This January, our clinic welcomed the New Year with a brand new “toy” — MYAH from Topcon, making us at Eyelab one of the first optometry clinic in Vancouver to measure and chart eye axial length. You may be wondering…what is so great about axial length measurements? Why do we care about how long the eyeball is?

As the eye increases in length, not only does our lens prescription increase, there’s a greater risk of ocular diseases (e.g. glaucoma, cataracts, macular degeneration). In fact, rapid progression of myopia in children is due to excessive elongation of the eye. Therefore, to monitor the effectiveness of myopia management treatments, axial length measurements are charted at each follow up visit, which serve as the standard of care for our myopia management program. For Ortho-k lens patients, axial length is one the primary measure used to evaluate myopia progression.

MYAH can help us advance our myopia management care in further ways as well as diagnosis and management of dry eye disease.

Dry Eye Assessment

Noninvasive tear break-up time (NIBUT) measurement

At Eyelab, we can evaluate the stability of your tear film by accurately measuring the tear break-up time non-invasively. Typically, tear break-up time is around 10 seconds — with shorter tear break-up time, especially below 5 seconds being indicative of dry eye disease.

Meibomian gland imaging

The meibomian glands are oil glands that are embedded in our eyelids which produce the lipid layer of the tear film and are expressed when we blink. Imaging glands allows doctors to analyze their shape and structure. Healthy glands will appear long and continuous in the image, assisting the production of oil in the eye for lubrication. Contrastingly, unhealthy glands will appear much shorter due to degradation and inspissated, thus producing oil of a “toothpaste” consistency, or be entirely clogged and unable to secrete oil.

Contact Lens Fitting

MYAH Topcon also allows our doctors to simulate fluorescent imaging to observe the Ortho-K and RGP contact lens fit. This noninvasive method is efficient and accurate at evaluating whether the lens will sit comfortably around the eye and provide effective treatment.

After learning about the cool features of the new machine at our clinic, are you curious to try out one of its services for yourself? Don’t hesitate – book an appointment with us today!

One of the most common eye conditions in the world is myopia, which is the inability to clearly see distant objects. A concern with myopia progression, especially in growing children, is the increase in axial length of the eyeball which has shown to increase the risk of developing eye diseases such as glaucoma, cataract, retinal detachment and many more.

It is estimated that half of the global population could be affected by myopia by 2050. Research suggests that a greater amount of time spent on near-work activities, such as computer work, is linked to an increased likelihood of myopia. Fortunately, there is a unique and innovative solution available: HOYA’s MiyoSmart lenses! They are a non-invasive, effective option for managing myopia progression.

Source: HOYA Vision

How do they work?

MiyoSmart lenses are corrective lenses that use Defocus Incorporated Multiple Segments (DIMS) technology. The center of the lens corrects refractive error to improve distance vision, and the peripheral honeycomb-pattern maintains constant myopic defocus.

Source: HOYA Vision

Providing clear vision simultaneously with constant myopic defocus has been clinically demonstrated to inhibit eyeball elongation and slow down myopia progression. In fact, one study found that participants wearing MiyoSmart lenses with DIMS technology had, on average, a 59% reduction in myopia progression. They are made of impact-resistant materials and offer 100% UV protection, perfect for anybody with an active lifestyle!

If you have any questions about MiyoSmart lenses, please don’t hesitate to contact us! Our doctors would be happy to discuss the benefits of MiyoSmart lenses with you.