Tokai Optical unveiled its MYOGEN myopia lenses at ODMAFair25. Other companies have similar products in the market, but the Japanese lens manufacturer says that sometimes, good things come to those who wait.
Tokai Optical recognises it has arrived a little later than others in the Australian market for myopia management spectacle lenses.
But as the company’s Australia general manager, Mr Justin Chiang, points out: practitioners may have tried the rest, but have they experienced what he considers the best?
One advantage of entering a little later than competitors is the chance to get a good gauge on what works and what doesn’t, and to find ways to refine your own offering.
Chiang says the principles behind Tokai’s MYOGEN Advanced Myopia Control Lens are similar to those in other products – peripheral light is redirected to induce myopic defocus, a clinically validated approach shown to reduce axial elongation, the structural hallmark of progressive myopia.
That defocus function, where the point of focus is in front of the retina, rather than behind, is available in other designs.
But the MYOGEN lenses, which were registered and approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) in April 2025 and officially unveiled to an eager ophthalmic audience at ODMAFair25 in June, advance on that technology with Tokai’s unique, proprietary “honeycomb structure”, what it says are improved contrast and clarity, and what the company describes as its superior scratch-resistance qualities.
That makes them ideal for young myopic patients with active lifestyles, says Chiang.
“I think one of the advantages for Tokai being compared to some others, and a bit late into this market, is that we have seen what is out there and improved on that existing product,” he says.
At the core of MYOGEN is its innovative honeycomb microstructure, featuring hexagonal lens segments approximately 600 μm in size.
These elements are distributed with a 300 μm spacing between adjacent hexagons.
These precisely positioned segments are key to the success of the lens in encouraging children to wear their myopia-management glasses for sometimes long periods, says Chiang.
Conventional lenses provide a central focus point around the circle in the middle of the eye, between 9-10 millimetres, and then the peripheral defocusing spreads out over the remainder of the lens.
Tokai’s MYOGEN lens operates on a similar principle, but its denser honeycomb microstructure, with tightly spaced hexagonal segments, helps minimise visual “jump”, blur, and discomfort beyond the central optical zone, delivering a smoother and more comfortable visual experience for the wearer, the company says.
“So imagine you’ve got a lot of links but more spread out, and when the image goes through those links will cause a certain jumping in the image, jumping between the microstructures, which can be a cause of discomfort and blurred vision,” he says.
“But in Tokai’s MYOGEN lens, in the same area we can fit more micro lenses and because they are smaller and it’s more dense, the gap is less, so the transition is more smooth.”
He says because that makes the visual experience better, young myopic patients may be more likely to wear the glasses longer and comply with their treatment.
“The MYOGEN design places strong emphasis on peripheral visual comfort,” says Chiang. “This feature encourages consistent daily wear, and is designed so children can readily achieve the minimum wearing time required for the lens to be effective in suppressing myopia progression.
“So I think that’s one of the key improvements in myopia control lenses.”
Helping to increase that compliance, especially for sometimes very young patients, is the thinness of the Tokai lenses, which makes them light and more comfortable.
Tokai is able to provide 1.7 index lenses, even in a higher refractive prescription.
And its renowned scratch-resistant coating options make it ideal for younger children needing to wear their myopia-management glasses for long periods in their active lifestyles.
The company’s Super Power Shield coating is standard with the lenses, providing exceptional scratch resistance, durability, and ease of cleaning.
Blue Cut Coating is also available as an option to filter high-energy blue light for children who frequently use digital devices.
“Tokai is quite specialised in coatings – we have a special division doing the thin film and industrial coating,” says Chiang.
This, along with the visual comfort of the honeycomb structure and the lightness and comfort of the thin lenses, further encourages children to keep their glasses on and get the most benefit from the myopia-control treatment.
“Because imagine you have a pair of lenses and there’s this scratch or you don’t see very well or they’re very thick and heavy,” he says.
“You probably wouldn’t want to wear them for too long. And they don’t feel comfortable wearing them.”
For those children who do wear them, Tokai’s own data shows its lens is effective in myopia control.
In the chart above, Tokai compares its own data from an internal trial of children wearing the MYOGEN lens with a retrospective analysis of eight longitudinal studies conducted in China between 2007 and 2017, looking at axial elongation in Asian children.
A year-long clinical trial of the Tokai MYOGEN Aspherical Lens was conducted at the Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China, under the leadership of Professors Zeng Yangfa and Chen Xiang.
It involved 174 children aged between six and 14, with each child randomly assigned either the MYOGEN lens or Tokai’s standard 1.60 aspherical lens.
They were monitored over 12 months, with follow-up visits at six and 12 months.
Tokai says that study, which is yet to be published, shows the MYOGEN group demonstrated “significantly slower” progression of myopia, both in terms of refractive change and axial length growth, compared with the control group.
Equally important, children adapted well to the lenses, reporting clear and stable vision in everyday school and leisure activities.
Tokai also has data on file showing the lenses’ higher ABBE values of 42 (for 1.60 index lenses) and 36 (1.70), which Chiang says means greater optical quality and less chromatic aberration compared with other products on the market with lower values.
The ABBE value is a measure of how much a lens material disperses light. A higher value means less dispersion and better image quality, while a lower value indicates more dispersion and potential colour fringing.
All of which made Tokai’s official launch of the MYOGEN lens a popular part of ODMAFair25 in Sydney.
“There was a lot of interest,” he says. “The biggest interest was for the higher refractory index, like 1.7, and we’ve received quite a few orders.”
