Ovitz Ares

At the California Keratoconus Center, we work with lens labs and technology manufacturers on a daily basis to help advance the state of the art for non-surgical treatment of Keratoconus patients. This collaboration and advancement are central parts of the cKlear Method™’s success, and it’s necessary because treating Keratoconus is not like treating most other eye diseases. One of our lens partners, OVITZ, also happens to be one of our technology partners, thanks to their new OVITZ Ares Lens and OVITZ Xwave Aberrometer. These two products work together to provide High Order Aberration-Correcting Scleral Lenses.

Keratoconus Lens Challenges

Making Keratoconus Contact Lenses is not like making conventional contact lenses.

• The prescription is more complex because the irregular corneas of Keratoconus make the prescription different at every point through which light enters.
• The fit is more difficult because the irregular corneas mean that conventional contact lenses don’t sit well on the eye, much like a saucer being placed upside down on an inverted teacup.
• The comfort is more difficult for much the same reason: the eyelid moves over the edges of a poor-fitting contact lens and gets more irritated with every blink. That means that poor fitting lenses cannot be worn continuously for long periods of time.

The cKlear Method was designed to address all of these issues, and the result is a Keratoconus Contact Lens that allows the patient to see better than ever before, fits great, and can be worn for an entire day with comfort.

But even then, some patients who can see 20/20 with their new lenses still sometimes experience difficulty seeing in some situations. These anomalies are called High Order Aberrations.

What Are High Order Aberrations

High Order Aberrations (HOAs) are irregularities in the anatomy of an eye that can cause Halos, Double Vision, Ghosting, Glare, Streaks, and other similar issues. These often occur at night when bright lights from oncoming cars, traffic lights, storefronts, sights, and office buildings are more prominent. Patients with HOAs know how troublesome they can be.

These HOAs can be caused by almost any part of the eye, including the back side of the Cornea, the lens, the vitreous (the gel-like substance in the eye) and even the retina…but up until just recently, it has been impossible for anyone but the patient to actually “see” the HOAs that a patient sees. As a result, it’s been nearly impossible to design contact lenses that reduce or eliminate High Order Aberrations.

Designing Scleral Contact Lenses for High Order Aberrations

At the California Keratoconus Center, we have technology that allows us to “see what the patient sees” with a very high tech device called an Aberrometer. These devices can actually trace a ray of light through the cornea, lens and vitreous until it hits the retina, creating a digital “map” called the Optical Path Difference. When we show this map to a patient, they often weep because no one has ever understood their vision issues before.

We build this information into the contact lenses we make for HOA patients, and change their lives forever.

The OVITZ Ares Lens and OVITZ Xwave Aberrometer

Up to now we have been able to use our Aberrometers for a variety of lenses, and we still produce excellent results for our patients with that technology. However the scientists at OVITZ wanted to do something unique: They wanted to create an integrated system that includes lenses that are so advanced, they require the precision of their own, proprietary aberrometer.

The OVITZ Ares Lens is specially designed for patients with High Order Aberrations. They provide sharp vision, all-day comfort, and maximum hydration for the cornea.

The OVITZ Xwave Aberrometer uses advanced wavefront aberrometry that integrates seamlessly with the OVITZ Ares lens laboratory, creating a closed-loop proprietary wavefront-guided contact lens manufacturing system that is automated, error-free and cost-effective.

See if the OVITZ Ares Lens is for You

Here at the California Keratoconus Center, we have been working with OVITZ to provide case studies for their Ares and Xwave system for treating Keratoconus patients with High Order Aberrations. Our data helps to improve the OVITZ system, and in turn our patients enjoy the clearest vision they’ve ever experienced, with improvements in visual acuity and a significant reduction of High Order Aberrations. If you have Keratoconus and suffer from High Order Aberrations, make an appointment at the California Keratoconus Center by using our online appointment system. Or, just call the center at 818-891-6711 to discuss your case.