Zeiss' innovative vision, cutting-edge products tackle youth myopia in China

Amid mounting concern about China's rising rate of myopia among children and adolescents, the vision care unit at Zeiss is escalating its innovative strength to provide better solutions to managing progressive myopia, a form of near-sightedness that becomes more severe over the years and can lead to high myopia.

"Zeiss is the industrial pioneer in myopia management and is committed to driving myopia research and treatment efforts ahead," said Peng Wei, managing director of Zeiss Vision Care China, a world-leading manufacturer of eyeglass lenses and ophthalmic instruments under the German optics giant Zeiss.

The company launched ZEISS MyoVision Ace, a new addition to Zeiss' existing myopia management lens portfolio that addresses especially severe cases of progressive myopia, at the 20th China (Shanghai) International Optics Fair on Thursday.

Zeiss will offer this new solution in China, which is designed to help actively manage progressive myopia and prevent its adverse effects on children aged between six and 12, starting in May. The lenses will be available in a range of material indices and in combination with premium coatings, according to the company.

The product enhancement is based on Zeiss' first peripheral defocus management lens for children, or ZEISS MyoVision, which was launched in 2011.

The optical design of ZEISS MyoVision corrects a person's vision so that the image appears clear at the center, or fovea, and is corrected in the periphery. "For people with progressive myopia, this can slow the longitudinal growth of the eyeball and thus might counteract the progression of short-sightedness in the period studied," said Ouyang Liu, head of R&D Zeiss Vision Care China.

Over the past 10 years, more than 3,000 business partners of Zeiss have sold at least 3.6 million pairs of ZEISS MyoVision lenses in China, according to the company.

"So far, ZEISS MyoVision has helped millions of children in China manage the progression of myopia," Peng told reporters. "With the significant amount of work we have accomplished in the field, we can confidently say that we have already made great progress in myopia management and will continue to help children and their parents in the decades to come."

While elevating the amount of defocus in the periphery of retina by the new solution, Peng said the company will continue to research in this field to diversify or provide tailor-made solutions to coping with different myopic situations of children in China.

Statistics from the National Health Commission of China show that the myopia rate in children and adolescents in the country was 53.6 percent in 2018.

Home-based learning due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in the first half of 2020 forced students to rely more heavily on electronic devices, posing a further considerable challenge to children with eyesight problems in China.

According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Education among nearly 15,000 students in nine provinces in 2020, the myopia rate of the students increased by 11.7 percent when compared with that at the end of 2019.

"The rising number of highly myopic children, potentially facing severe retinal damage to their vision, is particularly alarming," Peng noted. "It drives us to keep on our studies."

The idea of myopia management has been gradually accepted by Chinese parents, given the fact that myopia cannot be cured, and more eyeglass manufacturers have carried out studies since Zeiss took the first step in managing myopia progression, said Peng.

Innovative reserve

Besides the studies on myopia management, Zeiss has employed a pool of talent and allocated funds to develop new individualized products, Peng said, which have been supported by its vigorous development in China.

After experiencing market fluctuations early last year caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Zeiss Vision Care China quickly recovered and led business growth around the globe for the rest of the year, according to Peng.

"China is a very important growth engine of Zeiss," Peng said.

The pandemic, which reminded people of "quality living for the moment", has created new opportunities for high-end brands including Zeiss because people are more willing to spend money on high-quality products, Peng said.

Another inspiration gained from the pandemic is the idea of merging protection and health into products, he said.

While masks provide protection for the mouth and nose, Zeiss has invented a new technology to coat all its lenses with antibacterial and antiviral properties. The technology reduces potential transmission risks caused by microbes and pathogens attaching to lens surface, and was launched for global markets at the third China International Import Expo last November.

According to the company, Zeiss has developed a process to incorporate antimicrobial silver invisibly but effectively into the anti-reflective coating package and external tests based on relevant ISO standards have confirmed the efficacy.

"Our innovation center keeps working on new technologies to solve more emerging problems," Peng said.

"What's the recipe for success of a company like Zeiss with a history of 175 years? It's the power of persistence. Persistence is vital to turning good ideas and good innovation into reality," Peng said.

chenhong@chinadaily.com.cn