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Thread: Just met with the Blutech Rep

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    Just met with the Blutech Rep

    I wanted to share with everyone what I learned about the Blutech lens technology. I just had a long lunch meeting with Alan the AZ Blutech rep and I know there has been some misinformation and lots of discussion on optiboard.

    First a little background/refresher for some. As humans age, the crystalline lens begins to develop an ocular pigment which is natures way of filtering out a spectrum range of blue light. Now this range is not just "blue light" it is a higher energy range of blue light. Within this range are some wavelengths that the eye uses to trigger the pinal gland (within the brain) to cycle sleeping and waking (circadian rhythms). Also, within this wavelength are high energy light that causes oxidation ("rusting") of the retina. This blue light wavelength range is also very susceptible to chromatic aberration resulting in defocus and reduced vision acuity. Now the crystalline lens can filter out some of this light when it mature and concentrated enough ocular pigment BUT people have virtually zero ocular pigment before you are ~20 years old and only a little bit afterwards until maybe ~65 years old.

    From the Blutech meeting:
    So, Blutech actually extracted, characterized, and synthesized the exact ocular pigment and worked it into the polymer monomer chain of their lens material. Thus, being able to perfectly replicate the spectrum transmission curve of a mature (non-cataract) crystalline lens. So this pigment is in the mix and not a surface tinting. It can never fade or delaminate.

    Where are we exposed to this wavelength range of blue light and why is it a problem now rather than 20+ years ago? Digital light sources (ie: LED, LCD, compact fluorescent) emit proportionally MUCH more of this blue light than sun light and incandescent lighting sources (regular old light bulbs). Within the past 10 years peoples lifestyles have become increasingly more focused on staring into digital light sources all day and evening. We are exposed to a flood of the high energy blue light spectrum continually by our home and office lighting (LED, compact fluorescent). This is confusing the sleep wake cycle and preventing true restful sleep and REM sleep. There is iron clad clinical evidence of this for the past 10 years by sleep MD's and others. The poor sleep causes stress on the body and is linked clinically to obesity, hypertension, increase cancer cell growth, diabetes, and "ADHD". ADHD is one of the most troubling aspects because ADHD diagnosis have exploded in recent years and MD's are medicating these children. ADHD symptoms are very similar to children that simply have been chronically deprived of restful REM sleep.

    Superior visual acuity in sunglasses and indoor eyewear is achievable with filtering out the chromatically aberrating blue light. I tried the sun lenses on personally and compared to HCL Maui Jim's and I had significantly better contrast and it had a soothing tone. However, I did note that colors seemed to be more towards the yellow than compared to the MJ's.

    Retinal health is a very important aspect to Blutech. The filtering of the oxidative wavelengths reduces the odds of developing macular degeneration in high risk patients. It is possible that our young generations and the future generations will have much higher rates of macular degeneration than previous generations due to our lifestyle of higher energy blue light exposure. Especially important in children since they tend to bury their faces in ipad, cell phone, etc... and have no natural ocular pigment yet in their crystalline lens.

    An easy way to relate to people the effects of digital light and REM sleep is to spend 45 min in bed reading a book on an ipad right before you try to sleep. Then on another day try the same thing with a regular bulb table lamp and a regular paperback book. See how you feel each morning.
    ///

    Thats as much as I can recall but the evidence is there and I really do believe the blutech is a superior product than a surface tint or laminate. It offers a better transmission curve than the melanin lenses and other blue blocking tints. It also greatly outperforms the AR prevencia/Recharge because the filtering curve of Blutech is broader and greater reaching than the AR products, which have very narrow ranges and focus on the oxidative ranges only. It also provides better acuity in indoor and outdoor lenses.

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    OptiBoardaholic other_bill_fea's Avatar
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    Now I just need to make it work in a -14
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    Quote Originally Posted by other_bill_fea View Post
    Now I just need to make it work in a -14
    Yeah that maaaaay pose a problem. Also on that point since the tint is in the mix you will tint density differences on thick edges/centers

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    OptiBoardaholic other_bill_fea's Avatar
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    So, I finally got around to making my Rx in the BluTech. Here's a few images just to give you an idea of what the color does.

    This is a lenticular IOT SV /w AR.

    -14.75 +0.75 @ 180
    -12.00 +0.50 @ 180
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Untitled-2.png   Untitled-4.png   Untitled-1.png  
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    Morning Bill,

    Wow, first you have quite a challenging RX. Second, those lenses look great! You know how to make lenses, no doubt. I am pleasantly surprised to see the uniform color density. I am sure the lenticulation helped somewhat but I can't tell really any difference across the lens. Do you mind if I pass these images along to my rep, I am sure he would appreciate seeing them in this RX? Thanks for sharing the images. If you have any personal feedback after using them, post it if you have the time. With your expertise and RX you make a great test subject

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    OptiBoardaholic other_bill_fea's Avatar
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    Go right ahead. If you need anything else In terms of images, just let me know
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    Optical Clairvoyant OptiBoard Bronze Supporter Andrew Weiss's Avatar
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    Hey folks, I'm just catching up with this.

