contact lens management
A GP Bifocal for Active Presbyopes
The MagniClear Plus delivers patient satisfaction for presbyopes.

GARY ANDERSON, O.D.

In my practice, it seems as though all of the gas permeable (GP), single-vision lens wearers are hitting presbyopia together. Over the past 20 years, I've tried most of the GP bifocal designs on the market. Art Optical Contact Lens Inc.'s MagniClear Plus design has become my workhorse contact lens for presbyopes. With it, I can give them comfortable binocular far and near vision.

Less compromise required

In the past, each bifocal contact lens fitting made me feel like I was re-inventing the wheel. Most bifocal lens designs have preset parameters (e.g., excessive center thicknesses, limited lens diameters and optic zone widths, overly broad base curve increments) and similar lens dimension limitations that limit a doctor's options, so compromising seems inevitable.

The MagniClear Plus allows me to maintain the same lens size and base curve fitting relationships that the patient was successfully wearing in a single vision lens and put them in a bifocal. This includes keeping a toric lens design.

Justifying the added "plus"

MagniClear Plus was built on the success of MagniClear and uses the same tri-zone, front-surface design process. The "plus" enhancement refers to the lens's eccentric back surface; it greatly improved the effective near add of the original MagniClear design. It's a distance center "donut" design with a peripheral near outer ring. The near add is blended much like a progressive spectacle lens so there's intermediate power and no abrupt jump when entering the intermediate and near zones.

The active are ideal candidates

No single lens design is perfect for every patient, of course. MagniClear Plus works best on people who require varied viewing distances and aren't looking at small, close-up detail for a prolonged period. Many other distance-center lenses have the near power infringing just off the optical center, but I find that distance viewing with MagniClear Plus is just like that with a single-vision lens. Golfers, hunters, tennis players and other active presbyopes love this lens. Patients also find that it works well for computer use.

Fit the MagniClear Plus in a central or superior corneal position, held up by the upper lid because on down gaze, the lens edge has to rest on the lower lid to see through the peripheral near outer ring. You can have the lab add prism ballast or truncation to aid in positioning.

Choose your material

The MagniClear Plus is available in a variety of GP lens materials. I usually order the lenses in Boston ES because of its stability in thinner designs. I also use a lot of Transaire material for middle-aged female patients because it seems to provide them with better lens wettability and comfort at a time when hormone fluctuation causes drier eyes.

Art Optical helps you succeed

Based on the many referrals we receive from patients wearing MagniClear Plus, I know the product provides a level of patient satisfaction for presbyopes that was previously unattainable.

A major factor in my success with fitting this lens has been the assistance of the consultation department at Art Optical, headed by Mike Johnson, F.C.L.S.A. He provides the invaluable link between what my patients desire in a contact lens, what I've measured and determined in my exam room and what's possible to manufacture at the laboratory.

DR. ANDERSON IS IN PRIVATE GROUP PRACTICE IN GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN. HE HAS BEEN A MEMBER OF AOA AND MOA SINCE 1979. YOU CAN REACH HIM AT GA@MIDTOWNEYECARE.COM.