If you happen to be in Las Vegas, Nevada, and need a rush job on a pair of digital progressive lenses, Nataly Gammoh, OD, can get you set up in about 12 minutes. No kidding. Dr. Gammoh and her husband, licensed optician Luis Flores, have four locations in town, operating as Optika Veinte Veinte or The Eye Doc (T.E.D.). The newest one—T.E.D. Optical Lab—is a testament to fully autonomous digital optical technology.
Dr. Gammoh, who worked as an optician before going to optometry school, has been around the optical industry for much of her life. But this digital optical lab is really her husband’s passion project. Timing and other factors worked in their favor. With the advances in digital technology and a Nevada law that took effect in September 2023 that prohibits vision care plans from mandating that ODs use certain labs or materials, they saw their chance.
As they were planning and going through the construction, they didn’t foresee that the potential tariffs on imported goods would be another factor in their favor. While the lab is set up to supply eyewear for the patients and customers of the four T.E.D. locations, they are also accepting orders from other optometrists and opticals in the area. Dr. Gammoh says she’s gearing up to take on orders from far and wide.
The couple was looking for a building that could house their next optometry practice and optical. “Most optical labs are in industrial areas because there’s a heavy power requirement,” she says. But they found a unicorn: a building in a commercial area that was 5,000 square feet and wired for three-phase electrical power, so it had the infrastructure and size to support the digital lab. They gutted the building and rebuilt it to their unusual specifications.
The two exam lanes and optical dispensary take up about 1,500 square feet of the space; the rest is dedicated to the lab, including a clean room for application of antireflective treatments.
WATCH IT HAPPEN
Dr. Gammoh says that she knew what they were creating was unique, so they leaned into the curiosity factor. Patients and customers can see the lab in operation—and while they don’t generally make the eyewear while patients wait, they can if necessary.
The entire process is fully autonomous. A robotic arm, the Easy Buddy, picks up the lens and brings it through the grinding and finishing process. “We built a whole glass window that showcases the lab,” Dr. Gammoh says. “You can see the edging and the robotic arm that grabs your lenses and prepares them for edging.” View the process on her Instagram reels here.
The digital process means that a single vision puck can be made into any lens. “You need much less inventory with a digital system. In a conventional lab, you’d have to keep so many lenses in stock, but in a digital system, you can create anything from that puck. With our digital equipment, we can make a prescription with a precision of 0.01D. The precision is incredible,” she says.
“I can order low-add progressive lenses, a +0.50, for example. That means that I can add that progressive to any lens, for kids or adults.” With that high level of precision, she says that she rarely hears complaints about dizziness or swim or about adaptations.
The optical can fulfill prescriptions using national lens brands, but the lab carries its own private label single vision finished lenses in multiple material indexes for greater value and efficiency.
WHAT TARIFFS?
When they started the search for a building, the couple did not foresee potential tariffs on imported products. In that way, their timing is “perfect,” she says. Even though the finished lenses are imported, the pucks are purchased in the U.S. “Lens prices are going up, but we make the lenses here in this community, and we can provide this service to every eye care professional.”
The newest location, T.E.D. Optical Lab, opened in March 2025, but patient demand is already keeping them busy, Dr. Gammoh says. The doctors are in demand, as are the lenses. Now T.E.D. Optical Lab is expanding its ability to provide lenses for other practices as they perfect the process.
Read more stories about eye care professionals building a specialty here.
