optomap image of a healthy retina

New Hartford Eyecare is proud to be the first office in Central New York to offer the Optomap Retinal Exam, a revolutionary new instrument that can take an ultra wide field high resolution photograph of the interior of your eye (the retina) in less than one second with no dilating eye-drops.

Until now, the only way to have a complete eye health exam was with the use of dilating eye-drops which required a 20-30 minute wait, followed by about 5 minutes of very bright lights being shined into your eyes, and then 4-6 hours of blurred vision and light sensitivity. Dilation was necessary for eye doctors to see well enough into the eyes to see such conditions as diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, retinal detachments, or cancer in the eye. Any of these potentially sight threatening disorders would most likely be missed if your eye doctor did not dilate your eyes.

Dilation was the best way we had to examine the retina, but it did have certain limitations. One drawback is that it allows the doctor to see just one small area of the retina at a time. Another problem is that many patients have difficulty keeping their eyes open or looking in the proper direction for the exam. And many children were either uncooperative for putting in the eye-drops, or were unable to cooperate at all for the exam with the bright lights.

The Optomap retinal scan provides the doctor an ultra wide field digital image of the retina that can be magnified, enhance, and compared at any future visit for changes.  The scanning procedure itself is safe (not an x-ray), simple, quick, and totally painless.  Just look at the green light in the camera, and click, a picture of your retina appears on the computer. You'll be able to instantly see everything the doctor sees so that he can easily explain your condition if anything out of the ordinary is found.  In some cases of retinal disease, it is best to have both dilation and Optomap Retinal Scan. 

Interestingly, the Optomap Retinal Exam was initially designed and developed by an engineer whose 4-year-old son lost his eyesight due to a retinal detachment that could not be seen due to his son's inability to cooperate for a standard dilated retinal exam. The engineer had no prior background in the eye-care field, but took it upon himself to develop a better way to examine the eye so as to prevent others from suffering the same tragedy as his son.

The Optomap Retinal Exam is very likely the single most significant technological breakthrough in the eye care field since Ben Franklin invented bifocals. For a very affordable $32 additional fee this remarkable procedure will give you peace of mind knowing that your eyes have been examined thoroughly, and you'll be leaving our office (seeing clearly to drive home) 45 minutes sooner than if your eyes were dilated.