As we continue to recognize August as Children’s Eye Health and Safety month, it’s important to understand the importance of eye exams, and the utilization of the highest-level technology in pediatric screening.  Optos ultra-widefield (UWF™) imaging technology is making great strides in diagnosing and treating eye problems in children and infants. Due to the cutting-edge modalities and ease-of-operation with an optomap® exam, signs of retinal disease can be found in the periphery, often before children and infants become symptomatic. Many vision problems begin at an early age, so it’s important for children to receive proper eye care.   optomap was founded by Douglas Anderson after his then five-year-old son Leif went blind in one eye when a retinal detachment was detected too late. Although his son was having regular eye exams, routine exams were uncomfortable, especially for a child, which made it impossible for the doctor to conduct a complete exam and view the entire retina. He set out to create a way of non-invasively capturing as much of the retina as possible.in a single capture. Results from several published clinical studies suggest that optomap is an essential element to the screening and management of pediatric patients.  While traditional fundus imaging is a multi-stage effort …

With school starting up again, and lists including everything from the essential newest styles to school supplies – one item to make sure is on the list is your child’s comprehensive eye exam.  While we may notice subtle changes in appearance as our children grow and develop, there are many changes also occurring within the eye that are unseen.  This marks the importance of annual eye exams that will assist in monitoring the development of your child’s vision as they grow.  Routine vision screening or eye examination at an early age is very important to detect risk factors, such as lazy eye, crossed eyes, and color blindness that can potentially cause irreversible loss of vision or blindness.  A majority of vision impairment issues go undetected since young children with impaired vision are often unaware of their vision issues—it is, after all, how they’ve always seen things. It is on us as parents and educators to look for signs of visual impairment.

Although schools generally do some basic testing of children’s vision, there is no doctor to perform a comprehensive exam or diagnose problems with your child’s eyesight.  According to experts, nearly 90 percent of what is taught in school is …