In September 2016 Essilor SL Lab (Essilor Special Lenses Laboratory) in France manufactured a lens as never produced before. This lens is a 35D prism specially made for a wearer from Czech Republic with exceptional vision needs. This story is astonishing from a patient point of view as well as from a manufacturing point of view.
This unique achievement became an optical solution thanks to the perseverance and ingenuity of various teams including Customer service of SL lab, the SL lab teams and , R&D from coating ad instrument division. The lens is result of numerous tests, prototypes and new processes implemented to push the limits of what was the technically possible.
The lens was made of two 17,5D prism lenses index 1.67 bonded face to face. It was necessary to adapt the cart clip for varnish coating to hold such a lens. Crizal Forte UV coating was applied while using a specific ring to hold the lens. For glazing, the Essilor Mr. Blue edging equipment. had to be modified to accommodate the angle of this prism.
Who is the wearer of this unique lens? Mr. Ptáček from Czech Republic, who used to work as in the industry, was seriously injured in the car accident in 2012 which caused him a sever diplopia. As Mr. Ptáček lost orientation in space and was forced to stay at home, he had to quit his job which significantly affected his social life.
As per Mr. Dienstbier, the optometrist of Mr. Ptáček, the vision defect of Mr Ptacek is now non-operable since already two surgeries were undergone, without any significant improvement. Before the first operation his right eye was coiled, so it almost couldn’t see. His brain failed to suppress the perception the right eye witch constantly intruded into the process of vision. For Mr. Dienstbier, it is not possibleto enhance Mr Ptacek´s visual acuity, but this solution 35D lens allowed to significantly decrease the overlap of the two different images of the right and left eyes. Now with the 35D prism lens Mr. Ptáček sees twosame images, although the right image considerably blurred. Mr Ptacek has reached back a significantly better orientation in space and estimation of distances.
Mr Ptacek is very satisfied with the 35D lens !: “After the accident when going outside, I always had to cover my right eye with a blindfold as I experienced strong double vision and disorientation in space. With this lens my vision has improved very much, about 95%, and now I do not need to use the blindfold when going outside anymore.” Mr. Ptáček is now also wearing a Varilux S Series lens on the left eye and
He is very happy that finally after four years of difficulty and handicap, he can now fully enjoy his favorite pastime: fishing.
At Essilor, we are so happy and proud to have been able to find the best optical response for Mr Ptacek and accomplish our mission of Improving lives by improving sight.