Oculus Optikgeräte GmbH and Myopia Profile have commenced a partnership that aims to increase eye care professionals’ knowledge and clinical confidence in measurement and interpretation of axial length in myopia.
Myopia Profile Directors Kate and Paul Gifford and CEOs Christian and Rainer Kirchhübel of OCULUS (from left)
The German optical device company, which launched the Myopia Master in 2019, and Myopia Profile, the world’s largest and most popular multi-platform digital suite for myopia management have joined forces to develop specific educational content, research summaries and case studies which will be housed on MyopiaProfile.com and shared across the partnership’s multiple platforms.
While measurement of axial length and growth of the eye in childhood myopia is the recognised gold standard for research studies,1 eye health practitioners managing myopia are now increasingly taking note of the association, according to Myopia Profile and Oculus.
With our reach to ECPs and parents in over 150 countries, working with Oculus at this leading edge of translating research into practice is timely and important
They claim clinical interest and questions surrounding the measurement of axial length in myopia management grew 470% from mid-2019 to mid-2020 and another 35% in the last half of 2020.
“The axial length of the myopic eye appears to be more directly linked to the lifelong risk of eye disease and vision impairment due to increasing myopia, and hence should be our key modification goal in clinical myopia management. In our 2019 landmark reports, the International Myopia Institute (IMI) recognised the necessity of axial length measurement in myopia research, but also the numerous barriers to widespread clinical uptake and hence noted axial length as a desirable but not yet necessary element of clinical myopia management” said Dr Kate Gifford, lead author on the IMI Clinical Management Guidelines report and Director of Myopia Profile.
“Almost two years since the publication of the IMI reports, a clinical shift is evident. Analysis of engagement within our professional discussion forum, the Myopia Profile Facebook group, indicates that posts which feature axial length measurement or interpretation as a key topic have grown from around 5% of posts in 2019 to 10% in 2020. Alongside this expansion in interest has been enormous growth in engagement with these posts, with two of the top five most engaging posts of December 2020 being on the topic of axial length measurement” said Dr Gifford.
Founded in 2016 by optometrist husband-and-wife Dr Paul Gifford PhD and Dr Kate Gifford PhD, Myopia Profile has grown from sharing of Kate’s self-developed clinical paper-based tools to a comprehensive website, online learning academy, professional Facebook group and more, with over three million active engagements per year across the platforms. Myopia Profile’s public awareness arm, MyKidsVision.org, includes a website, short survey on myopia risk factors, How-To video guides, and social media platforms for parents to learn about childhood myopia and how they can seek the best options for their children.
Myopia Master was designed and manufactured by Oculus to efficiently manage myopia. Powered by technology from the Brien Holden Vision Institute, it combines autorefraction, axial length and keratometry measurement with innovative risk and output analysis software for clinical management and patient education.
Shared Learning Experience
David Kern, Product Manager of the Myopia Master said, “We aim to educate ECPs about the importance of axial length measurement but also learn vice versa. The partnership with Myopia Profile is best placed to accomplish that.”
Christian Kirchhübel, CEO of Oculus adde, “We are excited about the cooperation. Oculus is focused on supporting eye care professionals around the globe. We are dedicated to saving and improving vision and visual performance with our precise, reliable long-lasting measurement solutions. We are known for innovations and their transformation, from the lab bench to the dedicated general eye care professional.”
“Myopia Profile’s mission encompasses providing clinical education for ECPs, tools and resources to support clinical communication and practice, and increasing public awareness of childhood myopia. With our reach to ECPs and parents in over 150 countries, working with Oculus at this leading edge of translating research into practice is timely and important,” said Dr Gifford.
For more information on myopia in children for parents and the public, visit www.mykidsvision.org.
Reference
- Wolffsohn JS, Kollbaum PS, Berntsen DA, Atchison DA, Benavente A, Bradley A, et al. IMI – Clinical Myopia Control Trials and Instrumentation Report. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2019;60:M132-M60.