    Does anyone know whether post-cataract lens implants contain the same blue-spectrum filtering qualities that the mature crystalline lens does?

    Thanks much.
    Andrew

    "One must remember that at the end of the road, there is a path" --- Fortune Cookie

  8. #8
    One eye sees, the other feels OptiBoard Silver Supporter
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    Science is a way of trying not to fool yourself. - Richard P. Feynman

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  9. #9
    Eyes eastward... Uilleann's Avatar
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    I find this quote from Martin A. Mainster, PhD, MD to be particularly interesting (from the above link):

    “10 of the 12 major epidemiological studies show no link between environmental light exposure and AMD. Most AMD occurs in phakic adults over 60 years of age, despite senescent crystalline lens photoprotection far greater than that of blue-blocking IOLs. If light does play some role in AMD, then pseudophakes should wear sunglasses in very bright midday environments. Pseudophakes have the freedom to remove their sunglasses for optimal photoreception but not the yellow filters in their IOLs. Blue-blocking IOLs force cataract surgeons to choose fear of the unproven, largely failed phototoxicity-AMD hypothesis over light that patients need for their best possible circadian and dim light photoreception. Growing evidence shows that cataract surgery does not cause macular degeneration so blue-blocking IOLs won’t prevent it.”


    I don't think it is hard to draw the correlation to the recent explosion of these silly anti-blue lenses in all their current iterations.

  10. #10
    Optical Clairvoyant OptiBoard Bronze Supporter Andrew Weiss's Avatar
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    Thanks for the link, Robert. That's an interesting read.

    Uilleann, while I agree there is probably no reason to use blue-blocking IOLs, I saw references to clinical support for both benefits and detriments to blue-spectrum light. This may not be a simple matter, I think. I'm sure we'll all use our best judgment in advising our patients.
    Andrew

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    Eyes eastward... Uilleann's Avatar
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    In short, nobody knows.

    There is no conclusive science that supports any of these blue lens fads presently. That's the crux of it. As an industry, we can certainly offer these products to patients, but it does us and our patients a pointed disservice to claim positive medical benefits at this point. It simply is not proven.

    The advice to wear sunglasses makes sense regardless of the presence of AMD or age of course, but beyond that the science is shaky and highly dubious at best.

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    Optical Clairvoyant OptiBoard Bronze Supporter Andrew Weiss's Avatar
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    I believe that's a sensible approach. In this office, I suspect we will offer blue-blockers only to patients getting office/computer lenses and who spend most of their working days in front of a computer. From how I read the article, that would strike a balance between potential benefits and potential harm. If a patient questions me on this, I'm likely to say that the scientific community is undecided on this issue.
    Andrew

    "One must remember that at the end of the road, there is a path" --- Fortune Cookie

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    Quote Originally Posted by Uilleann View Post
    “...largely failed phototoxicity-AMD hypothesis....”
    [emphasis mine]

    Would be interested to know how this characterization is justified through citation. ("Largely" is a curious hedge for such a strong statement.) Any more available lit out there?

  14. #14
    Eyes eastward... Uilleann's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hayde View Post
    [emphasis mine]

    Would be interested to know how this characterization is justified through citation. ("Largely" is a curious hedge for such a strong statement.) Any more available lit out there?
    When you can only get 2 of 12 studies to support a given hypothesis, that seems perhaps to justify a statement such as largely failed. Perhaps an email directly to Dr. Mainster would be in order to add clarity to your query?
    Last edited by Uilleann; 09-20-2014 at 09:54 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by erichwmack View Post
    I wanted to share with everyone what I learned about the Blutech lens technology. I just had a long lunch meeting with Alan the AZ Blutech rep and I know there has been some misinformation and lots of discussion on optiboard.

    First a little background/refresher for some. As humans age, the crystalline lens begins to develop an ocular pigment which is natures way of filtering out a spectrum range of blue light. Now this range is not just "blue light" it is a higher energy range of blue light. Within this range are some wavelengths that the eye uses to trigger the pinal gland (within the brain) to cycle sleeping and waking (circadian rhythms). Also, within this wavelength are high energy light that causes oxidation ("rusting") of the retina. This blue light wavelength range is also very susceptible to chromatic aberration resulting in defocus and reduced vision acuity. Now the crystalline lens can filter out some of this light when it mature and concentrated enough ocular pigment BUT people have virtually zero ocular pigment before you are ~20 years old and only a little bit afterwards until maybe ~65 years old.

