No CPD Points
Domains: Clinical practice, Professionalism
In this episode we hear from both parent and child about their experience of myopia management with soft contact lenses before Michelle Hanratty talks to Optometrist Kathryn Webber about myopia management. They discuss how to identify suitable candidates and give useful advice on how to explain the potential benefits of myopia management to patients.
Topics: Myopia management, Risk factors for myopia, Communication, Fitting contact lenses in children, Pathological myopia.
No CPD Points
Domains: Clinical practice, Communication
In this episode, we hear from a patient who was diagnosed with a conjunctival melanoma before Michelle Hanratty talks to Professor Heinrich Heimann about lesions of the ocular surface and of the anterior chamber. The discussion covers how to recognise pertinent signs and the associated risks factors as well as the management, investigation and treatment of such patients.
Topics: Conjunctival lesions, Uveal lesions, Ocular tumours, Referrals.
No CPD Points
Domains: Clinical practice, Professionalism
In this episode, Michelle Hanratty discusses the key examination techniques that are useful in the investigation of binocular vision anomalies with Dr Aleksandra Mankowska. Michelle and Aleks also explore the management of convergence insufficiency and the tricky subject of prescribing prisms and orthoptic exercises.
Topics: Paediatric, Convergence insufficiency, Convergence excess, Esophoria, Exophoria, Prism, Cycloplegic refraction.
No CPD Points
Domains: Clinical Practice, Communication
In this episode, Michelle Hanratty discusses the highlights of the BCLA Continued Learning Evidence-based Academic Report (CLEAR) with Professor James Wolffsohn and Neil Retallic.
Topics: Contact lenses, Evidence-based practice, Fitting, Presbyopia, Multifocal, Toric, CLEAR, BCLA.
No CPD Points
Domains: Clinical Practice
In this episode Michelle Hanratty first talks to optometrist Stephen Freeman about the clinical decision making process of when to conduct a visual field test. This is followed by a discussion with Dr Lindsay Rountree about visual field testing including how to best achieve reliable test results and how to interpret them; how to relate visual field loss to the location in the visual pathway and likely causes. The episode concludes with advice on referral, and the importance of communicating the impact of visual field loss to a patient’s driving status.
Topics: Visual Fields, Perimetry, Visual pathway, Stroke, Brain tumours, Neurological disease, Driving standards, Referrals.
No CPD Points
Domains: Clinical Practice, Communication
In this episode Michelle Hanratty asks optometrist Sarah Farrant and her patient Christine Lanaghan who suffers from dry eye disease how to talk about mental health in practice. Michelle then investigates the relationship between mental health and ocular health with Dr Dennis Pardo, an optometrist and psychotherapist in Massachusetts.
Topics: Mental Health, Well-being, Anxiety, Stress, Communication, Side-effects of systemic drugs, Dry eye.
No CPD Points
In this edition, we focus on advances in eye care technology, looking at recent innovations and how they help improve the diagnosis and management of ocular diseases.
Topics: Contact lenses, Keratitis, Disinfection, Care systems, Graphene, Compliance, Lens materials, Pathogens, Bacteria, Binocular vision, Eye movements, Tracking, Motility, Reading ability, Muscle balance, Objective assessment, Curtis Dobson, Polly Dulley, Philip Morgan, Bianca Price, David Thomson.
Area of interest: Independent Prescribing
No CPD Points
This edition of Advances in Eyecare discusses the role of technology in three areas; Artificial Intelligence (AI) and telemedicine in diabetic retinopathy screening and how it can be used to enhance patient management; the role of ultra-wide field imaging in the early detection of Alzheimer's disease and an overview of how technology is now being used by visually impaired patients to help them carry out everyday tasks.
Topics: Artificial Intelligence, Telemedicine, Diabetic retinopathy, Patient engagement, Ultra-wide field imaging, Alzheimer’s disease, Visual impairment, Low vision aids.
No CPD Points
This audio programme discusses the very latest theory for glaucoma and its progression, describes a new way of assessing a patient's stereo vision, and explains our current understanding of human 3D vision and how it may be impacted upon by 3D and virtual reality displays.
