Thursday, June 13, 2013

Advantages Of Using An Indirect Ophthalmoscope

By Teri Farley


Ophthalmoscopy is examination of the inner part of the eye with the help of an instrument known as an ophthalmoscope. The procedure falls into two categories, direct as well as indirect ophthalmoscopy. In direct ophthalmoscopy, the eye's image is produced as an upright image that is up to fifteen times the original size. The latter inverts the image not beyond five times the sizes and the instrument used is an indirect ophthalmoscope.

There are different characteristics of the instrument that differentiates between the two types of the procedure. For this reason, each of the procedure has its special type of instrument. The direct instrument is small, about the size of a flashlight with powerful lenses for magnification.

This instrument is commonly used during run-of-the-mill examinations. The indirect funduscope has a headband that projects a light that works in conjunction with a small hand-held lens. The latter supports a broader view of the inner eye structure.

Using the procedure has advantages over its counterpart. It offers a wide field of view that gives a clearer view of fundus of the eye, possible even when the lens covered by cataracts. The field of view increases to thirty degrees using the powerful condensing lenses. This enables peripheral viewing of the retina which is better. The increased field of view also improves retinopathy assessment process.

There is also better clarity of the organ opacities, improved by better lighting that permits visualization through the dense cloudy media. The improved vision forms when paths of the incident and the reflected lights being separate, which is not the case with direct ophthalmoscopy. Still, illumination is beneficial by increasing the pigmented lens size. Furthermore, this type can either be monocular or binocular and is used during peripheral viewing of the retina.

When using a binocular instrument, the examiner gets access to stereoscopic view. This allows visualization of retinal detachment possible in three dimensions. The procedure also produces high quality stereoscopic images that are well illuminated. The complete equipment is portable. When used, the lens is held at arm's length close to the patient's eye. This sets the examiner away from the patient, which is not intimidating in the case of apprehensive patients.

The increased working distance between patient and doctor cal allow for lower powered lenses that help keep a larger field of view. The degree of cooperation is also not required, a case common with direct ophthalmoscopy. Also, the examination of the inner part of the eye using ophthalmoscope process is used to view the retina to the extreme ends. This allows a holistic assessment of the eye by the examiner and may find underlying or hidden problems.

There are disadvantages of using the indirect ophthalmoscope as well, including the issues inverted horizontal and vertical images, lowered levels of magnification. Also, obtaining a perfect view can take plenty of time and requires patience. No technique is perfect, but some are quite advantageous over closely related ones. Currently, the binoculars procedure is the most preferred kind in the market based of the above advantages.




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