    From the Blutech meeting:
    So, Blutech actually extracted, characterized, and synthesized the exact ocular pigment and worked it into the polymer monomer chain of their lens material. Thus, being able to perfectly replicate the spectrum transmission curve of a mature (non-cataract) crystalline lens. So this pigment is in the mix and not a surface tinting. It can never fade or delaminate.

    Where are we exposed to this wavelength range of blue light and why is it a problem now rather than 20+ years ago? Digital light sources (ie: LED, LCD, compact fluorescent) emit proportionally MUCH more of this blue light than sun light and incandescent lighting sources (regular old light bulbs). Within the past 10 years peoples lifestyles have become increasingly more focused on staring into digital light sources all day and evening. We are exposed to a flood of the high energy blue light spectrum continually by our home and office lighting (LED, compact fluorescent). This is confusing the sleep wake cycle and preventing true restful sleep and REM sleep. There is iron clad clinical evidence of this for the past 10 years by sleep MD's and others. The poor sleep causes stress on the body and is linked clinically to obesity, hypertension, increase cancer cell growth, diabetes, and "ADHD". ADHD is one of the most troubling aspects because ADHD diagnosis have exploded in recent years and MD's are medicating these children. ADHD symptoms are very similar to children that simply have been chronically deprived of restful REM sleep.

    Superior visual acuity in sunglasses and indoor eyewear is achievable with filtering out the chromatically aberrating blue light. I tried the sun lenses on personally and compared to HCL Maui Jim's and I had significantly better contrast and it had a soothing tone. However, I did note that colors seemed to be more towards the yellow than compared to the MJ's.

    Retinal health is a very important aspect to Blutech. The filtering of the oxidative wavelengths reduces the odds of developing macular degeneration in high risk patients. It is possible that our young generations and the future generations will have much higher rates of macular degeneration than previous generations due to our lifestyle of higher energy blue light exposure. Especially important in children since they tend to bury their faces in ipad, cell phone, etc... and have no natural ocular pigment yet in their crystalline lens.

    An easy way to relate to people the effects of digital light and REM sleep is to spend 45 min in bed reading a book on an ipad right before you try to sleep. Then on another day try the same thing with a regular bulb table lamp and a regular paperback book. See how you feel each morning.
    ///

    Thats as much as I can recall but the evidence is there and I really do believe the blutech is a superior product than a surface tint or laminate. It offers a better transmission curve than the melanin lenses and other blue blocking tints. It also greatly outperforms the AR prevencia/Recharge because the filtering curve of Blutech is broader and greater reaching than the AR products, which have very narrow ranges and focus on the oxidative ranges only. It also provides better acuity in indoor and outdoor lenses.
    What lens materials and designs does the bluetech lenses come in?

  16. #16
    Master OptiBoarder OptiBoard Gold Supporter Judy Canty's Avatar
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    It is a 1.56 material and almost every major lens manufacturer has a design in Blue Tech, as well as many house brands from independent labs.

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    Eyes eastward... Uilleann's Avatar
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    [QUOTE=erichwmack;480327]...An easy way to relate to people the effects of digital light and REM sleep is to spend 45 min in bed reading a book on an ipad right before you try to sleep. Then on another day try the same thing with a regular bulb table lamp and a regular paperback book. See how you feel each morning...[/QUOTE=erichwmack;480327]

    On the surface, exercises like this don't seem to correlate to anything more than a placebo "feel good" effect - indeed if any effect is truly even seen at all. Subjective and non scientific. Now show me multiple peer reviewed, double blind studies that all reach the same conclusion, and I would eagerly review that conclusion.

  18. #18
    Chemistrie Eyewear
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    [QUOTE=Uilleann;493273]
    Quote Originally Posted by erichwmack View Post
    ...An easy way to relate to people the effects of digital light and REM sleep is to spend 45 min in bed reading a book on an ipad right before you try to sleep. Then on another day try the same thing with a regular bulb table lamp and a regular paperback book. See how you feel each morning...[/QUOTE=erichwmack;480327]

    On the surface, exercises like this don't seem to correlate to anything more than a placebo "feel good" effect - indeed if any effect is truly even seen at all. Subjective and non scientific. Now show me multiple peer reviewed, double blind studies that all reach the same conclusion, and I would eagerly review that conclusion.
    There are plenty of articles that have been written on this topic for the past 20 years by respected doctors and scientists that do not reach this simplistic conclusion.

