Called the Optomap, it allowed doctors to take a picture of the inside of the eye. The doctor is then able to show the patient what is occurring with the eye, and offer advice on how to prevent possible damage. The device could be helpful for those suffering from diabetes.
By Heidi Manteuffel/Special to The Malibu Times
Malibu Eye Center optometrist Greg O’Conner recently adopted the Optomap, a technology that dramatically increases the view of a patient’s eye from 30 to 200 degrees with one digital picture. The procedure is said to be more conclusive than previous techniques, can spot early signs of serious retinal-related eye problems and doesn’t require the need for dilating the pupils.
“Before, doctors were making drawings or taking a series of pictures in attempts to make a mosaic of the eye,” O’Conner said. “With the Optomap, the picture is so precise you can actually quantify the change.”
O’Conner said he had heard about the technology involved with the Optomap three years ago at a convention, and had wanted to make something similar to this himself. He said he saw a need for a more conclusive eye procedure that was simultaneously less incapacitating for patients than dilation.
“Patients often need to get four to five things done in one day off of work,” O’Conner said. “I’d rather not have them skip a needed eye exam because of the time and inconvenience of dilation.”
O’Conner said he took a hard look at competing companies for three years and, as of one month ago, decided that the Optomap was the best choice for his office.
The Optomap takes an in-depth look at integral parts in the back of the eye such as the retina, the optic nerve, the macula and blood vessels that nourish the retina. The neuro-sensory retina is extremely vital to the eye because it captures light and converts it into nerve pulses. These nerve impulses are funneled down the optic nerve, which is ultimately responsible for carrying images of the retina to the brain. While these parts of the eye are some of the most important for its proper function, until recently they could not be viewed with the clarity or to the extent the Optomap allows.
The technician facilitating the Optomap eye exam directs patients to align their right or left eye until they see a green laser in the center of the screen and a red circle around the green laser completely filled in. The green laser scans the neuro-sensory retina and the red laser looks at the choroid/red vessel layer. Once the eye matches these fields, the technician will take a picture of the eye. He then repeats the process again so there are two pictures of each eye. The picture appears on the screen within seconds of its conception, so technicians know instantly if another photo will need to be taken. The whole process takes one to three minutes, and the optometrist can immediately discuss the results with the patient.
“The nice thing about this process is that we can specifically show patients what’s going on inside their eye and educate them on lifestyle changes they can make to deter early signs of retinal-related eye diseases,” O’Conner said. “We didn’t have the luxury before of always finding problems while there was still time to prevent eye damage.”
The Optomap is extremely helpful with diabetes patients. Malibu resident Ray Singer does daily blood tests to monitor his Type 2 diabetes, but he said he hadn’t thought about some of the more serious repercussions of his condition, like blindness. Singer visited O’Conner after he purchased the Optomap. On this visit, O’Conner could specifically tell Singer what was going on in his eyes in regard to his diabetes, and what life style changes he could make to prevent loss of eyesight.
“Here was something that would put me at ease about my condition,” Singer said. “It could show me how I was doing and what would happen if I didn’t complete the steps needed to maintain healthy eyesight while I still had the opportunity to do so.”
The Optmap debuted in 1999 due to a Scottish man whose own son had become blind in one eye from retinal detachment. In 1990, Douglas Anderson’s son’s situation led him to fund the project of creating the technology that could more thoroughly scan the retina. The work brought about the creation of the Panoramic 200, the first ophthalmic device, which is able to produce a single, wide-field image of the retina without the need of dilating the pupil. From their research, the Optomap was approved by the FDA in 1999.
O’Conner said the images from the Optomap can clear up miscommunication that can occur between doctors and patients. Some patients, he said, can feel doctors don’t entirely understand their condition. These pictures help them to relay the information to the patients and have them see more clearly where and what specifically the issue is within their eye.
The cost per patient to use the Optomap is $40, not included in the $105-$125 dollars main eye exam. However, the main exam is oftentimes covered in a patient’s vision plan. But O’Conner said 80 percent to 85 percent of the patients coming in specifically ask for the procedure; most all solicit positive feedback and are relieved about never having their eyes dilated again.
Although O’Conner is one of only 1,000 people who own an Optomap, he said he believes many other eye centers will adopt the technology in the future into their practice. The main barrier at the moment, he said, is the cost.