Dr Jackson Lau OD, FSLS, FAAO works for one of America’s biggest myopia management clinics. In this article, he explains why he’s a huge advocate for ortho-k and the Medmont Meridia™.
Ortho-k offers many lifestyle advantages which effectively increases compliance and therefore efficacy.
An overnight lens, ortho-k is an excellent choice for children as it gently reshapes the cornea while they sleep so during the day they have clear vision without glasses or contacts. This not only provides convenience but also has been shown to slow the progression of myopia. The benefits are pretty incredible. Most importantly, myopia is managed to help protect a child’s long-term eye health.
Which topographer do you prefer for ortho-k?
Because ortho-k lenses are designed specifically for each patient, I’m proud to be using the Medmont Meridia™ in my practice as it helps us precisely map the cornea. It gives us an edge by providing extremely accurate topographical data of the cornea thanks to its small cone and wide corneal coverage—relatively unique in the topography instrument space.
This allows us to create lenses that fit amazingly well, which leads to better results and more satisfied patients.
When I’m tracking patient results, I love having the consistency and ease of use for the staff in our office. If you ask any major ortho-k expert globally, the Medmont brand is truly the gold standard. I love being able to efficiently create Difference Maps, change scale and its unique annotation tool.
We see so many Medmont ‘dinosaurs’ out in the field and still working perfectly, as real evidence for the quality and reliability of the brand. It ensures we can trust the data that we’re working with to deliver consistent and excellent care.
Can you share a noteworthy patient case?
A few years ago, a young teenage patient came into our clinic wearing thick glasses. He was reserved and struggling socially and academically because of his myopia, and he wasn’t particularly active. His parents had high myopia and were concerned about their son’s long-term eye health as he already had high minus and high astigmatism. We were excited to show him the different treatment options and the shape of his eye on the Medmont Meridia maps.
We were able to show the patient and his mom the high level of astigmatism that extended from limbus to limbus, leading us to need to design toric ortho-k lenses. After we fitted him with ortho-k, he was smiling every time he came into the office. You could see his confidence increasing with every visit.
The patient has been wearing ortho-k for some years now and he’s about to head out to college. He’s become very talkative and he’s into his physical health. Having tools like the Medmont Meridia™ played a crucial role in getting him fitted with the right lenses, which was truly life-changing for him.
Read our blog to see how the Medmont Meridia™ helps you master contact lens fitting.
Watch Dr Lau discuss myopia in the below video.
Dr Jackson Lau obtained his Doctor of Optometry and Bachelors degree in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkeley. He completed a residency in Cornea and Contact lenses at the Illinois Eye Institute. There, he served as clinical faculty, conducted research on dry eyes and scleral contact lenses, and lectured on topics of corneal disease, myopia control and specialty contact lenses. He has extensive experience working with world-renowned corneal specialists at the Illinois Eye Institute and the University of Chicago Department of Ophthalmology. Dr. Lau earned distinction as a Fellow of the Scleral Lens Education Society (FSLS), having treated hundreds of patients with keratoconus, corneal transplants, and severe dry eyes using scleral contact lenses. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and a member of the American Academy of Orthokeratology and Myopia Control. Dr. Lau is particularly interested in utilising advanced computer-generated designs for fully-customized gas permeable lenses (including sclerals and orthokeratology/CRT lenses. He directs the clinical externship program at Silicon Valley Eye Physicians, serving as adjunct faculty for the New England College of Optometry, Illinois College of Optometry, and Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. In addition, Dr Lau performs research as a sub-investigator for multiple ongoing contact lens and ophthalmic drug trials.