subject: Eye test equipment [print this page] Eye test equipment Eye test equipment
Everyone should go for regular eye tests to ensure their eyes remain healthy as well as addressing any sight issues. The problem for many people is that the equipment used can be very off-putting, even if you don't know the machines' names. When you do know their names it can almost be worse.
Each of them has a valuable role, and none of them is intended to hurt you in any way, but without knowing what each machine does, it's easy to be intimidated by anything that can affect your eyes. If you understand how the machine's work then you're a lot less like to be intimidated by them so here's a quick description of each.
Non-contact Tonometer: This machine is the closest to actually contact as it blows a short burst of air at your eyes. The purpose of this is to gauge the pressure within both of your eyes.
Autorefrator: This is what many opticians use to gauge how well your eyes focus and get a general idea of what your prescription should be using electronic measurements
Retinoscope: An instrument that uses light beams to measure what your prescription you need and is extremely safe, even being used to gauge the sight of young children who can't communicate properly
Opthalmoscope: One of the most important machines when it comes to testing eye health, the optician will use light to analyse the optic nerve as well as the blood vessels in the eye and the retina
Oxo box: When analysing your sight, the optician needs to know that your eyes are balanced and co-ordinated, which this machine can help to determine through visual cues.
Slit Lamp: If you're planning to wear contact lenses, this machine is used to check for any problems in the outer area of the eye, since these can prevent a person from wearing contact lenses.
Visual field screener: This machine uses light and a visual display to determine whether a person has any blind spots, by noting non-responsiveness to the light stimuli.
Each of these machines serves a valuable purpose and as such it is vital that you are comfortable with your optician using one or all of them during your eye test. The machines all provide pieces of data that the optician can use to determine the exact state of your eyes, both in terms of your site, as well as your overall eye health.
