BUYER'S FORUM
Too Much Technology?

One eyecare practitioner's beef is that there's too much lens technology in the marketplace today, making it difficult to keep current. Gleaned from past "Ask the Labs" columns, here's a look back to the future of some lens technology developments and how they've influenced today's optical marketplace.

July 1999: Full spectrum lenses were based on the discovery that controlling light could influence behavior and lead to a healthy lifestyle. Since the developer theorized that a certain amount of UV transmitted to the eye was essential, Balanced Spectrum lenses omitted UV-blocking chemicals from the plastic resin. These lenses are off the market, but General Electric still produces "Balanced Spectrum" light bulbs.

July 2001: A new 11-layer AR stack design, Endura, included a harder, metal oxide material surrounded by a thin buffer layer on each side for flexibility. "This technology represents one of the first successful attempts to add hardness to the AR stack," increasing scratch-resistance and durability. This was a prelude to today's hydrophobic-oleophobic AR, which offers increased cleanability and durability.

July 2005: Polycarbonate lens peripheral blur is eliminated due to a patented process—ECM-9—that uses less than 10 pounds of pressure versus traditional injection molding, which may apply around 200 tons of pressure per square inch.

The lens also incorporates aspheric and atoric designs. Since asphericity and atoricity reduce optical errors that can occur in spherical lenses, many of today's lens designs, including some complete lens lines and most freeform PALs, include aspheric and/or atoric design.

The answer to the headline question: Never! Technology is challenging, true, but it constantly improves our world, it's fun, and look what it can do for your business' success!

If you pay attention, get educated early, and introduce new lens products into your mix, who knows what kind of an "early practice
innovator" you'll be?