Ocula, the only optometry practice in the Queenstown Lakes area to offer advanced preventive examinations, has purchased a second $86,000 ocular coherence tomography (OCT) machine. The other was installed last year at its Wanaka practice.
The machine means patients Queenstown patients do not have to travel to Wanaka, Dunedin or Invercargill for the service.
Optometrist Danielle Ross said the machine operated in a similar way to an ultrasound, but used light instead of sound to allow optometrists to see much deeper into the eye with a retinal photograph.
"It also allows for a greater use of telemedicine, with the ability for scan results to be emailed to a specialist anywhere in the world, and management to be confirmed without the patient leaving my consultation room," she said.
Eye damage could often only be identified when it had worked its way to the surface of the back of the eye. However, the OCT allowed optometrists and eye specialists to detect preventable diseases such as macular degeneration, glaucoma, retinal detachment and keratoconus — all of which could lead to blindness — up to five years earlier than previously possible.
It also helped with the design of custom-made contact lenses and could be used for pre-surgery evaluations, such as for Lasik.
"In Wanaka, the OCT has detected eye disease in a significant number of cases which would not have been possible previously, preventing unnecessary sight loss."