Topics: Glaucoma, Binocular vision, 3D, Virtual reality, Stereopsis, Stereoacuity, Paediatric, Screening, Ganglion cells.
Area of interest: Independent Prescribing
No CPD Points
This edition of Advances in Eyecare has interviews with experts discussing their fields of research applicable to optometric practice, including: electrophysiology, compact electrode ERG and OCT-angiography.
Topics: Electrophysiology, OCT angiography, Paediatric, Macular, Glaucoma, Vascular health.
No CPD Points
This edition of Advances in Eyecare focuses on a variety of issues associated with low vision and takes a closer look at the Medicines Use Review service offered by pharmacists.
Topics: Dark Adaptation, Depression, Low Vision, Comorbidities, Eccentric Viewing, Medicines Use Review, DEPVIT, Comorbidity, Steady Eye Strategy, Macular Degeneration, Rods, Visual Impairment, Pharmacy.
No CPD Points
Visual field assessment is a common eye examination performed to enable us to map out a patient’s visual field. In this programme Dr Robert Cubbidge talks through different visual fields assessment techniques, and the benefits and limitations of each.
First published in DOCET OQ90 (2014).
Topics: Visual fields, Frequency Doubling, Perimetry, Glaucoma, Magnocellular.
No CPD Points
The UK National Screening Committee (NSC) policy recommends that all children aged four to five should have their vision checked in an orthoptic-led service. With the rise of vision screening software in the UK, Shail Patel talks to Professor David Thompson about products that may be of use in screening children.
Topics: Orthoptist, Paediatrics, Software, Computer, logMAR, Refractive error, Spectacles, Children.
No CPD Points
Malcolm Long speaks with Daniela Nosch who explains her findings from a study carried out in 2011 suggesting that the presence of contact lenses does not alter the accuracy of dynamic contour tonometry measurements. She then discusses the benefits it can have for some groups of patients.
Topics: Dynamic contour tonometry, Cornea, Goldman, GAT, IOP, Glaucoma, Ocular pulse amplitude, OPA, Intra-ocular pressure.
No CPD Points
Dr Mark Rosenfield, a professor of vision sciences at The State University of New York College of Optometry, talks about his research into the visual demands made by the use of computers and digital electronics, how symptoms present and what advice optometrists can give to patients, and the future implications of ‘wearable technology’.
First published in DOCET OQ93 (2015).
Topics: Computer, Smart glasses, Digital, Asthenopia, Phones, Tablets.
No CPD Points
Two members of the Clinical Consensus Panel, Professor Steve Taylor & Mark Nevin, discuss the issue of appropriate use of fluorescein in practice.
First published in DOCET OQ89 (2014).
Topics: Fluorescein, Fluorets, Legal classification, Pharmacy, General sales list
No CPD Points
Susan Cowling asks community optometrist Simon Browning about autofluorescence in the eye, and the implications of the new imaging technology for a wide range of ocular health issues.
First published in DOCET OQ88 (2013).
Topics: Autofluorescence, Drusen, Lipofuscin, RPE
No CPD Points
Professor John Marshall, the Frost Professor of Ophthalmology at the Institute of Ophthalmology, UCL, clarifies exactly how these DNA test kits work, how to interpret the results, and what accurate conclusions ophthalmologists and optometrists can draw from these types of test.
First published in DOCET OQ93 (2015).
Topics: Genetic, Gene, Inherited, Corneal dystrophy, AMD.
No CPD Points
Gordon Ilett talks to Susan Cowling about the link between learning disabilities and visual problems, and about what practical considerations optometrists should bear in mind when examining patients with learning disabilities.
Topics: Seeability, RNIB, Disability, Olympics, Downs syndrome, Visual impairment, Cerbral palsy, Keratoconus, Cataract, Amblyopia.
No CPD Points
Dr Dan Rosser discusses different methods of measuring visual acuity with David Cartwright, including the appropriate uses and associated difficulties of each.
First published in DOCET OQ88 (2013).
Topics: Snellen, logMAR, Acuity, Subjective, Refraction.