What Kind of Materials Does an Ophthalmologist Use?

Ophthalmology is the area of medicine which deals with the eye. Ophthalmologists uses a variety of equipment that is specialized to this particular area of medicine. Because of the uniqueness and sensitivity of the eye, the equipment is very carefully designed and manufactured. Much of the equipment involves sophisticated technologies such as lasers and MRIs. Part of the difficulty in diagnosing disorders of the eye is the fact that is is typically impractical or impossible to directly look inside the eye, so that equipment must be designed that can do this indirectly.

Lensmeter

• A lensmeter is probably the most familiar piece of ophthalmic equipment to most people not involved in the medical industry. This device is used to determine the correct prescription for eye glass lenses. A patient will look through the viewing piece and the lensmeter will be adjusted to find the best prescription for that patient's vision.

Optical Coherence Tomography

• An Optical Coherence Tomography, or OCT3, is a device that diagnoses and monitors optic nerve disorders. The process by which the OCT3 monitors disorders is through measuring the thickness of the retinal nerve fiber layer. The OCT3 works similar to an ultrasound; however, whereas an ultrasound uses sound, the OCT3 uses light, which helps it achieve a 10 times better resolution.

Heidelberg Retina Tomograph (HRT)

• A Heidelberg Retina Tomograph, or HRT, is an optic nerve head analyzer. It is used for creating 3-D nerve head topographies. In other words, this device creates a three-dimensional map of the eye. This map is generated by using lasers to scan the eye. The technology can be used to help tell the difference between a normal eye and a glaucomatous eye.

YAG Laser

• A YAG Laser is a device used to help correct hazy vision which can sometimes develop following cataract surgery. The procedure in which the YAG Laser is used involves removing the haze of a membrane which lies behind the intraocular lens; it is very quick and causes no pain to patients. The effects of the procedure can be noticed within a day.

Diode Lasers

• A diode laser is a tool used frequently to treat glaucoma. The procedure is relatively invasive and is typically undergone on an outpatient basis in the office of a ophthalmologist. After the eye is anesthetized, a laser probe is used to partially destroy the ciliary body. Typically, the procedure brings relatively little discomfort to patients. On occasion, some patients report blurry vision or some discomfort; however, this is usually temporary.