Dr. Mai shares how working with the Visionary Optics team to adopt the sMap3D™ in his practice has helped patients from around the world and dramatically reduced chair time.
“I had been designing my corneal GPs for years based on topography data versus empirical fitting with great success, and it just made sense to me that I should adopt the same model for my scleral lens fitting,” said Dr. Mai.
The Visionary Optics team spoke with Dr. Thanh Mai at Insight Vision Center Optometry in Costa Mesa, California about his experience treating patients with the sMap3D™ corneo-scleral topographer. Dr. Mai first heard about the sMap3D™ at a local meeting hosted by Visionary Optics.
“What pushed me to invest in the sMap3D was participating in an in-house demo,” Dr. Mai said. “Previously, I struggled to produce the right lens for multiple patients. During the demo, we remade all the lens with the sMap3D-designed lens, and they were a slam dunk. I knew I had to have it at that point.”
Read about how the sMap3D™ has helped Dr. Mai design optimally fit lens for his patients.
Case Study
The Challenge
Patients fly in from China, Brazil, and Canada just because they heard I have an sMap3D™. These patients failed with other lens designs due to blebs, large pingueculas, and large asymmetric scleras.
One patient got diagnosed with keratoconus when she was 18 years old. She went to a dozen different doctors in Brazil, trying a variety of glasses and contact lenses with no success. It was a severely limiting condition. She couldn’t take her driving test. She had been a good student, but her academic performance declined as reading became more difficult.
The Solution
The patient moved to the U.S. when she was 33, and a doctor referred her to our practice to get fitted for scleral lenses. The first pair fit by another practitioner made a huge difference at first: they were comfortable, and she was so happy she could see clearly. But after a few hours, the lenses became foggy again. Then I used the sMap3D technology to measure her eyes and the Visionary Optics team designed a pair of Europa Scleral lenses based off of her individual eye data. These lenses have been life-changing for her. She can see properly, and she’s no longer held back by her condition. Learn more about her story here.
The Results
The sMap3D helped me treat patients who were starting to lose hope. It has significantly reduced chair time and cut my number of remakes in half. When it comes to these asymmetric scleras, I would have gone down the abyss of six or more remakes or failed altogether. By being able to map the scleral profile, we were able to design a lens much more accurately.
I succeeded where other scleral lens practitioners had failed. This solidified the patient’s confidence in my expertise, despite the fact that I am sort of cheating with a scleral topographer! The sMap3D has increased my exposure as an expert in the field because patients understand that having a scleral map is the best way to design the best fitting lens.
The sMap3D is a must have if you are serious about being the go-to pro in scleral lenses. You’ll love working with the Visionary Optics team who will have your back the entire way and make you look like a superhero to all your patients.
