Modern Autorefractors: Faster, Accurate and Easy To Operate

Ophthalmic instruments are gaining in accuracy and speed with every passing day and it is no different as far as autorefractors are concerned. This also marks a trend of manufacturers coming out with new instruments that are portable, easy-to-operate and the most important of all- affordable.

Optometrists agree that the autorefractors and the combination of keratometer/autorefractor today are much faster, provide more accuracy and are easy to use.

Private practitioner Cliff Wright, based in Berkley, California said that among the host of features that comes in along with the autorefeactors, the ones that caught his attention were the high-speed printer, the autoalignment feature and the accurate results. He also added that it will take not more than a few minutes to teach an assistant in using these present day autorefractors.

Jeffrey Zwerling, another private practitioner, is the proud owner of two instruments- the autorefractor and the keratometer/autorefractor combo that allows him to follow patients after their operation. He likes the accuracy, user-friendly nature with the fogging being excellent. Autorefractor is gradually turning into a mainstay in his practise and is very much surprised how frequently he is using the device these days.

Miniaturisation trend

With the improvement in technology, one believes that autorefractors will become much smaller, lighter and affordable.  There is a great possibility that something more portable is in the making. Almost all manufacturers are moving towards this direction and are leaving no stone unturned in miniaturising the autorefractor.

Dr.Wright believes that manufacturers will be facing a great amount of challenge to bring the instruments down into “Below $5000”category, but will prove to be a boon for doctors related to this field if such a thing comes into reality. He further added that chances are high in achieving it and the way technology is moving, the day is not far when the market gets hit by lower-cost devices.

Practitioner Clare Mann is putting function and form in her wish list, as far as her choice of autorefractors are concerned. She recently got hold of an autorefractor recently and duly noted that technology has been given a lot more focus than in providing convenience to the patient. She is quite critical with the instrument and said that the device is considerably big for children. Also, the chair attached to it cannot be adjusted in giving a higher platform for the little ones. Apart from that, the instruments are not coming with proper arm rests that are needed by the elderly patients.

Based in Florida Keys, she also experiences power outages on a daily basis which interferes with the exam results. This thing is quite a concern as far as printing the results go, forcing her to start right from the beginning. She suggests a back-up system that prevents data loss in case things turn out bad with the building’s electrical system.

Nowadays, “smart” autorefractors is gaining in popularity too. Here, autorefractors are combined with instruments like corneal topographers, pupillometers and wavefront aberrometers that help in obtaining multiple data easily.

Author Bio: Tony Rollan is working with VSI company (http://www.patternless.com/) and he is an author of many articles on all types of optical and ophthalmic equipment. Author talks about medicine,  health, alternative healing, well being, sport  the ophthalmic equipment.

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