Our Technology in Alliston

We’ve heavily invested in advanced technology to provide you and your family with next tier eye care. Digital retinal photography allows us to view the back of your eye in extraordinary detail.

Because of this, we can detect signs of many eye diseases in their infancy, enabling us to address these concerns early. When it comes to eye diseases, early detection and treatment is key to preventing vision loss.

Digital retinal images are non-invasive and instant, eliminating wait time. We’re able to immediately use the information gained from these photographs to infer problems, make assessments, and provide us insights into the state of your eye health.

As you can imagine, the ability to see—in ultra high-resolution—what is happening in the eye facilitates easier and more accurate diagnoses of many eye diseases. This tool is Immensely effective for the detection of many eye diseases, including:

• Glaucoma
• Age-related macular degeneration
• Retinal tears and detachments
• Optic strokes

Our optometrist will go over the results during your next eye exam and indicate what they are seeing and where.

Often, we see the signs of high blood pressure or diabetes before they are even on our patients’ radar.

Digital retinal photography is also known as digital fundus photography. Fundus photography simply refers to photographing the back of the eye.

Your retina consists of 10 layers. Fundus photography provides a top-down view through these layers to the back of your eye. Using fundus photography, we can detect and monitor the development of many eye diseases.

We are excited to introduce the new Zeiss Clarus 500 Widefield Fundus Camera to NTOC! This innovative tool takes 210° panoramic photographs of the fundus, allowing our doctors to see down to 7 microns and capture retinal changes in the earliest stages.

There are only a few of these cameras in Canada. Your eye health means so much to us that we had to invest in one.

At NTOC, we’ve invested in the Cirrus HD OCT. This machine allows us to diagnose and manage retinal problems before damage is done.

OCT imaging is non-invasive and is non-contact. It uses light waves to create a cross-section of the interior of your eyes, allowing your optometrist to view your retina, cornea, iris, and optic nerve in extreme detail.

They work by using infrared light—which is safe for your eyes and causes no damage—to scan and measure the retina’s thickness and individual layers.

OCT imaging is a useful tool for the detection and monitoring of:

• Glaucoma
• Age-related macular degeneration
• Retinal tears and detachments
• Diabetic retinopathy
• Optic nerve disorders

The test itself is painless and only takes a few minutes. In some cases, we may need to dilate your pupils using eye drops to increase the visible area.

You will be comfortably seated in front of the Cirrus HD OCT, with your head resting against the machine, ensuring limited motion during the scan. The equipment will do the rest.

Visual field testing measures your total field of vision, and is a standard test for detecting glaucoma and monitoring its progression. It’s a simple, non-invasive test.

• How far up, down, left, and right you are able to see without having to move your eyes, neck, or head
• Visual accuracy across your visual field
• Responsiveness to various stimuli and light across your visual field

A visual field test does not require any activity that would cause discomfort. It involves placing your head on a cushion and following our instructions as we test various aspects of your visual field. When performed properly, a visual field test can give us important information about your eye health.

When undergoing a visual field test, it is imperative that you provide accurate information regarding what you are seeing. Often, patients will try to “do well” on the test, making the data collected unreliable as a result. So long as you are honest in your responses, the visual field test will produce an accurate result.

A visual field test can provide information on:

A visual field test is quite low-tech compared to some of the other equipment we have, but it remains an important diagnostic tool.

During a visual field test we will perform:

• Confrontation Visual Field Test: While standing or sitting still, with one eye covered, we will place objects in your field of vision and ask you to provide feedback on what you’re seeing.
• Amsler Grid Test: While looking at a fixed point within a larger square grid, we’ll ask you to interpret various points. This test helps us determine visual acuity across your field of vision.