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What is Optomap?

Optomap and How It Works

Having a clear eyesight does not necessarily translate to a perfect health. For this reason, having a comprehensive eye exam should be part of every person’s annual physical exam. This can detect changes in vision that may require a change in grade of eyeglasses or contact lens. In addition to this, there are health conditions that can be detected through a regular examination of the eyes. These include diabetes, glaucoma, cataracts, macular degeneration and even cancer.

There are some vision problems that can manifest early in life. Therefore, it is important to care for children’s eyes from infancy. When detected in their initial stages, eye diseases can be prevented before they can lead to permanent loss of vision. It will take more than a look at the front view of your eyes to see that they are healthy. This is when Optomap’s function comes to play.

Why We Use Optomap?

In the traditional method of eye examination, which is still practiced to this day, the doctor needs to dilate the eyes to clearly view the retina, blood vessels and optic nerve. However, most patients feel uncomfortable about this, especially with the application of eye drops. Thanks to a new technology known as Optomap, a comprehensive retinal examination can be performed without the need of dilating eye drops. This low-powered laser scans the retina. It makes use of different laser light wavelengths to capture the retina’s images, which can be viewed on the monitor of a computer and saved for comparisons in the future.

Optomap is a laser retina scan, which allows doctors to have a panoramic or 80% view of the retina, the back portion of the eyes. When a patient positions their eye on the instrument, the Optomap takes a photograph as quick as a quarter of a second. Two images are captured and evaluated. If they are clear enough, the procedure is repeated with the other eye.

Optomap Advantage

Patients that are extra sensitive to light, struggle to go through dilation. They find it hard to keep their eyes wide open so doctors often do not get a clear view of the retina. With Optomap, our doctors can capture clear images without causing discomfort to the light sensitive patients since the procedure happens in a flash.

While dilation is important in the comprehensive study of a patient’s eyes, Optomap can be used as an alternative for patients who are uncomfortable with this traditional way of eye examination. People should make eye care and examination a regular practice and Optomap can be a convenient method of achieving this.