Special Eye Tests Performed at Our Office

The secret to preserving good vision in patients with certain eye health disorders is to monitor them on a regular basis in order to detect changes as early as possible. Eye disorders such as glaucoma, macular degeneration, and diabetic eye disease can destroy one’s vision if changes are not detected early and treatment is not begun as soon as possible.

In order to provide the best level of care for our patients, we perform several special tests at our office. Often a comprehensive vision and eye health examination are performed every year to screen for eye health and vision problems.

Each test provides us with different information, so running two or three different tests help us get a complete understanding of our patients' disorder. The following will explain the purpose of each special test:

Dilated Fundus Exam (DFE) 

DFE is also known as Binocular Indirect Ophthalmoscopy. If the back of the eye, the retina (or fundus) cannot be viewed sufficiently through an undilated (small) pupil, drops may have to be put into the eyes to make the pupil larger (dilated). This often makes it easier to find defects across the entire back of the eye such as tumors, tears, holes, and hemorrhages. DFE allows the doctor to see a binocular (3D) view of nearly the entire retina, but only a minified 10% view is seen at any moment. DFE provides no permanent photos to compare to from visit to visit and you cannot see what the doctor sees. (See the Optomap Retinal Scan alternative below)



Dilation of your pupils may be necessary for the following disorders:

Diabetics, due to their weak blood vessels and poor circulation, often develop hemorrhages, abnormal blood vessel growth, and nerve damage, which can lead to varying degrees of blindness if not detected and treated. Also, dilation can help us see greater detail of the macula and optic nerve with special equipment. 

The macula is the center of the back of the eye and is responsible for our central vision. Macular degeneration is a deterioration of this area, causing poor central vision.

The optic nerve is responsible for transmitting everything our retina sees to the brain.

Glaucoma - caused by high pressure in the eye, weak nerves and/or poor circulation - produces damage to the optic nerve leading to blindness if undetected and untreated.

Ocular Photography

Retinal Photography - Provides a permanent picture of 10-30% of the central retina and 30-45 degrees of the outside of the eye (External Photography). Each photo can be magnified for detailed analyses. Great for detecting and monitoring disorders in the very back of the eye (in the retina or choroid) and the outside of the eye and cataracts.

• It provides detailed views of the retina (great for diabetic defects) and magnified views of the macula and optic nerve (needed for macular degeneration and glaucoma) and of the external eye to document and monitor various defects
• It helps us monitor for subtle changes from one visit to the next
• It gives each patient the opportunity to see the defects that we see
• May need to dilate the eyes for multiple photos

Optomap Retinal Scan

Quickly and easily provides a permanent, ultra-wide, panoramic picture of up to 87% of the entire retina in each scan. Able to take through small pupils, so rarely need to dilate the eyes.

• Each scan can be greatly magnified for detection and monitoring of many disorders (as tumors, tears, holes, degenerations and hemorrhages) throughout the retina.
• It helps us monitor for subtle changes from one visit to the next
• It gives each patient the opportunity to see the defects that we see

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)

 This is a scanning instrument that measures and records the thickness of the nerves in the retina and compares the findings to normal eyes. 

It can show thinning of nerves as seen in glaucoma and dry macular degeneration, and retinal thickening due to abnormal blood vessels as seen in diabetic retinopathy and wet macular degeneration. It can detect and monitor change quicker than in the past, so treatment can be started or changed as soon as needed.

Visual Fields

This instrument measures the quantity and quality of the central and central side vision. It detects blind spots in the macula (caused by macular degeneration, diabetes, and some medications) and in the central side vision - just outside the macula (caused by glaucoma and neurological defects in the retina, optic nerve, and brain). 

Visual fields are often performed to detect defects and monitor for any change in defects from one visit to the next so treatment can be changed as needed. 

Extended Color Vision Tests for Acquired Color Vision Disorders

These special tests are used to detect early nerve damage due to disorders of the macula or optic nerve. We have a few other, less used, special tests at our office too which can be taken as needed. If you have any questions about the services we provide at our office, please contact Brooks A. Harris, OD.