Eight-Year Study Shows Sustained Benefit of DIMS

The findings, which reveal impressive consistency in treatment outcomes, represent the longest-running clinical study on myopia management spectacle lenses to date.

HOYA Vision Care said the research demonstrates that continuous wear of MiyoSmart spectacle lenses incorporating DIMS technology provides sustained effectiveness in controlling myopia progression throughout childhood.

Unprecedented Long-Term Results

The research results, presented at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) 2025 Annual Meeting in the United States in May, showed children who wore DIMS spectacle lenses continuously showed significantly reduced myopia progression of -1.00D ± 0.41D (p=0.017) and axial elongation of 0.42 ± 0.18 mm (p=0.019) for the full eight years of follow-up (n=11).¹

Dr Natalia Vlasak, Global Head of Medical and Scientific Affairs at HOYA Vision Care, said the “landmark” study has provided “crucial information and guidance for eye care professionals and parents committed to protecting children’s vision health for the future”.

“The findings demonstrate the life-changing value of long-term adherence to myopia management treatment.”

… evidence from these studies reinforces the effectiveness of DIMS

Combination Treatment Results

Also presented at ARVO 2025 was research exploring combination treatments to optimise myopia management outcomes.

Twelve-month data readouts from the Atropine and Spectacle lens Combination Treatment (ASPECT) randomised control trial demonstrated promising results when combining low-dose 0.025% atropine eye drops with DIMS spectacle lenses.

The research showed that this combination therapy stopped myopia progression in approximately 40% of children.²

The mean change in axial length was significantly lower in the combination therapy group compared to the atropine-only group (0.07 ± 0.16 mm vs 0.18 ± 0.16 mm; p<0.001). Additionally, researchers observed improvements in vision-related quality of life, with trends toward enhancement in general vision (p=0.049) and competence (p=0.031) in children using the combination treatment.³

The study findings suggest that dual therapy using MiyoSmart spectacle lenses alongside atropine drops may improve treatment effectiveness in myopic children.

Pre-Myopia Management

Research presented at ARVO has also extended to prevention strategies for pre-myopic children. A first-of-its-kind pilot study evaluating DIMS spectacle lenses for pre-myopia management in five- and six-year-old children showed promising protective effects.

Over nine months, the average cycloplegic spherical equivalent refraction remained stable with a yearly change of +0.06D compared to -0.15D in a control group.⁴

While axial length increased slightly (22.48 mm to 22.64 mm, p<0.01), choroidal thickness remained stable, suggesting that MiyoSmart spectacle lenses may help prevent myopia development and postpone myopia onset in pre-myopic preschoolers.

Supporting Evidence from European Population

At the European Academy of Optometry and Optics (EAOO) conference in Slovenia in May, a two-year observational study of 103 European children aged 5–15 years demonstrated that DIMS spectacle lenses are similarly effective in slowing myopia progression in both United Kingdom and Hong Kong paediatric populations.⁵

In UK children wearing DIMS spectacle lenses, there was an average change in axial length growth of 0.17 ± 0.19 mm and 0.12 ± 0.13 mm after one and two years of wear, respectively. When compared with existing data from Hong Kong studies,⁶ these results confirm the global applicability and effectiveness of DIMS technology across different populations.

Factors Influencing Treatment Outcomes

Additional research has identified factors that may influence myopia management effectiveness. A study of 184 children (79 Asian and 105 European) found that myopia progression could vary depending on astigmatism types in children wearing DIMS spectacle lenses. While astigmatic myopic patients had higher myopia initially, patients in the spherical group experienced faster myopic progression.⁷

HOYA Vision Care said the accumulating evidence from these studies reinforces the effectiveness of DIMS, both as a standalone treatment and part of combination therapies.

References

1. Leung TW, Lam CSY, Vlasak N, et al. Comparison of myopia progression in individuals wearing defocus incorporated multiple segments (DIMS) spectacle lenses for eight years versus shorter durations. Poster A0113 presented at: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Annual Meeting; 6 May 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah.
2. Guemes-Villahoz N, TAlavero-Gonzalez P, Gomez-de-Liano R, et al. Atropine and Spectacle lens Combination Treatment (ASPECT): 12-month results of a randomised controlled trial for myopia control using a combination of defocus incorporated multiple segments (DIMS) lenses and 0.025% atropine. Poster B0466 presented at: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Annual Meeting; 7 May 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah.
3. Garcia EH, Guemes-Villahoz, N, Gomez-de-Liano R, et al. Vision-related quality of life in myopic children using combination treatment with atropine and DIMS (defocus incorporated multiple segments) spectacle lenses: 12-month results. Poster A0297 presented at: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Annual Meeting; 5 May 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah.
4. Yang HY, Tsai DC. Efficacy of defocus incorporated multiple segments (DIMS) lenses in retarding myopic shifts among pre-myopic preschoolers: Nine-month results of a pilot study. Poster A0104 presented at: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Annual Meeting; 7 May 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah.
5. Saunders KJ, Fulton JM, Vlasak N, et al. Multi-site observational study of defocus incorporated multiple segments (dims) spectacle lenses in UK children: 2-year results. Presented at European Academy of Optometry and Optics (EAOO); 18 May 2025; Ljubljana, Slovenia.
6. Lam CSY, Tang WC, To CH, et al. Defocus Incorporated Multiple Segments (DIMS) spectacle lenses slow myopia progression: a 2-year randomised clinical trial. Br J Ophthalmol. 2020 Mar;104(3):363-368. doi: 10.1136/bjophthalmol-2018-313739.
7. Hoogendoorn J, Shah R, Vlaskak N, et al. Influence of different types of astigmatism on myopia progression in children wearing defocus incorporated multiple segments spectacles. Presented at European Academy of Optometry and Optics (EAOO); 17 May 2025; Ljubljana, Slovenia.