Optomap

I had an eye appointment today. They have a "new" gadget called Optomap (they've had it for about a year now). The patient looks into a 4" diameter hole in the front of a big white box (face turned sideways, nose smooshed into place). A green light flashes and the machine takes a picture of the back of the eye. Repeat for the other eye and then, back to the exam room to look at the pictures. The images are then stored in the computer as a permanent record of the condition of the patient's retina at that exam.

Conventional Retinal Imaging Technology only captures a small area of the retina [about 30 degrees] at one time. ... In contrast to the simple illuminating effects of whitelight in a conventional examination, the Optimap allows review of a 200 degree internal scan which is viewed in separate wavelengths of light."

Not only that, but there's no need for eye drops, fuzzy vision for the next hour, or those funny plastic sunglasses.

My optometrist pointed out the optic nerve, which shows as a bright yellow spot in the center of the frame, and the macula, a dark smudge. I could see a bunch of veins running to the optic nerve. I asked if the image showed that I was nearsighted and he said yes. Apparently nearsighted people have some "fraying" around the edge of the optic nerve (although I don't have much of that).

So, how does it work?

The Panoramic200 Ophthalmoscope consists of a low powered laser beam that is scanned in two dimensions over the retina. Light reflected from the retina is detected and transformed into a digital computer image - the Optomap Retinal Image.

The instrument uses coherent red-green illumination, enabling it to image pathology throughout the layers of the retina, from the sensory retina and nerve fiber layer, through the RPE and down to the choroid. The ultra-widefield image can be separated to present the distinct retinal sub-structures and the individual red and green laser images can be displayed in grayscale separation for enhanced contrast.

If you're interested, there's a nicely done Flash presentation/demo on the website. I also brought home the 2-page explanatory flyer they hand out to kids. It does a pretty good job of explaining how the process works (leaving out the part about the smooshed nose).

Flyer: [Page 1] [Page 2]

Optomap ( in category SciTech ) - posted at Fri, 07 Jan, 23:58 Pacific | «e»