“Almost Magic” is the way that patients of the California Keratoconus Center describe the Nidek OPD III. This instrument gives Dr. Barry Leonard and Dr. Javier Villalobos unprecedented information about what their patients see, and why they see it that way. The Nidek OPD III is particularly useful when diagnosing patients with Keratoconus and High Order Aberrations because it gives them information about the entire path of light as it enters your eye, through all of its different surfaces and materials, to your retina.
“Almost Magic” doesn’t begin to explain the importance of this technology to Optometry in general, and patients with severe vision issues.
What Is The Nidek OPD III?
Conventional optometric instruments called “auto-refractors” put light into your eyes and read it as it comes out, and are very effective in measuring simple eye conditions like nearsightedness (Myopia) and farsightedness (Hyperopia) and astigmatism. The Nidek OPD III does this and much more:
- Auto-refraction
- Wavefront Aberrometry
- Measures Pupil Size
- Corneal Topography
The OPD III puts those all together to measure the Optical Path Difference, which tells us why you see what you see. For example, we can explain which defects come from the cornea, which comes from the lens, which from the Vitreous, and more.
Treating Keratoconus and High Order Aberrations With The Nidek OPD III
Put another way, the Nidek OPD III can tell a trained optometrist why you aren’t seeing 20/20…or why you are seeing 20/20, but still have vision issues. Combined with the Eaglet Eye Surface Profiler, the OPD III gives your optometrist “superpowers” to look at and through your eyes to diagnose complex vision issues like Keratoconus and High Order Aberrations.
The Eaglet maps the topography and profilometry of your entire cornea and much of your sclera — the whites of your eyes. (The topography is the shape of your cornea and the profilometry is the shape of your sclera.) In a normal cornea, the surface is consistent and smooth. In a cornea with Keratoconus, the surface of the cornea has an irregular shape, often shaped like a “cone”, but sometimes with hills and valleys. The more severe the irregularities, the more severe the Keratoconus. The sclera can also have a very unique, asymmetric shape for every individual.
The Nidek OPD III goes beyond the surface of your eye and maps the entire path that light travels to reach your retina. The cornea does the most bending of light because the light passes from the air into the more dense material of the cornea. If you can imagine looking at a spoon in a glass of water, you know it will seem like the part of the spoon that is out of the water is not connected to the part that is in the water.
There is a similar effect on the back of the cornea, where the light passes to the lens. If the back of the cornea is irregular, or the front of the lens is irregular, your vision will suffer. Similarly, the back of your lens can be irregular, as can the material in the lens itself or the material of the vitreous — the gel-like fluid in the interior of your eye. Each of these irregularities along any part of this pathway can independently or collectively cause vision problems such as:
- Glare/Streaks
- Starbursts
- Halos and Rings
- Night Vision problems
- Ghost Images
- Double Vision
The visual effects of these irregularities are collectively referred to as High Order Aberrations and can severely affect your vision and your life.
“Is This What You See?”
Once you are examined with the Nidek OPD III by Dr. Leonard or Dr. Villalobos, you may be shown an image of the results. You will be asked, “Is this what you see?” Our patients tend to get very emotional at this point because they will be looking at a series of glares, streaks, halos and starbursts that they have never been able to explain to anyone else before. But now, finally, someone understands your vision issues.
That’s good news…but not even the best news.
The best news is that now that we have the ability to see what you see, we also have the ability to correct your High Order Aberrations non-surgically, with specialized Scleral Contact Lenses. The data from both the Eaglet and the Nidek are combined in the design of custom contact lenses for each of your eyes, resulting in the clearest and most comfortable all-day and all-night vision you’ve seen in years, maybe ever.
Come “See” The Nidek OPD III
Many of our patients come to us already seeing 20/30 or 20/20, but still see continual ghosting, halos and glare. The effects are that they cannot lead a normal life by driving at night or be in rooms with bright lights…usually due to their Keratoconus or High Order Aberrations. Our instruments, training and especially our method can “see what you see” so you can finally “see what you’re supposed to see.” If you suffer from a complex vision issue that no eye doctor has ever been able to resolve for you, make an appointment at the California Keratoconus Center today. Use our Online Appointment Form, or call us at 818-891-6711.