    My company sells a lens that reduces the transmission of blue light and we avoid claims regarding the impact on sleep and AMD as these are medical issues that can be assessed by the doctor treating and advising the patient. However, I can easily show the discomforting effect of blue light by a simple demonstration on an ipad or computer monitor. The customer feedback by those who wear blue filtering lenses has been overwhelmingly positive. Having just attended Vision Expo, I can also tell you there is a significant number of ODs and opticians who believe in the effectiveness of these products. It would be interesting to hear if the other ODs and opticians in your office share your opinion.

    In Japan, there is a eyewear retailer called Jins that reported a few years ago that they have sold over 1 million pairs of computer glasses. I visited one of their stores on my last trip overseas and they are still a hot item.
    Last edited by Joe Zewe; 09-22-2014 at 11:40 AM.

  19. #19
    Eyes eastward... Uilleann's Avatar
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    Once can certainly sell a "hot item" that is no more than a fancifully marketed, anecdotally driven, band-wagon placebo - with great effect. And every optician and doctor will form their own opinion based either on everything from subjective heresay to solid scientific evidence. While it is true that studies have been undertaken, there is far from a sweeping industry wide movement to support these claims. This topic has come up almost every year at our state conventions, as well as down at VEW when chatting with numerous docs and dispensers. And the thinking on measurable health benefits remains sharply divided.

  20. #20
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    I grant the point that it's all too easy to sell off of anectdotes (for lenses, coatings, or frames) when substituted for scientific efficacy. On the flip side, it's just as easy to spin more sceptically than is warranted by research as well. My concern with the article we've been discussing is its age. Given the article studying IOLs precedes the current lines of blue-blocker coatings, I think it'd be incumbent upon us to look at more recent research before we attempt to extrapolate.

    If we trust a researcher to confirm or debunk a theory by relative degrees, then we're better off using up-to-date statistics of these sorts of studies. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23143904 :

    "Fourteen studies were identified. Twelve studies identified an increasing risk of AMD with greater sunlight exposure, six of which reported significant risks."

    This sentence in and of itself does no more to logically validate a theory than the previous citation of "10 of 12" swinging the other way does to invalidate it. I for one can't offer such a stastical analysis either way.

    But an attempt to knock down a theory is either a KO or not. Even a set of studies unanimously failing to confirm a notion doesn't necessarilly do that. Depends entirely on the studies themselves. When scientists hedge with adverbs, then it's still an open case.

    Alternatively, all it takes is a few studies to establish some kind of correlation: I do think the mechanism of blue-light phototoxicity has covered some ground since '11--and did so before the blue-blocker coatings became a worthwhile investment for our various vendors.

    "Although implication of light remains controversial, several studies indicate light exposure as a factor in the pathogenesis of ARMD [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13]. For instance, the EUREYE study found significant association between blue light exposure and neovascular ARMD in individuals having the lowest antioxidant level [11]. Another study performed on 838 watermen of the Chesapeake Bay showed that patients with advanced ARMD had significantly higher exposure to blue or visible light over the preceding 20 years [8]. Finally, a recent analysis of the epidemiological literature concerning the association between ARMD and sunlight exposure concluded that individuals with more sunlight exposure are at a significantly increased risk of ARMD [14]."

    The Mainster quote lumps 'blue-blocking' as baby with the bathwater -- allegedly preventing the circadian rythm frequencies from performing their function. If your 'Crizal Preventia' rep is like mine was last year, he went to great lengths to distinguish the different frequencies of blue to belabor the point 'bad blue' is blocked while 'good blue' is permitted to pass.

    Either way, unless I'm misunderstanding the Mainster context of "phototoxicity AMD hypothesis", I think the implication of these studies isn't so easily dismissed.

    Bottom line: I'm no ophthalmological researcher. Even still, the summation of this thread that 'the jury is still out' is probably still intact. Killing retinal cells in a lab is a far cry from proving the sun is so effective against eyeballs in nature. But our healthy skeptism ought to be gunning directly for the actual research our products are predicated upon. There's clearly more than two anomolous studies to contend with. The argument for a coating product for some patients isn't necessarilly a weak one.
    Last edited by Hayde; 09-25-2014 at 04:36 PM. Reason: clarity & grammar

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    OptiBoard Professional Lee H's Avatar
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    fwiw, I have several pair of BluTech lenses and I really like them. I have a pair of BluTech office lenses on my nightstand. They are very soothing to my eyes when I'm on my iPad, particularly at night. I also have a pair of progressives that I wear occasionally. I like the comforting tint the BluTech lenses offer but I don't wear them often as I'm lukewarm on the tint from a cosmetic perspective.

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