When you can’t do without a B-scan
If the lens is cloudy due to mature cataracts, there is blood in the vitreous, or the cornea is opaque, the doctor physically cannot see the fundus of the eye. Ultrasound passes through any media and shows what is hidden: retinal detachment, hemophthalmos, foreign body, tumor, changes in the optic nerve. This is fundamentally important before cataract surgery - you need to make sure that the retina is in order and that vision will actually return after removal of the lens. The examination is performed through a closed eyelid with gel and takes about 10 minutes.
Why do you need hardware diagnostics?
An examination by an ophthalmologist gives a high-quality picture, while hardware methods provide accurate numbers. They allow us to track the dynamics: whether myopia is progressing, whether the field of vision is narrowing with glaucoma, whether the length of the child’s eye has changed over the year.
Some data cannot be obtained at all during a routine examination - for example, the condition of the retina with a cloudy lens or the exact length of the eyeball for calculating an artificial lens.
Basic methods
- autorefractometry - objective measurement of eye refraction
- computer perimetry - study of visual fields
- Ultrasound biometry (A-scan) – measurement of eye length and structures
- Ultrasound examination of the eye (B-scan) - a picture of the internal environments and retina