A new kind of lens, specially engineered for people with strong protan-type colour vision deficiency has been released and the manufacturers claim it helps people with strong protanomaly perceive a broader range of clear, vibrant colours.

The EnChroma Cx3 Sun SP lens is being sold online and through authorised eye care professionals and can be fitted to all styles of EnChroma glasses for adults and kids.

“Building on more than ten years of research and innovation, we’re excited to bring vibrant colour to strong protans, a group particularly challenged by colour blindness because they typically see an even more limited range of colour compared to the average colour vision deficient individual,” says Andrew Schmeder, CEO of EnChroma. “To offer a solution specifically for this under-served group is testament to our ability to develop technology for colour blindness that enables access to colour for all.”

Strong protans struggle to see red, and colours containing red, and are often more acutely affected by their condition and represent up to 10% of the estimated 300 million people worldwide with impaired colour vision.

“The EnChroma SP lens for strong protans is a game-changer because it provides the colourblind with more individualised solutions,” says optician Barry Santini of Long Island Opticians in Seaford, New York. “I appreciate that my colourblind patients can now try special lenses for all types of red-green colour blindness including mild, moderate and strong forms.”

Colour blindness affects one in 12 men (8%), and one in 200 women (.5%). Special optical filters in the colour blindness lenses remove small slices of light from the visible spectrum to establish a more accurate ratio of light entering the eye. This enables the colour blind to experience a more normal spectral response, said EnChroma.