November 8, 2021 - EyeClarity Podcast
Dhruvin Patel is an optometrist and entrepreneur encouraging a healthier relationship with technology in the digital age. Since receiving a development grant from City University in London, he has built Ocushield into an internationally distributed, MHRA medically rated product and established himself as a leading authority on blue light, its impact on vision, and quality of life.
Dhruvin has been featured in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal & USA Today – selling over 150,000+ Ocushield products in 70 countries. He was also named a finalist for Health Tech Founder of the Year at the 2021 GBEA awards. He also went on to the UK’s Shark Tank, view here.
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SUMMARY KEYWORDS
blue, products, light, consumers, people, screen, problem, affecting, lives, optometrist, technology, profession, eyes, skin, put, exposure, health
Hello, everyone, it’s Dr. Sam, I’d like to welcome you to my EyeClarity podcast. This is a show that offers cutting-edge information on how to improve your vision and overall wellness through holistic methods. I so appreciate you spending part of your day with me. If you have questions, you can send them to hello@drsamberene.com. Now to the latest EyeClarity episode.
Hey everybody, it’s Dr. Sam and I want to welcome you to another AI clarity podcast. We have a very special guest today. He’s just a beautiful human being very inspirational. His name is Dr. druvan Patel. He’s an optometrist entrepreneur encouraging a healthier relationship with technology in the digital age. And he received a grant from the City University in London, where he lives. And he’s built his company called aku shield, which is international distributed. It’s a medically related product, which we’ll get into, but it helps protect people against a topic I talk a lot about, which is blue light coming off our screens and LED lights. So druvan has been featured in Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, selling over 150,000 plus Aki shield products in 70. Countries. He was also on the UK Shark Tank. That’s very cool. So druvan, I want to bring you on the program. And my first question to you is, how are you seeing blue light impacting us? Our health, our sleep, our skin? Our highs? Give us an update.
01:39
Yeah, first of all, thanks so much for having me on the podcast, then what a wonderful intro that but yeah, to answer your question. I mean, that, you know, blue light now is I’m so happy that it’s coming now more into the mainstream, because as you said, it’s affecting three key elements to our lives, which is sleep, eyes and skin. And, you know, more recently, the skin element, which is also interesting, because Unilever released some research in October last year, which said, actually 30 hours of screen time causes an increase in skin inflammation by 40%, which is effectively elastosis A plasticity of the skin, which is effectively early age. So, you know, that as well as the information we have on, you know, qubits and exposure to blue light causes visual stress, whether it’s tired eyes, which then turn into headaches, as well as blue, light suppressing melatonin, which affects our sleep, you know, it’s a growing problem, which now numerous industries are being aware of. And, you know, it’s where, you know, what I do is perfectly placed to be a great intervention to help consumers who want to limit their exposure and live a healthier life. So it’s a really good time now that there’s a lot of people that are understanding the pain points around blue light.
03:01
Yeah, for sure. You know, it’s it’s amazing that we spend so much time on our digital device from early morning to late in the evening. And this exposure, of course, our eyes, but when you bring up around the skin, you know, like going to a tanning salon, or going there like for 12 hours. I mean, of course, it’s obvious that it’s going to affect us. So what are some tips that, you know, you can recommend for us? As as we do view our screens? I don’t think it’s gonna get any less. What say you in terms of how can help?
03:45
Yeah, totally, I mean, there’s some really easy things that we could be doing. And why I always say is, firstly, proximity is really important. So if we’re looking at the contribution of blue light from screens, increasing the working distance of your screen from where you are, is going to reduce its impact on all you know, your whole health. So why we say as an arm’s length away, is the perfect distance for a screen, a handheld device, if you can reach you know, if you need to touch it. But that will reduce the fantasy of blue light and reaching in just because naturally, it’s further away, it’s less impactful. So that’s my first and second proximity. Secondly, is reducing the brightness. You know, when we’re on screens, we can control the display, reduce the brightness, you’re reducing the source of blue light, which is then going to be impacting us less because of the action. So those are my two quick tips, if you want to reduce your exposure.
