Contact:          Tania Banak, University Relations Specialist
608/263-6716, banakt@vetmed.wisc.edu
Date issued:    September 17, 2009

Using the new digital retinal camera, ophthalmologists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine can view the back of a patient’s eye. This image shows the retina of a normal dog.

MADISON – Thanks to a generous gift from a donor, the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine’s ophthalmology service has purchased a new digital retinal camera and a portable hand-held digital slit lamp. 

“This will significantly enhance our teaching capability,” says Dr. Ellison Bentley, a veterinary ophthalmologist at the school. 

The retinal camera takes pictures of the retina at the back of a patient’s eye.  It replaces a film camera that had a narrower field of view. 

A new, portable digital slit lamp allows the school’s ophthalmologists to examine patient’s eyes more easily. Because the unit is portable, it can be used for both small animals and horses.

“It gives us a wider view of the retina, so we can see more,” says Dr. Bentley.  “It can also be held further away from the eye, which makes it easier to work with patients.  Some units actually have to touch the eye, so this is a real advantage.”

Being able to take a photo of the retina makes it easier to track changes in the eye (for example, response to treatment), and allows ophthalmologists to teach more effectively by being able to share exactly what they’re looking at with both students and clients.

Technician Kim Sherman restrains a patient while Dr. Ellison Bentley, ophthalmologist, views the dog’s retina with the School of Veterinary Medicine’s new digital retinal camera.

Like the digital retina camera, the new digital slit lamp (a special instrument that gives the doctor a cross-sectional view of the eye and magnifies it) is portable.  This makes it much easier to use than the school’s previous table-mounted model.  The mounted lamp was hard to use with dogs and cats and impossible with horses.

“Now we can carry it into the barn to examine a horse’s eyes,” Dr. Bentley says.  “Again, it’s great for teaching, and for documenting the progression or regression of lesions.”

Both pieces of equipment were donated by Marilyn Potter, a client of the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital who is very happy with the ophthalmology services her dog, Orville, received.