Cerium Tints

Danika Zielinski

Have you ever seen an individual wear glasses that had blue, purple, rose, or maybe

even green lenses? It may not be too common. However, if you thought they were just

sunglasses or a fashion statement, you’re wrong! It may have very well been a Cerium

tint.

Cerium tints are provided by Cerium Visual Technologies. They are precision tinted

lenses that help people with visual stress to complete their daily tasks such as: reading,

writing, or even just being in a certain environment in which they display symptoms of

light sensitivity. Visual stress has many different symptoms including headaches and/or

migraines, visual discomfort, movement or blurring of text, or seeing halos around

words. Visual stress can be experienced by concussion patients, people with dyslexia,

or people on the Autism spectrum.

The study and use of coloured lenses and/or overlays are known as colorimetry. The

first intuitive colorimeter was scientifically designed by Professor Arnold Wilkins in 1993.

His goal was to present colours to a patient with visual stress in a specific sequence.

This method allows the patient to identify which tint will best alleviate the symptoms that

they experience. Of course, the first step in any kind of visual treatment includes a

comprehensive eye exam with your optometrist. If visual stress is diagnosed, the doctor

may recommend the patient to try colorimetry depending on the condition and

symptoms. If this is the case, the patient will then complete an overlay assessment with

the optometrist or optician/optical dispenser.

In this video, I show a simple demonstration on how a Cerium tint trial is performed in a

clinic:

During the process of the overlay assessment, it is very important that the patient

completes it in a setting in which the lighting best replicates the environment of where

they will be using the tinted lenses. For example, I once did an overlay assessment with

a patient who worked in a research lab with no windows. They were interested in getting

Cerium tinted lenses because they were very light sensitive with the fluorescent lights. I

brought them into an examination room to do the assessment, and they ended up

finding the blue/blue tint helped a lot.

The great thing about Cerium tints is how customizable they are. If a patient only wants

to use the coloured lenses for very specific tasks, they have the option to get it as a

clip-on. This option is also great for people who want to have an anti-glare coating. The

anti-glare coating should never be added to the tint since it will cause the tint to lighten.

This option is also great for people with higher prescriptions. This is because the 1.5

index lenses that are added to the clip-on will allow for a much better tinting job than the

high index 1.67 or 1.74 lenses the patient will need for their high prescription. Also, the

fact you can mix certain colours to darken them more will really help some patients who

feel they may need something more.

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References

Welcome to cerium visual technologies. Cerium Visual Technologies. (2021, September

10).Retrieved November 1, 2021, from https://ceriumvistech.com/.

YouTube. (2017). Cerium Visual Technologies. Retrieved November 5, 2021, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhaKFy2pzPI.