Do we need better than 20/20 vision?
In 2011 we compiled results for 52 eyes of 26 patients who had various vision complications resulting from things such as keratoconus, RK surgery, LASIK or other surgeries. Of this group, only 36% of eyes achieved 20/20 or better with ordinary eyeglasses. After being fitted for scleral lenses with conventional optics, 50% achieved 20/20 or better vision. We then fitted them with first generation Laserfit lenses using wavefront-guided optics. The result was a vast improvement such that 75% achieved 20/20 or better, and 16% achieved 20/10 vision.
You can gather up a group of individuals and have them read an eye chart and not all of them will be able to read even the 20/20 line. They will exhibit a distribution of results, and some of them will actually act surprised that they can’t see as well as they thought. Something considerably less than 20/20 is permissible for driving a motor vehicle.I think I can safely say that nobody really needs to have 20/10 vision, although about 1% do have it.
Maybe some people would not want it. Maybe they are afraid of seeing too much. The HDTV might appear not so HD?(wink)
So, who might like to have 20/10? Airline pilots? Certain professional athletes? Member of the military? I know that visual acuity is very important to baseball players and golfers. Some surveys of professional baseball players have found that many of them see better than 20/20. Ted Williams had 20/10 vision.
Is 20/10 vision possible for everyone?
Not everyone can achieve 20/10 vision, so who might be interested in seeing better by 1 or 2 lines on the Snellen chart? I can think of certain RK patients for whom even 20/30 is the best they can get with a good contact lens. I can think of certain patients with keratoconus for whom 20/20 is a vague memory – if they can remember it.
What about patients who have astigmatism and wear toric soft lenses? As a group, they often struggle to see better than 20/30. What about people who wear soft contacts and sit in front of the computer all day with dry lenses?
Everyone would like to see better
The truth is that I have yet to see a person not react very favorably to better vision. Vision of 20/10 and better seems to be of great value to those who possess it. Nothing is more rewarding than seeing the look on the face of a patient as they realize how much better the world appears with clarity. If one can give that ability to somebody, then why not? A number of our patients have achieved 20/10 vision with their Laserfit lenses.
One of those is a patient with a LASIK mishap who was not able to be improved to better than 20/30 with her regular scleral lenses. She can now see the eye color of a person from across a large room.
The Laserfit process has undergone numerous refinements since 2011, and we look forward to updating these results in the near future. While we don’t guarantee 20/10 vision, we can provide the best possible vision, even under difficult circumstances.