And then further than that, we have other interventions which can help if, if you don’t want to increase the proximity or you don’t want to reduce the brightness, you’ve got two other solutions which can eliminate blue light from screens. And firstly, you You have a software solution. So there are software’s out there, which are inbuilt into Apple devices, which are called, for example, night shift. And it might turn a lot of you in the evening. And it was made for the evening, because, you know, there was a lot more research showing that sleep was affected by blue light back when they released in 2018. But as we now know, it’s also for eyes and skin. But the problem I find with that solution is consumers like to enjoy what they’re looking at you and I, I’m sure burn that when we’re looking at Netflix or anything in the evening, or even emails during the day, we want the image to remain crystal clear. The problem of solute software solutions, it turns everything can ugly, orange tinge. And, you know, when it comes to healthcare innovations, clients is always the most important part, if you’re not going to use a solution like the software, then it’s almost redundant. So that brings in a kind of second point from my side is where what I’ve worked on for over five years is medically approved through light filters, which actually evolved without changing the colors of the screen. And, you know, we do that in the form of screen filters, which directly go with the screen itself.
06:23
Okay, hold on okay, we’ll let it that that’s, that’s okay. That wasn’t that was for me. That was for me. Yeah, it was one of our winner. That’s okay.
06:51
So, you know, I’ve used your products, and I have found them to be really helpful. And my patients have also really benefited from them. Why are your products aka shield better than others? How do you set yourself apart from the your competitors?
07:17
Yeah, really good question for us, you know, because I’m an optometrist, by myself, for my profession, I really want to create products that consumers can feel the benefits from, and the way we do that is actually knowing the data. So when we look at the wavelengths of blue light, we look at which are the most impactful, and which, you know, blue light wavelengths peak. And what I mean by that is, for example, you know, in the fall hundreds of 450 nanometers. 410 nanometers is where the blue light spikes, and we selectively were out the most the blue light at these wavelengths. But, you know, by doing that, we maintain a crystal clear picture, because we have clever filtering within our products. And, you know, in our screen filters we have in in two ways, we put a pigments within the glass itself, which is absorbing this blue light at different wavelengths, but then we also put on surface coatings on the back which deflect the harshest blue light coming on.
And, you know, because because we our eye care professionals, you know, me, myself and the team, we’ve been able to really hone in on making the product as best as possible. And, you know, what’s important for us is also to give trust to consumers. So here in the UK, we’ve got our products registered with the MHRA, which is the Medicines and Healthcare regulatory agency. And what they do is they make sure it does what it says, but it’s also safe for the market. And, you know, we’re also FDA pending. So your you know, your FDA in the USA is equivalent of MHRA, here in the UK. And it’s not something that you have to do in work for our products. But we feel when we’re making claims about health that we do need to register with the authorities. And make sure that we follow those guidelines where, you know, other manufacturers that are claiming to limit blue light with their products might not be following that same quality checks and making sure that their products are, you know, into medical stand. And that’s really important for us because we’re a brand. We’re healthcare brand, and we want to make sure that we follow that.
09:25
Yeah, so we’re here talking with Dr. druvan Patel. He’s a optometrist, entrepreneur, founder of a company called aku shield, which helps protect us against the damaging blue light. And we’ll we’ll give his website and contact information in a few minutes. But druvan I want to ask you, what do you see in terms of the future, you know, with things like virtual reality and, you know, video games and you know, what do you seeing as we move into a 2022 and beyond in terms of how you fit into being able to help us with our health and wellness.
10:08
Sure, yeah, I think screens are becoming an integral part of our lives and they have done in the pandemic. And as more people adopt other technologies, whether it’s virtual reality headsets, which, you know, I do want to get started on that, because that that is really close to your eyes, you know, right. Right. Which, you know, again, there isn’t, that’s not been looked at. I mean, for now, I’d recommend people that are using virtual reality headsets to really reduce that time on there, because that is yeah, the closest you can get to a sort of near there. I think I think as, as more people become aware of the dangers, I think, you know, we’re gonna be as a world, you know, what we’re seeing now is we’re seeing a push to sustainability and the world removing single use plastics, because we’re carrying plastic usage in the same way. Well, I see now is, we’re learning to live a healthy life with technology being less connected, you know, not getting that dopamine release, because we’re getting a notification. But at the same time, we’re going to be reduction on reducing screen exposure because of the blue light. So there’s lots of changes that come in, and I think people are already aware of it, it’s great, because they can be ahead of the curve, and they reduce the impact on their health. But yeah, it’s, you know, it’s that awareness, which is growing. And I think that’s the most important thing. For consumers that use technology.
