We have had some amazing new technology advancements in our Single Vision lenses from Zeiss! Bare with me, as there may be some more technical information included in the article here, for those eye nerds that want all the inside technology info!
Standard single vision, whether spherical or aspherical has been until now the most sold ophthalmic lens type worldwide. Now ZEISS has identified a way to get many attributes of complex single vision freeform lens designs into both stock Single Vision lenses and surfaced Single Vision lenses. The result ends up being ZEISS ClearView Single Vision lenses. These lenses offer high optical quality in order to provide clear vision from the lens center to the periphery, and is also very thin and flat at the same time.
To get a better understanding of this ZEISS innovation, it makes sense to take a closer look at single vision lens designs. The choice of lens design impacts the aesthetics, comfort of the lens, and optical performance. Spherical single vision lenses, for example, are typically optimized using only the radii of curvature of the lens surface. Aspheric single vision lenses have a more complex shape: Typically, the lens front surface is optimized with a low number of free parameters in one meridian. Double aspherical single vision lenses are generally optimized using twice the number of free parameters. But in summary, all these lens designs do not adequately address the peripheral optics of most prescriptions.
In the 1990s ZEISS pioneered freeform lens design technology in surfaced lenses – which are made to order. And now it is also ZEISS that has introduced single vision freeform lens design to improve the optics and aesthetics of the SV lens category. This is possible due to a specially created freeform lens design for FSV and the new ClearForm manufacturing process that incorporates this design into the finished lens. The lens design includes point-by-point optimization with the use of around 700 free parameters across the lens. This ClearForm process utilizes the latest computer numerically controlled (CNC) generators that use special diamond cutting and polishing tools to surface the complex shaped molds for ZEISS ClearView FSV lenses.
The final lens delivers, on average, a three times larger zone of excellent clear vision, to provide the wearer with more clarity from the lens center to the periphery. It is therefore designed to deliver a higher level of comfort and satisfaction for the wearer. In addition, the complex lens shapes allow wearers to experience this vision clarity in a flatter and thinner lens than conventional SV lens designs that rely on steeper base curves to provide just acceptable optical performance. In numbers, this means: ZEISS SV ClearView lenses are on average 34 per cent flatter across all prescriptions and up to 16 per cent thinner compared to typical spherical single vision lenses.
Give us a call to discuss what FreeForm Single Vision lenses could do for your prescription; 250-390-1447 to book an appointment in our optical dispensary to get more info! Stay tuned to our Facebook page to find out when this new technology comes to our clinic!
