The MAGNA-5 Evaluation kit is a new tool we designed to help practitioners assess how individuals with low vision might benefit from a subtle increase in magnification, along with potential added prism and contrast enhancement.
The MAGNA-5, as the name suggests, provides a fixed 5% magnification (1.05x) using lenses designed with standard ophthalmic principles. This slight increase can make a real difference for patients with reduced visual acuity.
The kit includes three fit-over variations. These can be worn over a patient’s existing glasses, or we’ve included a nose pad adapter for those who don’t wear glasses. This makes it easy to test the system in a practical, real-world setting.
Beyond the 5% magnification fit-overs, we included two more fit-overs: one with four diopters of base-up prism and another with four diopters of base-down prism. Adding prism can sometimes help by shifting the image to a healthier area on the macula, especially for patients with specific macular conditions or central scotomas, so we wanted to include that option.
Because contrast is also a key consideration in low vision, the kit includes clip-on filters in two common low vision tints: 450nm (bright yellow) and 527nm (bright orange). This lets you assess whether patients experience any added comfort or clarity when these are combined with the 5% magnification.
Our goal with the MAGNA-5 Evaluation Kit is to give practitioners a straightforward way to see if a small degree of magnification, along with specific prism or contrast filters, will genuinely benefit a patient before we prescribe a final spectacle correction. The data gathered from this evaluation can then be used to create a pair of glasses, incorporating the best parameters for the patient along with their existing prescription.
We believe the MAGNA-5 is particularly relevant for any patient with reduced visual acuity that may benefit from a slight improvement. These individuals often find that this subtle magnification provides a noticeable improvement without significantly reducing their field of view, which can be an issue with higher magnification devices.
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Charlie Saccarelli
President, Chadwick OpticalAs President of Chadwick Optical, Charlie Saccarelli is the driving force behind the company’s mission to help every patient left behind by the current health care system. Under his leadership, Chadwick has grown from a simple optical lab into a trusted resource for practitioners around the world looking for ways to help the patients that “can’t be helped.” He is a master optician, a father, a bit of a nerd, and a passionate patient advocate who has lectured worldwide on all things optical.
