Lensometry is the practice of measuring the prescription strength of eyeglasses and contact lenses. Ophthalmic professionals must understand how to use optical instruments to accurately measure the prism, cylindrical axis, optical center, and vertex power of an existing lens to verify the user’s prescription and vision correction needs.
New and innovative lensometry techniques are introduced to the field all the time. Ophthalmic professionals can benefit from refining and updating their lensometry skillsets to improve their vision care services for patients. After all, patients depend on ophthalmic professionals to provide them with the best and most personalized vision care solutions to improve their sight.
Below are the top four essential techniques in lensometry for ophthalmic professionals to learn and master for the benefit of their patients.
1) Turn on and Calibrate the Lensometer
The first thing you will need to do is turn on the lensometer. Next, you will want to calibrate the device by rotating the power drum to zero. The calibration process ensures the lens measurements are accurate when assessing their vision power.
2) Adjusting and Positioning the Angle of the Lenses
Put the eyeglasses or contact lenses down onto the lens rest of the optical instrument. Align the center of the lenses with the axis of the instrument to ensure it is in the proper position. Now, you are ready to begin taking accurate measurements of the eyewear.
3) Measure the Sphere Lines of the Lenses
The sphere lines represent the curvature on the surface of the lenses. To correct farsightedness or nearsightedness, the ophthalmic professional needs to measure the sphere value of the lenses. These measurements are made in diopters.
Turning the power drum or wheel on the optical instrument will make the thin spherical lines come into focus on the lenses. Once the lines come into focus, you will be able to see their sphere value on the instrument.
4) Measure the Cylinder Power and Axis
The cylindrical line measurements determine how much lens power is required to fix astigmatism, a term referring to the defect in the lens or eye. You can obtain these measurements by turning the same power drum knob until the thicker lines come into focus. The difference between the measurements of these thicker lines and the thinner spherical lines represents the cylindrical correction value. Now, look at the axis dial to see the number of degrees of the cylinder axis.
Refine Your Lensometry Techniques and Skills
Ophthalmology educators like Pact Matters have revolutionized lensometry procedures and techniques to develop the most accurate and personalized vision correction solutions for patients. Ophthalmic professionals can benefit from these innovative and efficient eye care practices to enhance the vision care of their patients.
Does this sound like something you want to do for your patients? If so, you should contact Pact Matters at (951) 373-0747 to learn more about how you can refine your lensometry techniques and skills to improve your vision care services for your patients. Then, you will be well on your way to learning the latest cutting-edge eye care practices to improve your ophthalmologic skillset.