exe- sponds to the number of possible head fined and unable to naturally shift posi- cuted by the Avatar. Physical measurements positions (in head lowering and azimuth) so tions. To be comfortable, you need more such as head rotation angle, eye rotation that the binocular visual acuity loss is less space and the ability to move around. Just angle, optical aberrations and so on can be than 0.15 logMAR, assuming a best-cor- like you need postural flexibility to move determined for each measurement-to-per- rected visual acuity for each eye.15 The your body and get the blood flowing when formance indicator: Head and gaze efforts greater the postural flexibility, the higher traveling, you also need lenses that provide as a function of head and gaze angles and the number of different head positions the you the freedom to be flexible so that you accommodation effort as a function of wearer can adopt to look at a given fixation can maintain visual comfort and clear vision accommodation value. The Essilor Research point, making it easier for the wearer to over a wide range of postures, activities, and Development Avatar model has been change their posture during prolonged viewing distances and angles. To attain pos- used to evaluate the Varilux Comfort Max vision tasks to increase their comfort. tural flexibility in a progressive lens, we lens design with new performance indicators, Over 360 real-life situations were simulated need a lens design technology that expands including postural flexibility. Postural flexi- to ensure a thorough comparison of the or stretches the vision zones. Varilux Com- bility is defined as the range of head design’s performance. Varilux Comfort Max fort Max lenses eliminate the postural rigid- motions available to the wearer while main- lenses provide the best all-around perfor- ity that results from the small vision zones of most PAL designs that require us to limit head and neck movement. WHAT MADE VARILUX COMFORT MAX POSSIBLE? Varilux Comfort Max lenses are the result of a breakthrough in lens design evaluation. An updated LiveOptics™ R&D Process with a new Essilor Research and Development Avatar produces 3D simulation modeling. The Essilor Research and Development Avatar utilizes a 3D model of the environ- ment and various fixation points of the scene, a model of the visual task and a model of the wearer. This modeling technology March 15, 2021 20/20 • 91 PR TO PRO CONTINUING EDUCATION: DELIVERING POSTURAL FLEXIBILITY FOR PAL WEARERS WITH THE NEW VARILUX COMFORT MAX LENS mance at all distances in terms of postural ogy goes beyond vision profiles to maxi- with the vision profile that best matches flexibility. Data from thousands of real mize postural flexibility for each individual.