OCULUS, Inc. announced a new myopia software package for its Penatcam AXL Wave—giving optometrists the ability to support disease management, screening, and orthokeratology (ortho-k) fittings in one device.
Let’s start with Pentacam.
Originally debuting in 2002, the OCULUS Pentacam is a high-resolution rotating Scheimpflug camera and slit illumination system intended to provide “precise and reliable imaging and analysis of the anterior segment structures of the eye”—including the cornea, iris, and crystalline lens.
Included in the Pentacam family of devices are:
- Pentacam HR
- Pentacam AXL Wave
Focus on the latter of those two.
Launched in 2019, the Pentacam AXL Wave is a next-generation device referred to as the first to combine Scheimpflug-based tomography with:
- Axial length (AL)
- Total wavefront
- Objective refraction
- Retroillumination
Other unique combinations include: optical biometry and wavefront aberrometry of the whole eye.
And as for its package offerings, the device now offers three options:
- Optometric screening
- Contact lens fitting
- Myopia software (our topic of choice)
Now talk about this myopia software package.
As an optional add-on component to the Pentacam AXL Wave, the package is designed to support “initial detection, risk assessment, potential projected progression, and treatment efficacy” for myopia management, screenings, and ortho-k fittings.
Let’s break down three key components enabled in this one device.
- Early detection with tear film-independent measurements in 2 seconds
- Pinpoint early abnormalities in AL, refractive error (RE), and corneal health
- Evaluate patient results against globally-validated normative data to detect abnormalities and enable better treatment decisions
- Increased conversions with simplified educational tools
- For parents of pediatric patients: Demonstrate their child’s myopia risk and potential for projected disease progression via familiar growth curves
- Distribute customized take-home report of clinician’s assessments and treatment recommendations “to boost buy-in”
- Boosted ortho-k first-fit success + fitting evaluation capabilities
- Tear film-independent data to support more accurate diverse fitting methods
- Comparisons and difference maps target “efficient lens-fitting evaluations”
- Connects with third-party lens design software (such as WAVE Contact Lens System) to fully customized free-form or toric ortho-k lenses
And what displays are included in the new package?
- Growth curves→ For assessing initial disease risk and projected progression
- Evaluate a patient’s AL and RE versus age and ethnicity-dependent growth curves
- These curves stem from +20,000 eyes via algorithms exclusive to the Brien Holden Vision Institute
- Evaluate a patient’s AL and RE versus age and ethnicity-dependent growth curves
- Growth control→ For quick evaluation of individual treatment efficacy
- Module allows for precise analysis of individual myopia treatment efficacy
- Includes automatic calculation of annual AL growth rate compared to age-adjusted normative data
- Color-coded parameters assist in treatment validation success and alterations
- Myopia guide → Risk questionnaire and customized report
- Display features a risk factor-based questionnaire and customized report
- Intended to help boost conversions and increase buy-ins for treatment recommendations
- GRAS module→ For determining individual optical components
- GRAS = Gullstrand Refractive Analysis System
- Compares these optical components with the age-adjusted Gullstrand eye
A note about GRAS: This is a refraction-analysis module featured with OCULUS’s Myopia Master, in which all individually measured refractive components of the eye are automatically matched with the Gullstrand standard eye model.
Any real-world feedback on utilizing this technology?
You bet. OCULUS has a number of educational webcasts featuring clinicians who used the Pentacam AXL Wave in their practice (including for myopia management).
See the webinar below (and click here for more).
https://youtu.be/iHp79bvi9Tc
And how can I learn more about adding this to my practice?
Click here to request a quote (that goes for both current Pentacam users and new users).
Otherwise, keep an eye out for the Pentacam AXL Wave at upcoming tradeshows in the United States later this year!