Predicting the Efficacy of Myopia Control Spectacle Lenses by Simulating Their Optical Effect on the Retina

Abstract

Slowing myopia progression is central to addressing a growing public health concern. Myopia control spectacle lenses with diverse optical designs have been proposed for this purpose, and show varying degrees of clinical efficacy. Relating their design to their efficacy remains an open challenge. Here we show that it is possible to predict their clinical efficacy from their optical design, by reconstructing their impact on the retinal image. We simulated how several lens designs affect the retinal image using a combined lens and eye optical model. By assuming that the retina extracts specific features from the retinal image to modulate eye growth, we could predict the cumulative absolute reduction in axial elongation (CARE) of lens designs with very different rationales and microstructures. Our results show that different myopia control spectacle lenses can be compared on a common optical basis, and that their efficacy is predictable from their optical properties. This work paves the way for rational design of next-generation lenses and for adapting designs to each patient's ocular optics.