11:33
Yeah, I know, I’ve seen your you’ve got a very active social media presence. And you’ve got great posts, people who should look look for Aki shield on Instagram, or Facebook or LinkedIn, really find your information to be so informative, and you’re an educator, you know, you’re teaching us it’s, you’re not just selling a product, but you’re actually creating a lot of value in educating us on okay, how can we navigate this, because it’s so new. I mean, in the US, I still go to conferences, and they’re doctors that are skeptical that blue light is actually an issue, and it blows me away, that we, we don’t recognize as a profession, how damaging the blue light is, you know, I’ve seen more people with macular degeneration and cataracts and glaucoma and more inflammatory issues in the eyes. And then, of course, the sleep issue. And then we’ve got the young kids, with the gamers doing a lot of things there that are really affecting, you know, their learning and their attention. So I really applaud you for all the energy you’re putting in to into your products. How can people find you? And how can they? How can they find the product?
13:03
Yeah, so just before I touch on that, Dr. Byrne, I wanted to you mentioned the important point about the profession, not being, you know, okay with blue light. And you know, what people need to understand what patients and consumers understand is, a lot of the profession is always guided by clinical papers, which have been done over a long period of time, and really funded positions. And actually, what people are looking for in our profession is, you know, studies which can go over 20 years, but actually devices haven’t even been around for that long, in terms of smartphones. So get that conclusive evidence when it comes to linking the two they’re waiting for something that’s not not here at the present. But what is here is epidemiological studies, which already show through in vitro testing, or cohort studies are looking at on a molecular level that blue light is dangerous. So you know, connecting the two, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that actually, in the future, it’s going to be a problem. So I think, yeah, it’s, it’s just sharing that with the professional as well. And as you said, the more they learn about you, and the more we can share to open their eyes, and that sense of unintended, is going to be beneficial, as well.
14:22
Well, you’ve written a very extensive blue light paper, one for the consumer, and one for the professional, a lot of research went into it. And, you know, folks, I recommend getting that that paper if you can, because it’ll really spotlight the research that is being done ongoing. And it’s pretty definitive. You know, the French government came out with a study on the damaging effects of blue light, I quote that study all the time. And, you know, blue light is here to stay and we need to be able to navigate it. Otherwise, we’re going to You know, we’re gonna have a lot of problems. So how do people how can they buy your product? How can they get in touch with you, your your team? If they have questions, give us your contact info.
15:13
Yeah, no, certainly. So anyone who’s listening can find us at Aki show.com, which is OCU shild.com. Where, as you mentioned, wherever you know what, well, we are active on the social media such as Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, which is get aku showed, so just put get in front of that. And for your listeners as well, you know, we I’m putting out there now, you know, if you put Dr. Sam burning as a coupon in the website, you’ll get 20% off your purchase. So that’s my gift to you and your listeners.
15:51
Okay, well, thank you. Wow, that’s a surprise. I wasn’t expecting that. Very, very generous. And we’re going to have you on the health summit. I’m doing a focus. I’m doing a health summit again, this our second one, January 14, and 16th 2022. And we’ve invited Aki shield to come and participate and educate us. So stay tuned for those announcements. But druvan I want to thank you for taking the time. In talking with me today, and I look forward to our future collaborations. I feel we have a great future together. So thank you for for everything you’re doing and I look forward to seeing you.
16:33
Seriously, yeah, looking forward to working on some Yeah, content for making people use technology better and improving their lives. Thank you so much for having me.
Thank you for listening. I hope you learned something from the EyeClarity podcast show today. If you enjoyed the episode, make sure to subscribe on iTunes or Spotify and leave a review. See you here next time.