Hours:

Mon 8-5

Tues 9-6:30

Wed 8-5

Thurs 7-5

Fri 7-4

Sat 8-12

We are open the first and third Saturdays of the month, unless otherwise specified

The Optomap Retinal Exam

The Optomap Retinal Exam is a digital imaging device, much like a digital camera. It takes an image of the inside of the eye with three important benefits over traditional retinal cameras:

  1. The Optomap allows for up to 200 degrees of the inside of the eye to be imaged, compared to 30 to 50 degrees with a traditional retinal camera.
  2. The Optomap takes the image through very small pupils, and does not require dilation drops.
  3. The Optomap uses red and green lasers to take an image, thereby eliminating the bright camera flash of retinal cameras.

Within tenths of a second, the Optomap images the inside of the eye, creating a lasting document of the condition of your eye at the time the image was taken. Not only will this allow us to confirm your eyes are healthy, but in the event there is a problem, will allow us to follow for any changes over time.

We feel the Optomap improves our ability to care for our patients. In the majority of cases, having an Optomap Retinal Exam done will replace dilated examination, thereby also improving the convenience of an eye examination. If any abnormailities are detected, or if an acceptable image cannot be obtained, dilating drops may still be used.

Having an Optomap examination is a painless procedure that can help detect problems within the eye earlier than usual. In fact, the instrument was designed by Douglas Anderson, whose son Leif at the age of five lost vision in one eye due to a retinal detachment. Mr. Anderson recognized the difficulty in assessing the eye health of a young person with the technology available at the time, and wanted to create a device to allow for easier evaluation and treatment of eye problems.

We strongly encourage all our patients, regardless of age, to have an Optomap Retinal Exam performed. The cost of the procedure is $34, which unfortunately is only covered by insurance when certain types of problems are detected. For more information you can visit the Optos website, www.optos.com. We look forward to being able to provide you this enhancement to our eye care in our office.

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