Use of Ophthalmic Instruments In Todays Medical Industry
Posted in Better Medical Resources on August 27th, 2010There are many ophthalmic instruments in use today. Many of them have very odd names, while others make perfect sense to us. Spectacles are obviously corrective lenses. Contact lenses are placed into the eye to correct vision. A phoropter is a tool used in refractive testing of the eyes. A tonometer is a tool used to measure the intraocular pressure and is commonly used in glaucoma cases.
One group of ophthalmic instruments includes the speculums. Three different types of speculum are available. There is a universal speculum, used to keep the eye open during surgery but cannot keep the eyelashes out of the eyes. The guarded eye speculum, which also keeps the eye open during surgery, is capable of keeping the eyelashes out of the eyes. And finally the wire speculum, which is a light weight instrument that also keeps the eye open during surgery. There are many special surgical knives used in ophthalmology as well.
Because of the rather distinct practice involved with eye care and eye surgery, many of the tools used in ophthalmology are specifically to ophthalmology. A few tools used in eye surgery are not unique, like a scalpel for example, used in all types of surgeries. Things such as rougine which is made for the dissection of a lacrimal sac or a cystitome which is a twice bent large gauge needle which is used for incising the area behind the lens of the eye in lens extraction. Some of these tools, though modernly enhanced, were first introduced by some of the first eye care providers and appear quite medieval to most people.
Eye care professionals are trained in the use of all the ophthalmic instruments that are available today. This is just a few of the numerous tools used in eye care.