Specialist Equipment

At Geoff Steven and Son we have always been great advocates of a thorough NHS sight test or standard eye examination and we will always strive to fulfill this to the best of our abilities to all patients. However, recent advances in eye care technology have made it possible to provide a far more sophisticated eye examination and for this reason we are offering optional examinations utilising all the latest instrumentation that has been installed at the Hexham practice.

The new equipment includes:

Humphrey visual field analyser

What does it do?

It analyses the sensitivity of your peripheral and central vision.

Why is this useful?

A number of ocular conditions affect the sensitivity of your field of vision, so it gives a good indication of the ocular health. Glaucoma, for instance, is diagnosed at present by analysing the field of vision in conjunction with other ocular signs.

Who should have this?

We would recommend this to all patients over 40 years of age especially those with a family history of glaucoma and all patients with any suspicion or sign of glaucoma.

Digital Retinal Camera

What does it do?

This instrument records in high resolution detail the structures at the back of the eye. The images are stored securely on computer and can be recalled at subsequent visits (Retinal camera leaflet)

Why is this useful?

Using a series of digital photos taken of the retina, subtle changes that commonly take place are much more accurately examined and monitored.

Who should have this?

We would recommend all patients undertake this procedure.

GDX

We feel privileged to be one of the only 2 practices in Northumberland to Offer a retinal nerve fibre analysis with a GDX.

What does it do?

It scans the retinal nerve fibre layer and compares the thickness of this layer to a database of “normal” patients. (See gdx.pdf)

Why is this useful?

For early detection of glaucoma. It has been reported that 25-40% thinning of the nerve fibre layer occurs in glaucoma before a visual field analysis would reveal a problem. Therefore we would hope to detect any change at a considerably earlier stage using this instrument (Ref. Zeiss information leaflet).

Who should have this?

We would recommend it to anyone over the age of 40. In particular those with a family history of glaucoma or signs and symptoms of glaucoma.

Smart Look Frame Display

With this instrument clients will be able to look at photographs of themselves wearing the frame of their choice in order to help with their selection. It will demonstrate the appearance of anti reflective coatings, tinted spectacles and contact lenses and will calculate the thickness and weight of any prescription. This is a free service to all our clients. (opticvideo.com)

Corneal topographer.

This instrument maps all the curves of the front surface of the eye (cornea). This is particularly useful for the fitting and monitoring of contact lenses and also for detecting some corneal diseases.