What is Digital Retinal Imaging Procedure & What Are Its Benefits?

Although you can not see the back of your eyes, an optometrist can. With the use of digital retinal imaging, eye doctors take an image of the back of your eye. This equipment allows an eye doctor to have a much more expansive view of a patient’s retina. The imaging procedure itself is painless and it can tell us many things about the overall health of your eyes.

Early Detection and Monitoring of Diseases with Digital Retinal Imaging

Retinal imaging tests for optical damage after an injury or an accident. It also helps eye doctors detect or monitor conditions such as glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration, two of the most common diseases people face. But the test can also detect:

• Cancer that may otherwise not be detected
• Retinal toxicity that certain medications can cause
• Diabetic retinopathy can result in blindness without early detection
• High blood pressure (hypertension) can result in bleeding in the back of the eye
• Retinal detachment can result in permanent vision loss if not detected and treated early
• Multiple sclerosis can appear as an inflammation of the optic nerve

Benefits of Digital Retinal Imaging

Below are the benefits of digital retinal imaging:

• Retinal imaging is an important tool that helps eye doctors understand why a patient’s vision might worsen when other reasons aren’t evident or can’t be explained (such as eye strain).
• Retinal imaging allows eye doctors to see your optic nerve
• The information gathered from digital retinal imaging provides diagnostic information that could save your vision and your general health.

Patients should receive retinal imaging at least once a year. If it’s been more than a year since your last eye exam that included this vital test, we invite you to make an appointment with our eye doctor in Yorkdale to get back on schedule.

What to Expect During Digital Retinal Imaging?

Digital Retinal Imaging includes a thorough evaluation. In addition to testing your visual acuity, your eye doctor will also perform:

• Ocular motility testing which evaluates alignment issues, muscle balance and fast and slow eye-tracking movement.
• Slit lamp testing lets our doctor obtain a comprehensive look at your eye’s inner and outer portions, including your iris and cornea.
• Tonometry tests measure intraocular pressure, which is vital in diagnosing glaucoma.
• Pupil dilation is necessary to view the retina and the optic nerve (also known as retinal imaging).
• Refraction to test for refractive errors in your vision, such as farsightedness, nearsightedness, and astigmatism

The technology used in these tests allows eye doctors to provide comfortable and precise treatment to every patient. We at Yorkdale Eyecare pride ourselves on providing digital retinal imaging in North York, ON with gentle yet thorough eye exams for patients of all ages.

Schedule Your Eye Appointment

As working professionals, we know how hard it can be to juggle work-life balance. That’s why our optometrist near you provides convenient eye appointments. Whether you are looking specifically for retinal imaging near you or just want to get back on track with your annual eye exams, we’re here to help, and we look forward to meeting you soon. Book your appointment now!