VISION

Vision Care Professionals• Ophthalmologist• Optometrist• Orthoptist• Optholmic Technologist• Opthalmic Technician• Opthalmic Assistant• Opthalmic Laboratory Technician• Optician, dispensing

• A medical doctor (MD) who is licensed to practice medicine and surgery.

• May perform all duties of optometrist, but treats injuries and performs eye surgeries.

• Education: 4 years undergraduate, 4 years graduate, 3 years minimum specialization in ophthamology.

Ophthamologist

• Individual state board of medical examiners• Additional board exams specific to

ophthamology

Ophthamology Licensing

• Doctor of Optometry (O.D.)-had the title of doctor but is not a medical doctor.

• Examines the eyes to diagnose vision problems and eye diseases.

• Education: at least 3 years of preoptometric study, 4-year doctor of optometry degree from an accredited optometry school.

Optometrist

• State board of optometry• American optometric Association

Optometry Licensing

Anatomy of the Eye

• Located just behind the iris.• Purpose: to focus light onto the retina.

Lens

• The opening in the center of the iris.• Size determines the amount of light that

enters the eye.• Doctors often evaluate the reaction of pupils

to light to determine neurological function.

Pupil

• The transparent dome-shaped window covering the eye. (Gives us a clear window to look through.)

• Provides 2/3 of the eye’s focusing power.

Cornea

• The colored part of the eye.• Controls the light levels inside the eye.• Has tiny muscles that widen and narrow the

pupil size.

Iris

• A multi-layered sensory tissue that lines the back of the eye.

• Capture light rays, convert them to electrical impulses, traveling to the brain where they are turned into images.

Retina

REFRACTION ERRORS: an error in the focusing of light by the eye and a frequent reason for reduced visual acuity.

• Myopia• Hyperopia• Astigmatism

VISUAL DISORDERS

• “Nearsightedness” (spherical error)-optics are too powerful for the length of the eyeball.

MYOPIA

• “Farsightedness “(spherical error) optics are too weak for the length of the eyeball.

HYPEROPIA

• (Cylindrical error) Condition caused by an irregularly shaped cornea/results in blurred vision (optical power is too powerful or too weak across

one meridianof the optics ).

Astigmatism

Astigmatism

• loss of close reading vision due to a lessoned ability to focus and accommodate-eyestrain/most develop in their 40’s.)

Presbyopia

Amblyopia

• Poor vision in one eye• Known as “Lazy Eye”• Usually results from inadequate use during

early childhood.

Strabismus

• One eye focuses properly, but the other eye strays.

• “Cross-eyed”• Can be causes by genetics, inappropriate

development of the “fusion center” in the brain to the muscles or nerves.

• Any disease caused by abnormally high pressure within the eye.

• Treatment-eye medications or surgical procedures to relieve pressure.

• If not treated, can lead to blindness.

Glaucoma

• Cloudiness of the lens of the eye (usually through aging process, but can be congenital or from disease or injury.

Cataracts

• “Pinkeye”-a highly contagious infectious inflammation of the conjuctiva.

• Treatment-antibiotic eye drops or ointment.

Conjuctivitis

Equipment

• Ophthalmic Zoom Optical Head

• An instrument to measure the power & cylindric axis of a spectacle lens. (Used to obtain an optical prescription.)

Lensometer

• A written order by an optometrist or ophthamologist to an optician for eyeglasses.

• It specifies the refractive power to which the eyeglasses are to be made in order to correct blurred vision due to refractive errors, including myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism and presbyopia.

Optimal Prescription

Sample Prescripti on

• D.V. – “distance vision” (the part of the prescription designed primarily to improve far vision.)

• N.V. – “near vision” (may represent a single-vision lens prescription to improve near work, or the reading portion of a bifocal lens.) Some forms use “ADD” in place of “N.V. with a single box to indicate the additional refractive power to be added to the spherical of each eye.

Prescription Terms

• O.D. (ocular dexter) – Latin for “right eye”.• O.S. (oculus sinister) – “left eye”.• O.U. (oculi uterque) – “both eyes”.

• Corrects refractive error of the eye with a single convergent or divergent refractive power in all meridians.

Spherical Correction

• Corrects astigmatism refractive error of the eye by adding or subtracting power cylindrically in a meridian specified by the prescribed axis.

Cylindrical Correcti on