Take a walk around the show with Opchat News

100% Optical closed its doors after another successful 3 days

The London ExCel show opened on Saturday March 1^st with a flood of ECPs standing expectantly at the door awaiting for 10 a.m. to arrive.

That mass of attendees seemed to dissipate almost as quickly as they entered the hall heading for their CPD lectures spread around the hall edges and some of the cannier exhibitioners’ stands.

That may have caused a lull in proceedings but was helpful, allowing us time to visit and interview new friends and old on their fabulous stands.

First up was Safilens, the company has just received full FDA approval for two of its fascinating products in the contact lens field. These lenses assist the practitioner to differentiate themselves from mainstream lens fitting with exceptionally good presbyopia lenses as well as the New Riboflavin saturated lens. Delivery Ribo developed with advanced riboflavin and vitamin E-TPGS releasing technology, these lenses help relieving your eyes from the strain caused by exposure to digital devices which on initial insertion are bright yellow which is delivered onto the eye during wear maintaining and nurturing the cornea and on removal the lens appears pale blue.

Yet another milestone in lens technology launched at last year’s show is the Delivery Tyro Enriched hydrogel daily disposable releasing Lachryceuticals®. Hyaluronic Acid TSP®and Tyrosine, an amino acid precursor of dopamine, the neurotransmitter that has been shown to be able to regulate the anatomical development of the eye.

In today’s Dry Eye environment where Myopia Management is the new buzzword this is yet another tool in the box.

Onwards to the EssilorLuxottica stand to meet Alan Pitcher and his team for a look at the new concepts and products.

We were treated to a first look at the new wide field WRI-1 Cellview retinal imaging system to help ECPs detect eye diseases earlier and easily monitor pathology progression.

Sitting next to it on the stand was a Heidelberg OCT. Yes, it still feels strange that its on the stand after Heidelberg was acquired by EssilorLuxottica recently. But chatting to the staff it was gratifying to know that all the technicians, marketeers, and Tosh himself have all been retained to provide the service Heidelberg are famous for. Indeed, they even had their own stand-alone stand at the show.

Alan then moved me on to a separate EssilorLuxottica Stand demonstrating Nuance, the latest specialised frame product with Hearing Assistance built into the temple. The demonstration was impressive and given that many older people are happy to wear specs but not hearing aids this fusion of both will surely be a great hit.

Nuance Audio transforms traditional hearing aids into an elegant, discreet solution for adults with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss. This innovation blends cutting-edge audio software engineering, world-class smart eyewear design, and user-friendly technology to deliver a superior auditory experience.

The companion app enhances the intuitive experience, while the glasses’ open-ear design and directional microphones ensure comfort and clarity in challenging auditory environments, such as noisy trains, busy offices, or lively restaurants.

Next, I joined the Gen-Zeers for a demonstration of the Ray-Ban® Meta frames linking with music packages like Spotify as well as its AI assisted camera. I understand that soon it will be enhanced with a change in UK/EU law allowing AI to inform you of what images you are seeing on request. This is already available in America.

Finally, I was treated to a display of the latest high fashion frames including a new brand concept from Diesel Opchat News will feature these in its New Products features next week.

Anyone walking around these shows knows that some of the most innovative and first-time products are to be found on the show edges on the small shell stands. This year was no different.

Firstly, I found Heart Eye diagnostics providing many visitors with an age related risk score of their heart function by measuring the blood flow in the retina using a fundus camera and you guessed it AI.

Another new gadget ready to combat progressive myopia was found. Named Eyerising this Red Eye Light pulse machine affects the growth of the choroid thus reducing the growth in the axial length of the eye. The machine is rented out for home use for children who show early signs of myopia.

Let’s stick with instruments on our tour of the hall as I land on Grafton Optical’ s stand packed with instruments sourced from the best companies in the world.

Here David Thickens the CEO showed me the new FIELD NAVIGATOR EYE TRACKING PERIMETER by
REXXAM.

This was a revelation having tried the many other field perimeters on display the main difference is that the PX doesn’t have to click any buttons at all. No hesitations, no false clicks the system using a high-grade laptop (supplied) does all the work in under 3 minutes by it tracking the Px’s eye movements.

As one practitioner commented “At last I can do a field check on the elderly with chronic arthritis and even test my Px’s with Parkinsons!” The Rexxam FIELDNavigator is an eye-tracking perimeter mask designed to revolutionise the efficiency and accuracy of visual field testing and what an experience.

Off to meet Liadain Murphy now on the Ocumetra stand perched on a corner of the Topcon stand.

The company provides a fully integrated Prog. Myopia Management system designed to track myopia, predict its outcomes with age and pull together the different treatment strategies that exist and chosen by the ECP in practice. A real differentiator in practice development. We hope to expand our coverage of Myopia Management on Opchat News and our sister public facing publication in the following months. (www.mylocaloptician.co.uk )

Another fascinating upgrade on an old favourite handheld tonometer sold by Grafton but shown to me by Kees Sas on Reichert’s own stand was the all-new Reichert Tono-Vera

A Tonometer featuring the advanced ActiView™ Positioning System, your guided view to precise IOP measurements. It has a visible alignment screen, with full frontal visual placement getting rid of the old temporal placement allowing the results of 3 speedy assessment to be displayed in seconds.

On the way to the frame area, I passed many colleagues that have been exhibiting for as long as I have been attending and promoting 100% Optical and before!

My base camp was from time to time the Optical Suppliers Association stand which was alive with attendees for a much-enriched programme of informative lectures. An opportunity to take a break and meet some of my business clients too.

I met Doug and Dame Mary Perkins on the Specsavers stand and reminisced on the early days of Optics and where we are now with their assistance in pulling together our twin professions of Optometry and Ophthalmology. The hall was crowded with Ophthalmology Hybrid surgery companies bringing their expertise to the show.

At last, I reached the frame company area and was able to greet the UK Blackfin Team and the Blackfin MD who I first met at MIDO some years before. Regular readers will recognise how much I personally like the brand for its style and engineering.

I also met the team from Ashton Riley whose CRM system floods the team at PHN with emails to the wrong account. Relief, the MD Brett Waugh has promised to send Opchat News the story of their brands inception and the story bout the Gorilla!

We made a special detour to meet with Tanya Storey on the Mainline Optical Connections stand, long time Headline Supporters of your free and independent Opchat News. It seems with the advent of compact, clean modern glazing machinery that in-house glazing is making a comeback, and we shared some ideas on how independent practices can provide a differentiating exciting experience of in=house glazing in action.

As well as frames, OTC products and accessories are very much to the fore at optical exhibitions these days and top of the pile was The Body Doctor, a company that has grown year by year with the help of family involvement. The company has certainly surfed on the wave of Dry Eye Disease which again is another buzzword in the community of Independent Practitioners.

And if you’re searching for that needed requested product like swim goggles and many other random off the shelf products look no further than James Sutton and optometrist who provided us with so many accessories at Butterfly Healthcare

Well readers I hope I have brought to you a flavour of the show after a busy three days, so busy I never got to watch the runway show!

If I missed any friends out of the short episode apologies and send Opchat your news to mail@primaryhealthnet.com and I will feature it anytime.

Thanks to our Media Partners at 100% and its new owner Closer Still.