Ophthalmologists use a variety of instruments to examine the eye. In this article, we’re going to talk about a couple of instruments we use at the Cataract & Refractive Institute of Florida to do your eye exam with, why we do this, and what these instruments do.
Dr. James E. Croley III at the Cataract & Refractive Institute of Florida is here to help you manage your eye problems and provide proper treatment. Call (239) 772-2122 for more information.
Slit Lamp
A slit lamp is essentially a microscope that allows us to examine the details of your eye in a much higher resolution. The reason it’s called a slit lamp is because the beam that comes out of the light can be adjusted to either a round light (like a regular light) or a slit (from narrow to wide to short), which is what we use most of the time.
When we bring this slit at an angle to observe the cornea, the clear part of your eye, we can see its different thicknesses and layers, and we can examine those layers to see if they’re healthy or not.
Also, when we bring the light at an angle, we can examine the fluid that is between your iris and your cornea to see if there are cells floating in the fluid or whether the fluid is sort of cloudy, which would be an indication of inflammation in your eye.
Attached to the slit lamp is a Goldmann tonometer which is used to check your eye pressure for glaucoma. We can dilate your pupil and then look through the pupil and hold a lens in front of the light and examine your retina in very high detail.
Additionally, there are different sizes and shapes of lenses that we use to examine your eye. They give us different magnifications of what we’re looking at inside your eye, and the field of view can be different depending on the type of lens used.
The slit lamp is the main instrument used to examine your eye because of the microscope and detail. They’re not cheap and can be very expensive to purchase.
Indirect Ophthalmoscope
The indirect ophthalmoscope is the light that we use to look inside the retina. This light shines inside your eye and then we use a lens to examine the retina. We put this instrument on our head to look in your eye. It allows us to examine all the way out to the edge of your retina and way out to the side of the inside of your eye.
That’s the reason why when you have a complete eye exam, doctors tell you to bring a driver. That way, we can use eyedrops strong enough to dilate your eye widely so we can look all the way out to the peripheral part of your retina. This is extremely important if you’re coming in and you’re having a sudden onset of floaters or flashes in your eye and we need to examine your retina fully; you need to have your eye dilated completely so we can get a really good look to make sure you haven’t torn your retina or there’s just something wrong with it.
There’s also an instrument that we use to shine in your eye. There’s a reflex, and we can use this watching the reflex and get pretty close to your glass prescription inside the machine we use to check your glasses with.
Another is a direct ophthalmoscope that is used in your regular doctor’s office to look in your eye and look in your ear. There are also very sophisticated machines run by computers that do different evaluations of your eye, but these instruments are the ones commonly used for an eye exam.
Get Your Vision Checked Today
At the Cataract & Refractive Institute of Florida, our board-certified ophthalmologist, Dr. James E. Croley III, uses state-of-the-art tools and techniques to help his patients manage their eye conditions. Dr. Croley is a member of the following professional organizations:
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CAPE CORAL
- 613 Del Prado Boulevard, 33990
- (239) 772-2122
LEHIGH ACRES
- 1150 Lee Boulevard, 33936
- (239) 368-1020
BONITA SPRINGS
- 4061 Bonita Beach Road, 34134
- (239) 949-1190
