The document discusses the potential impact of the Netra device, a self-refraction tool, on the delivery of refractive care in optometry. It highlights how this technology could disrupt traditional practices, making refraction accessible to patients from home and reducing visits to doctors. Experts predict a future where devices like Netra, combined with 3D printing, could transform eye care, particularly for underserved populations.

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EYE ON TECHNOLOGY
Disruptive innovation that affects
science, people and the economy
By Dominick M. Maino, tive, high-quality, or remote well.
O.D., and Geoffrey G. refractive tools available to Don’t panic just yet. Well
Goodfellow, O.D. meet the demand. maybe you should, just a lit-
According to Dr. tle.
A
re refracting opti- Pamplona, current diagnostic Dr. Pamplona told me
cians the only poten- tools are expensive, bulky, that one possible business
tial threat to the require significant training, model would be based on
delivery of optometric refrac- and do not allow for data dig- Netflix. You would order a
tive care? Probably not. New itization or access to appro- pair of lenses in several dif-
technology like the NETRA priate products/services from ferent frames, keep the ones
device may also become sig- remote locations. you want, and return the rest!
nificant in how refractive care Should this be consid- He believes ophthalmol-
is delivered to our patients. ered a disruptive innovation ogists do not want to do
I (Dr. Maino) met Vitor that affects science, our refractive care, but this could
Pamplona at an American patients and the economy? help them provide this patient
Academy of Optometry meet- There is little doubt that service. Dominick Maino, O.D., samples the NETRA
ing where his poster was just this technology can be a sig- He noted the average smartphone device.
down the way from mine. We nificant game-changer within optometrist could be at finan-
chatted a bit, and then I tried the health care arena! cial risk because of NETRA. this device since this technol- refractive care a true non-sur-
a self-refraction using the Can you image your However, the optometrist ogy (and time) will make the gical specialty.
NETRA device connected to patients going into a mall, could use this the same way decision for the health care As you know, this spe-
a cell phone. Did it work for downloading the refractive an auto-refractor is currently professionals involved. ciality is one in which we as
me? I’ll discuss that a bit app, renting the NETRA being used in the office. In They believe this will optometrists already excel.
later. device, connecting it to their this scenario it would be allow doctors to become This will allow us to be
In a recent under the doc- patient advisers and teachers able to charge for not only the
phone interview tor’s domain at and not “data collectors.” science involved in refractive
(and while The optometrist could use this all times. Dr. Pamplona even care, but also for the art at an
reviewing his So far, believes that within the next appropriate fiscal level.
website) I the same way an auto-refractor NETRA has only five years or so an optical By the way, since I have
learned that Dr. is currently being used in the studied its use coherence tomography-like an Array Multifocal intraocu-
Pamplona fin- with its targeted device will be available with- lar lens, NETRA did not
ished his Ph.D. office. In this scenario it would audience of nor- in the home that will easily accurately determine my
in computer sci- be under the doctor’s domain mal adults 22 to monitor optic nerve changes refraction.
ence. He is also 60 years old. over time. The future is still bright!
the chief tech- at all times. Once He suggests that similar
nology officer appropriate pro- medical devices will be used Dr. Maino is a professor of
for EyeNetra tocols are estab- within the home with the end pediatrics and binocluar
Inc. and is currently working cell phone and generating lished (more than likely in a result being decreased visits vision at the Illinois College
on the next generation of their own prescription at little game-like format), testing to the physician’s office and of Optometry (ICO) and a
NETRA (NETRA-G) to no cost! with children may begin. laboratory. recipient of the Leonardo da
(http://eyenetra.com). They could then go over NETRA has not been Are you ready for the Vinci Award of Excellence in
He and his team are also to the nearby optical shop used with patients with spe- logical outcomes of devices Medicine. He can be contact-
developing a new health care that has a 3-D scanner that cial needs, amblyopes/strabis- like this? I predict what will ed at dmaino@ico.edu. Dr.
app called Test2Connect. This takes precise facial measure- mics or the geriatric popula- happen is that after all the Goodfellow is an associate
is a new cloud-based system ments. tion. easy 2.00 D myopes are given professor of optometry at ICO
that connects patients and In few minutes, they The newer model is a their glasses, the hundreds of and the college’s assistant
providers of services and would then pick up their new binocular version that takes thousands of patients who dean for curriculum and
products through a mobile glasses that were just made into consideration the need the doctor and not just assessment. He can be con-
app. by the shop’s 3-D printer patient’s accommodation and the technology will make tacted at ggoodfel@ico.edu.
His website states that (more about 3-D printers in vergence demands.
2.4 billion people worldwide another column). None of these devices is
who need glasses do not have During our phone con- currently commercially avail-
them due to a lack of avail- versation, Dr. Pamplona pre- able.
able eye and vision care. dicted that eventually this The researchers and busi-
Even though eyeglasses device (3-D printers) would ness people at EyeNetra do
can cost as little as $0.75 a not only be available at the not have a game plan to win
pair, there are no cost-effec- mall but in patients’ homes as over eye care professionals to
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