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SPECIALTY EQUIPMENT
Our office is equipped with state-of-the-art special diagnostic equipment to aid in the detection and treatment of many eye conditions.
OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY (OCT)
The OCT is a state-of-the-art diagnostic device used in the diagnosis and management of a wide range of conditions. Specialized lasers in the OCT (safer than the lasers used in your television remote) scan layer-by-layer to form a 3-dimensional map of the part of the eye being examined (optic nerve, retina, cornea, and others). These scans provide such a fine level of detail that problems can often be detected (and treated) years earlier, which can improve outcomes dramatically. This is true of many conditions, including glaucoma, diabetes, macular degeneration, keratoconus, and many more.
DIGITAL RETINAL PHOTOGRAPHY
Photographing the retina is a highly specialized form of medical imaging that cannot be done with an ordinary camera. Our customized digital camera is mounted to a microscope with intricate lenses and mirrors that allow us to visualize the back of the eye by focusing light through the cornea, pupil and lens of the eye. The photographs taken with this equipment are used to document the health of the optic nerve, vitreous, macula, retina, and its blood vessels. Eye doctors can use these photos for documentation, comparison, and sometimes to diagnose certain eye conditions. Photographs can be viewed digitally in each exam room to enable the doctor to interactively review the findings with each patient.
Routine or screening retinal photographs are offered to each patient not only as a way to share a snapshot of your eye with you, but also to document a baseline or any abnormal findings. Our camera also has the ability to document abnormalities on the front part of the eye such as the eyelids, conjunctiva, cornea or iris.
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CORNEAL TOPOGRAPHY
The Medmont Corneal Topographer at our office is a specialized piece of equipment designed to image the cornea, the clear, dome-shaped front surface of the eye. Using a series video images, the Medmont is able to analyze over 15,000 points to create a 3-dimensional topographical map of the cornea just like a geographical map showing the elevations and valleys of the corneal surface. This allows our doctors to see even minute irregularities that can aid in the diagnosis and management of many corneal conditions.
Eye doctors use the information provided by this instrument for several clinical applications. First, we can use this information to design custom contact lenses for patients with special corneal conditions like keratoconus. We also use topography information as part of our LASIK consultation exams, to help our doctors determine eligibility for laser corrective eye surgery. Finally, we can use these corneal maps to aid in fitting specialty contact lenses, such as highly toric or orthokeratology contact lenses.