Professional Technology

The Equipment We Use

We believe it’s important to be current with the newest technologies available and to assess where these new technologies can fit into our practice. Technology can be very intimidating, but it can also be very exciting and useful. In optometry, technology makes it possible to measure more precisely, to document more specifically, and to diagnose conditions earlier and more accurately.

Soon, electronic medical records will be required by all medical offices. In January, 2010, we began the transition to electronic charts for our patients. We have state of the art computers in each examination room, in our pre-testing room, in our optical department, and at our front desk. Along with tracking all of the various tests and notes we need to make during your examination, our computer system can be used for education. We can use the various diagrams to explain eye conditions to our patients, so they will understand their ocular conditions and what they should expect during treatment of the condition.

Our new Vista Vision eye chart eliminates the need for standard hanging wall eye charts. It is electronic and the mix of letters we present to you can be randomly mixed to ensure that you are not just guessing the same letters each time. The chart has options to isolate a single row of letters, to test color vision, stereo vision ability, as well as special children’s vision tests.

Do you detest the dreaded “puff of air” used to test for glaucoma during your eye examination? Our newest tonometer is much quieter than our previous instrument and most patients agree that it doesn’t seem to puff as hard. For those who really don’t like “the puff” at all, we also have other instruments to measure pressure in the eye.

Our new visual field tester is also very computer-friendly. It will directly connect to our computers and download test results without the need to wait for results to print out on paper. Of course, we can always make a print-out any time it is needed to share with other physicians or our patients.

In our continuing quest to deliver the very best of eyecare for our patients, we can now offer patients the opportunity to have digital retinal images documented as a part of your eye examination.

Digital retinal images are a high-resolution photographic system which helps us see more details in the patient’s retina. They can be used as a baseline or normal image that will be available for comparison at your future exams, but they also help to document changes in diagnosed eye diseases. The images from previous exams can be placed side by side with the latest images for comparison of any small changes in the appearance.

Stages of Diabetic Changes to the Eye

With the images available immediately for review, our doctors will then be able to discuss the retinal images with you and show you all of the pertinent areas on the computer screen.  We can zoom in or move within the image to get even more detail.

Theses images can be e-mailed to you or to other doctors involved in your care or we can provide them to you on a thumb drive to download into your own computer.