The urgent case
The decision as to whether a patient requires an immediate examination is important and it rests heavily on the shoulders of the ophthalmic assistant. Without previous medical training and amid…
Rigid contact lenses: basics
Contact lenses have become a routine part of our armamentarium for visual rehabilitation of the eye. Their use and demand are constantly increasing. More than 20% of the North American…
Automated visual field testing
Visual field testing has continued to evolve because of advances in technology. In the past, the standard of excellence revolved around the manual Goldmann perimeter and the perimetrist. The visual…
Visual fields
When determining the visual field, the perimetrist attempts to make a two-dimensional map of a patient’s entire area of vision. Normally in everyday living, we do not place much importance…
Computers in ophthalmic practice
Computer technology is relatively young, the first digital computer as we know it having been built in 1937. However, the computerization of the world has had an enormous effect on…
Advanced techniques in soft and rigid contact lens fitting
Many ophthalmic assistants play an expanded role in contact lens delivery and thus require detailed know-ledge of contact lenses. Although the changing and ordering of lenses may be beyond the…
Soft contact lenses
There are approximately 90 million contact wearers worldwide. In the United States alone, data indicate that approximately 13% of the population (>36 million) use contact lenses for vision correction and…
Preliminary examination
Preliminary examination saves the doctor time in assessment of the patient. A preliminary examination of the eyes trains and alerts the ophthalmic assistant to the numerous variations and abnormalities that…
Managing a contact lens practice
The clinical side of contact lens provision historically has been in selecting the correct lens and lens material design for an individual patient. The fitter must be knowledgeable about ocular…
Facts about glasses
Virtually every patient who enters an ophthalmologist’s or other eye care practitioner’s office receives a refraction and most receive a prescription for spectacles. Even if patients plan to use contact…
