Digital Retinal Imaging

Digital retinal imaging uses high-resolution imaging systems to take pictures of the inside of your eye. This helps your Optometrist assess the health of your retina and helps them to detect and manage  eye and health conditions such as glaucoma, diabetes, and macular degeneration. Finding retinal disorders as early as possible is critical to potentially preventing serious disease progression and even vision loss.

Our comprehensive eye exam, including a thorough retinal exam, can detect early signs of numerous diseases that affect not only your eyes and your sight, but also your overall health. Digital retinal imaging helps your doctor find possible signs of a number of diseases that first appear in the retina. In these instances, patients typically don’t experience any pain or other symptoms.

In addition to helping detect diseases early, retinal images provide a permanent and historical record of changes in your eye. Images can be compared side-by-side, year after year, to discover even subtle changes and help monitor your health.

Retinal images also make it easier for your Optometrist  to educate you about your health and wellness. The two of you can review your images together, and your Optometrist  can point out the various structures of the retina and explain treatment options for any conditions revealed by the pictures. The more you know about your eye health, the more likely you will understand and follow your Optometrist's recommendations for treatment and prevention.

Visual Field Testing

During your eye examination you may  be advised to take a computerised visual field test. Visual field or peripheral vision loss may occur due to disease or disorders of the eye, optic nerve, or brain. The test involves you looking into a screen and pushing a button to signal if you have seen the random light stimuli which appear on the screen and takes up to 30 minutes to complete.

Dilated and Cycloplegic Eye Examinations

Both of these require instillation of an eye drop which relaxes both the pupil and focusing muscles of your eyes. We generally dilate your eyes if your natural pupil size is too small to allow adequate viewing of the back of your eye in order for us to ensure your eye health is optimal.

A cycloplegic examination is carried out on some children, as this provides the most accurate assessment of a child’s prescription and doesn't rely on them providing subjective feedback.

Both these procedures result in temporary blurred vision and light sensitivity due to enlarged pupils. A driver is recommended and sunglasses are a good option.

Optical Coherence Tomography

We are excited here at Eyes of Howick as we can now offer an even higher level of eye examination with the arrival of our Optical Coherence Tomographer or OCT as it is more commonly known.

 OCT is a non-invasive imaging test that uses light waves to take cross-section pictures of your retina, the light-sensitive tissue lining the back of the eye.

This sophisticated scanning system produces highly detailed images of the retina.  It is often likened to an MRI or x-ray of the eye. This procedure is currently the only one that shows in-depth images of the eyes internal structures.  Other procedures only show the surface of these structures.

With OCT, each of the retina’s distinctive layers can be seen, allowing us to map and measure their thickness. These measurements help with early detection, diagnosis and treatment guidance for retinal diseases and conditions, including age-related macular degeneration and diabetic eye disease. In addition, OCT is often used to evaluate disorders of the optic nerve. The optic nerve is made up of many nerve fibres and sends signals to your brain, where these signals are interpreted as the images you see. The OCT exam is helpful in determining changes to the fibres of the optic nerve, such as those caused by glaucoma.

To have an OCT scan, you will be seated in front of the OCT machine and will rest your head on a support to keep it motionless. . This procedure only takes minutes and the equipment never touches the eye, so there is no discomfort.

Being the latest in diagnostic technology our OCT provides a synchronised  high quality, high resolution OCT and colour image of your retina in the same area. This means this amazing instrument does 2 things at once, making it quicker and more comfortable for you.

We are so pleased to be able to include this technology within our premium eye exam offer.. The OCT and colour retinal image can be said to be the inseparable combination for daily diagnosis of eye health conditions.

OptiLight for dry eye treatment

We are proud to own the first OptiLight in New Zealand. OptiLight is the first and only IPL, FDA-approved for management of dry eye disease due to meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), the leading cause of dry eye disease.

With its clinically proven and patented OPT™ (Optimal Pulse Technology), OptiLight is not just addressing the symptoms of dry eye but treating the root cause of the condition- inflammation, patients can expect whiter, more comfortable eyes with less reliance on eye drops and other maintenance measures.