The latest research on this in animal models, again by Earl Smith and colleagues, has sought to understand where on the retina (eg. Think of this as two planes of focus - one being on the retina to correct myopia, and the other in front of the retina for myopic defocus - which could be anywhere across the retina and not just in the 'periphery'. The more recent thought has evolved to the simultaneous myopic retinal defocus theory. This has been shown in animal models - Earl Smith III is arguably the world's leading researcher in this area and you can read a summary lecture of his from 2010, here. When it comes to the theories of myopia control mechanisms, the long standing contender is the peripheral defocus theory, whereby the peripheral retina receives myopic defocus as a slow-down or stop signal for eye growth. Let's go further to understand DIMS and H.A.L.T. Perhaps this is why their myopia control efficacy results are seeming to exceed any of the previous spectacle lens solutions, and equaling that of dual focus soft and orthokeratology contact lenses. While of course an eye moves behind a spectacle lens, these new lenses can be thought of as 'behaving more like a myopia controlling contact lens' because when the child looks away from the clear central zone, they are receiving simultaneous in-focus information from the single vision distance correction (falling on the retinal plane) and myopic defocus information (falling somewhere in front of the retinal plane).

Each should be fit like a single vision lens, with careful attention paid to measuring the fitting height to ensure the child makes the most of the clear central zone for best acuity.

Each behaves like a single vision lens in that they do not alter accommodation or binocular vision function as does a progressive addition or bifocal spectacle lens.

Each has a surrounding zone of lenslets to create a differential myopic defocus across the retina, with spaces in between them for the single vision correction.

Each has a clear single vision distance zone in the centre of the lens, and a 'background' of single vision correction in the periphery of the lens.

technology as like a single vision lens for myopia correction, with an overlaying 'treatment zone' for myopia control. In the case of orthokeratology, the treatment is 'fixed' through the overnight corneal profile change. This is easy to imagine in the case of a soft multifocal or myopia controlling contact lens, worn on the eye during the day. The benefit of a contact lens is that it moves with the eye, so the same optical profile is provided to the central and peripheral retina regardless of the angle of view.

technology spectacle lenses take a step beyond the traditional spectacle to behave more like a myopia controlling contact lens.

Spectacle lenses