Optomap

The Optomap Retinal Exam

For Patients seeing their Optometrist – Dr. Mekel, Dr. Tlumak, Dr. Moritz

The Optomap retinal exam provides an ultra-wide panoramic view of the back of a person’s eye (the retina). The Optomap allows the doctor to capture a 200-degree high-resolution image of the retina in a single shot – without dilation – in a quarter of a second. It’s easy for the patient, takes just a few minutes to perform, and is immediately available for review with the patient in the exam room. Dilation, the traditional method for viewing the back of the eye, requires eye drops that enlarge the pupil and blur vision for 2 to 3 hours. In most cases, patients can avoid having their pupil dilated with drops if they instead have an Optomap exam. The image created creates a permanent record of your eyes and allows for future comparisons (we can compare this year’s image with next year’s image) side by side.

How does the optomap work?

The patient places their eye to be photographed up to the instrument and a technician positions the patient for a photograph and takes the picture. The Optomap captures its image in only one quarter of a second. The photographer takes two photos and evaluates the images. If the images look good, the same thing is repeated on the second eye. Here is a sample Optomap image of a healthy eye.

What are the benefits of the optomap exam?

Most patients can avoid having their pupils dilated with drops.
Testing is fast, easy, and comfortable.
Provides a more complete view of the retina (back of the eye) than has previously been possible.
Enables us to monitor and compare your eye health annually.

For whom is the optomap recommended?

Most patients having Routine eye exams with the Optometrist (Dr. Mekel, Dr. Tlumak, Dr. Moritz) are good candidates for the Optomap exam. We find, however, that some of the best candidates for the Optomap exam are those patients who don’t want to be dilated, children, anyone with a history of eye problems such as diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and people that are light sensitive to name a few. See the sample image below for the types of pathology that can be picked up by the Optomap image.

What does it cost to have an optomap exam?

The fee for an Optomap is $50. In most cases, this is not covered by insurance, but our physicians firmly believe that the benefits of an Optomap are well worth the cost.

The Optomap Retinal Exam

For Patients seeing their Optometrist – Dr. Mekel, Dr. Tlumak, Dr. Moritz

How does the optomap work?

What are the benefits of the optomap exam?

For whom is the optomap recommended?

What does it cost to have an optomap exam?

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