The People Behind the Lenses: Eric Marshall

The consultants at Visionary Optics are experts in their field and always ready to help eye care practitioners and patients find the perfect fit for scleral lenses. Every month, we will feature a different Visionary Optics consultant and the valuable work they are doing.

Eric Marshall is the VP of Manufacturing and Lead Consultant at Visionary Optics. He has worked with scleral lenses for more than 21 years and brings immeasurable experience in technology, design, manufacturing, and customer care to the Visionary Optics team.

“With luck, we come across people in our lives who truly have an impact – those who can help us achieve our potential consistently, a real partner. I first began asking unreasonable things of Eric over fourteen years ago. Thousands of patients later, I still trust him. Think about how hard it is to earn that kind of trust. It is only earned through repeatable outstanding outcomes. I have no doubt that Eric is completely unaware of how many of my patients he has helped over the years; how many lives he has helped change. Thank you, Eric. Your work with Visionary Optics is appreciated more than you know.“

Dr. Randy Charrier, SCRC Management, Inc., Houston, TX

Q&A with Consultant Eric Marshall

 

After working with scleral lenses for decades, you’ve seen the scleral lens industry morph and grow over time. Where do you think the industry is headed, and how can eye care practitioners keep up?

The industry is heading more toward instrumental-based fitting and taking away the need for face-to-face time. With sMap3D, a lot of customers are scanning patients – leaving the customized work to the labs. It’ll keep morphing into that space, not only with us,  but with many other companies.

Eye care practitioners can keep up with training with the new technology that is out there and evolving. The only way to keep up is to train and find equipment to fit their needs – whatever instrumentation is out there.

 

As the VP of Manufacturing, you are deep in the process of designing and manufacturing these lenses. How are the lenses that you are making now different from those that were being manufactured years ago?

Lenses today are much more intricate. Many years ago, there were spherical-based lenses, but now we’re modifying sectoral quadrants of the lens in multiple PC’s to flatten and steepen 90+ meridians. The software has changed greatly to allow us to do this. We went from simple CAD/CAM software to highly sophisticated software that allows us to make these changes to create very customized lenses to actually shape and conform to the patient’s eye.

 

You and the Visionary Optics Team led the industry in adopting scleral lens profilometry and understanding its relevance and importance in fitting scleral lenses. Tell us a little more about how different instrumentation optimizes the fitting process.  

It allows you to take more of a scientific approach, as opposed to the guesswork of the past. Instrument-based data has given us knowledge and foresight to see what is happening. Seeing the data in front of us, the patients, and a full 3D map of the eye, we can actually make changes in real-time. We know exactly what we’re looking at, instead of assuming that the practitioner is relaying everything that’s happening with that fit correctly. It’s less of an art and more of a science now.

The idea that we can create a product starting from a 3D image of the eye that gives better sight, comfort, and sometimes relief from irritation is what drives my passion to help as many patients and practitioners as possible. We push the technology we have to the brink of the machine’s capabilities to manufacture whatever is possible.

 

What Doctors Have to Say About Eric:

 

Randy Teller (Dr. Jeffery Sonsino’s Office)
The Contact Lens Center at Optique
Nashville, TN

Eric does a great job discussing the nuances of each lens design, especially when I am able to send OCT images. We discuss the patient’s symptoms and compare that to the images seen. He will make recommendations of changes to better fit the patient.

 

Dr. Stephanie Woo
Contact Lens Institute of Nevada
Las Vegas, NV

Eric has been a truly remarkable person to work with at Visionary Optics. From the very beginning when I first opened my account, he provided excellent customer service. Eric is knowledgeable, quick, efficient, and incredibly reliable. Eric is one of the best consultants in the entire industry – I mean that from the bottom of my heart.

 

Dr. Tracy Stringfield
Insight Family Eye Care
Dallas, TX

I appreciate Eric Marshall and the expertise he brings to each fit. He is completely approachable, listens to the problems doctors see, and continues to work towards a solution for both patient and doctor. All of my difficult fits now go to Eric and his team to be fit with a Latitude lens. These patients who have experienced numerous fittings over their life almost always rave that this is the most comfortable lens they’ve ever worn. I credit that to the incredible technology and people like Eric who know how to interpret the data and design such an excellent product. Thank you!

 

Learn how Visionary Optics can improve scleral lens fitting at your practice. Get in touch with our team.