Posted on: July 15, 2017
Patients are beginning to realize that it is important to have a comprehensive eye exam at least once a year. By scheduling an exam annually, patients have found that they can catch and manage the early onset of many different eye conditions. What many patients do not realize is how important it is to have retinal imaging during a comprehensive exam.
Even with technological advancements in optometry, it is apparent that an annual examination is not complete without retinal imaging. As a result, many optometrists are starting to use new tools, like the Optos Daytona wide field retinal imaging machine that we use in our practice. This machine can make sure that optometrists are performing a retinal examination on the patient when they come in for their annual exam.
Patients are becoming more aware, as advised by their optometrists, that they need an exam on an annual basis. Many questions why a retinal exam is so important. The answer is that some of the first signs of disease, such as stroke, diabetes and even some forms of cancer are first evident in the retina of the eye.
Very often, with regard to these conditions, they will become evident on the retina of the eye long before other symptoms start to appear. As a result, getting an annual exam can give a patient a jump start on treatments that have nothing to do with the eye.
The great news for patients that have understood the importance of retinal imaging during a comprehensive annual eye exam is that using technology like Optomap is extremely beneficial. This is because the ultra wide field Optomap helps the eye doctor to detect any problems that may be occurring far more quickly and far more easily.
In addition, unlike traditional retinal exams, the Optomap image is something that can be saved for future comparisons. In other words, the optometrist is going to have the ability to compare year-over-year to make sure that there are no significant changes in the eye that could indicate a problem.
The technology being used is an ultra-wide field of digital scanning, it uses laser technology to acquire images in order to support detection, diagnosis, analysis, documentation, and management of the retina. As a result, conditions that may go otherwise undetected when using traditional examination techniques and equipment, are easily identified and can be treated.
Patients who want to bring their children in for a comprehensive annual eye exam, using this technology is extremely safe. In fact, since many vision problems begin early in childhood, it is important for children to receive a routine exam and it is strongly advised that they also get retinal imaging.
There are absolutely no side effects associated with this kind of imaging. Optomap images are created using non-invasive, low-intensity scanning lasers and in over 50 million examinations, nobody has reported any kind of discomfort or after effects.
If you want to schedule an annual comprehensive eye exam along with retinal imaging, give us a call today.
For more information what is retinal imaging, please get in touch with us!