Our fabulous Optometrist Katie Miller has been talking about how being an Optometrist has changed over her nearly 40-year career.
Katie said: “When I qualified, we didn’t have anywhere near the amount of equipment that an Optometrist today has. I had a chart, a tray of lenses and relied on my trusty ophthalmoscope to see the back of my patients’ eyes. Measuring the pressure of the eyes was still in its infancy with some practitioners merely pressing on a closed eyelid to see how hard it felt to get an idea of the pressure!
However, some things haven’t changed in 40 years; I still rely on my trial frame and a tray of lenses to get an accurate spectacle prescription. There are fancy gadgets available to do this for you now but in my experience the most reliable refraction still comes from the trial frame.
The biggest change has come from looking at the back of the eyes. I now have access to the slit lamp and, using a special Volk lens, the back of the eye is visible in 3D making it much easier to assess the health of the eye.
The biggest change in eye health care was when Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) became available. OCT is a non-invasive imaging test that uses light waves to take cross-section pictures of your retina. With the OCT, I can see each of the retina’s distinctive layers which has meant that I can more accurately diagnose eye conditions.
I love my profession and take great pleasure in keeping up with technological advances. I’m excited to see what’s next in the World of Optometry!”
If you'd like to know more or book an eye examination, contact our team to make an appointment.