Grand Rapids, MI – Art Optical, the nation’s leading independent custom contact lens manufacturer, today announced the availability of customized higher-order aberration (HOA)-correcting optics in its Ampleye® Scleral lens system. The new capability gives prescribers a data-driven way to address visual disturbances that persist even after a scleral lens achieves an ideal physical fit — closing a gap that has long frustrated both practitioners and patients with irregular corneas.
Addressing the “Fit-Is-Fine, Vision-Isn’t” Problem
For many patients with keratoconus, post-surgical corneas, corneal transplants, or other irregular corneal conditions, achieving a well-fitted scleral lens is only part of the equation. Even with excellent alignment and vaulting, residual higher-order aberrations — irregularities in how light travels through the eye — can produce flare, glare, halos, ghosting, and reduced contrast sensitivity. These symptoms are often invisible on a standard fitting exam, yet they can meaningfully diminish a patient’s functional vision and quality of life.
Art Optical’s new offering targets this exact problem. In partnership with OVITZ® and powered by the xwave system, Ampleye prescribers can now capture precise, patient-specific wavefront measurements of HOAs and translate that data directly into a custom, wavefront-guided lens design — manufactured to correct the unique optical fingerprint of each eye.
Clinical Results
In a pilot study of patients fitted with Ampleye lenses incorporating HOA-correcting optics, practitioners recorded an average 61% improvement in HOARMS (Higher-Order Aberration Root Mean Square), a standard metric for quantifying optical distortion. That result compares favorably to benchmarks established in the broader field: a recent study by Gelles et al. identified a 55% reduction in HOARMS for meaningful visual improvement1. Art Optical’s pilot data suggests its wavefront-guided approach not only meets but exceeds that threshold.
“For patients with complex corneal irregularities who have been unable to obtain crisp vision despite an ideal scleral lens fit and precise optics, Ampleye with HOA Correction is the answer to disturbances like flare, glare, halos, and ghosting,” said Bethany Peebles, FAAO, NCLE-AC, ABOC, Executive Director of Consultation Services at Art Optical. “This isn’t an incremental tweak to lens design — it’s a fundamentally different way of thinking about optics for the irregular cornea. We’re moving prescribers from ‘good enough’ to genuinely optimized vision, backed by objective, repeatable data rather than trial and error.”
How It Works
The xwave system captures a detailed wavefront map of the eye’s optical aberrations while the patient is wearing their scleral lens. That measurement data is then used to generate a custom optical correction, which Art Optical incorporates directly into the Ampleye lens design during manufacturing. The result is a lens built not only to the contours of the eye’s surface, but to the specific way light behaves as it passes through it — allowing prescribers to move beyond standard spherical or toric corrections toward truly personalized optics.
This workflow is designed to fit within existing Ampleye fitting protocols, so practitioners already familiar with the platform can integrate HOA measurement and correction without overhauling their fitting process.
About Ampleye Scleral
Available exclusively in the U.S. through Art Optical, Ampleye Scleral is a fully vaulting scleral lens system developed by the KATT Design Group to serve the growing population of patients with irregular corneas and ocular surface disease. Backed by more than a decade of clinical performance, Ampleye is trusted by thousands of practitioners nationwide for its precision design, ease of fit, and consistent outcomes across a wide range of corneal presentations — from mild irregularity to advanced ectasia and post-surgical complexity.
The addition of custom HOA-correcting optics extends that track record into the optical domain, giving prescribers a tool to pursue not just physiological fit, but optimized visual performance, for their most challenging patients.
Availability
Customized HOA-correcting optics for Ampleye Scleral lenses are available now to prescribers in the United States through Art Optical. Practitioners interested in incorporating xwave-powered HOA measurement and correction into their Ampleye fitting protocol can contact Art Optical’s consultation team for details on getting started, including guidance on the measurement process, design workflow, and ordering.
1Gelles JD, et al.; Visual Improvement With Wavefront-Guided Scleral Lenses for Irregular Corneal Astigmatism; Eye & Contact Lens; Feb. 2025; PMC11753440.
