Here’s All You Need To Know About Retinal Imaging

The back of the eye is not a visible part of the body. However, your retina needs to be taken care of to maintain healthy eyes. One of the ways that the back of the eyes can be accessed is through retinal imaging.

A retina photo is a picture of the back of the eye that contains the retina, optic disk, and blood vessels. The retina can be found near the optic nerve, and it converts light from the lens into neural signals and sends the signals to the brain. The optic disc is the place where axons of retinal ganglion cells come together. It is also the place blood vessels follow to carry blood into the retina. The blood vessels carry blood into and away from all the parts of the eyes. The retina, the optic disc, and the blood vessels are all at the back of the eye, and digital retina imaging in North York, Toronto, ON, will help our Toronto optometrist to examine them and check if they are in good condition.

Retinal photography will help your optometrist to spot signs of ill-health in your eyes and help you to prevent potential diseases before they start. From time to time, your optometrist will take a retinal image of your eye and compare the photos together to check for any changes. The images will not only allow the doctor to understand the condition of your eyes, but it will also help the doctor to explain the condition of your eyes to you in a more understandable way.

Methods of Retinal Imaging

There are different ways in which an optometrist can inspect your eyes using retinal imaging. From time to time, the concept of retinal imaging has been upgraded through in-depth research and creative innovation. Some of the methods used for retinal imaging include Optical Coherence Tomography, Fundus Photography, and Angiography. These techniques have different procedures and they are used for different eye conditions. Our optometrist near you, will know the type of retinal imaging you need.

Reasons for Retinal Imaging

Certain health conditions will require a patient to have retinal imaging to give the patient the best treatment possible. Some of those are:

• Diabetes: Diabetes has been known to cause loss of sight in some people. This is because diabetes damages the blood vessels in the eyes. When a patient has diabetes, the patient can be scheduled for retinal imaging to check the condition of the blood vessels in the patient’s eye.
• Macular Degeneration: As we grow old, our sight begins to diminish, our vision becomes blurry, and we find it hard to focus our gaze on something. The macula is the central part of the retina, and there are two types of macular degeneration – the first one occurs when the blood vessels below the retina become thin, while the second one happens when abnormal vessels show up under the retina. To find these blood vessels, a retina photo will be needed to check the back of the eye.
• Glaucoma: Sometimes, fluid gathers in the eye and causes damage to the optic nerve. This can eventually lead to loss of sight, and retinal imaging will be needed to check the optic nerve.

Retinal Imaging Processes

If you need digital retinal imaging in North York, Toronto, ON, your optometrist will first give you eye drops to dilate your pupils. After that, a laser is used to scan the eyes, and the result of the scan is sent to the optometrist. This procedure is very quick and will take less than five minutes unless you have macular degeneration. In that case, you will be given a dye that will make your blood vessels appear a different color when the eye is being scanned.

To capture a large part of the retina, optic retinal imaging is used because it can help your doctor scan up to 80% of the retina in a single capture.

After the retinal imaging, it takes about 4 hours for your sight to be clear. You will also need sunglasses because, at this time, the eyes will be sensitive to light. If your imaging test was for macular degeneration, you will need to stay away from contact lenses till the dye wears off.

Retinal imaging does not take a long time, is painless, and results are produced immediately. These results allow an optometrist to compare the condition of the eyes and help forestall any issues that might occur in the future. There are usually no side effects for retinal imaging, but you can consult our optometrist if you feel uncomfortable after the test.