Eye Care Services
Visual Fields Machine
Any condition that affects the nerve of the eye or the brain like strokes or trauma can result in a loss of areas of peripheral vision. This is clearly a dangerous thing for drivers or even pedestrians crossing the road if, for example, the left side of both eyes is missing. Therefore, we do carry out routine check on most people over 40 and others who are potentially at risk of loss of side vision.
The front of the eye may look like a clear window and although it is just half a millimetre thick it has in fact many layers which are impossible to see with the naked eye. The slit lamp is a high powered microscope with a very intense light source that provides a very detailed examination of these layers. Since there are many conditions which result in a “red eye”, only by detailed examination with this equipment can an accurate diagnosis be made. We use the slit lamp on every patient we see.
This is the one thing that everyone associates with an opticians. The classic letter chart that starts of with large letters and reduce in size as you read down it.
Children's Eye Tests
A common question is ‘at what age should I bring my children in for an examination?’ Our answer is ‘any age’. For children who cannot read or even respond to any question we use a Retinoscope which gives us an objective assessment of the prescription. This tells us whether there is any significant error that needs early correction and in most cases reassures us everything is within normal limits.
As children get older they can match letters on a card to different sized letters we show them. Older still and we can show them pictures of common objects – cars, yachts, aeroplanes and so on. On top of all that there are other sensitive tests to check both eyes work together and that colour vision is within normal limits.
The eye is kept ‘blown up’ by fluid that comes in at the back of the eye and out near the front. Sometimes the drain gets blocked up for unknown reasons and the pressure inside the eye rises. If it rises too high it can compress the small nerves in the eye resulting in a loss of side vision (see visual fields for how this is tested). We now routinely use "I-Care" which measures pressure without a puff of air or any need for drops. Most patients love it.
Ocular Coherence Tomography is an advanced eye scan for people of all ages. Similar to ultrasound, OCT uses light rather than sound waves to illustrate the different layers that make up the back of the eye. This particular 3D OCT unit captures a digital photograph of the surface of the eye at the same time and this can be cross referenced across any areas of concern.
The major benefit of this state of the art machine is that it allows your optometrist to see both the back of your eye, and a three dimensional image to look beneath the surface of the regular retinal image.