Bill Harvey reviews the SPECTRALIS SPIRIT
Getting into the SPIRIT
Bill Harvey, Clinical Editor, Optician Magazine, had a chance to use and review the latest OCT platform from Heidelberg Engineering aimed directly at the High Street practice.
“The new SPECTRALIS SPIRIT has been designed for the optometrist working in community practice. The unit looks similar to the SPECTRALIS but has been adapted to offer those functions most likely to be required in community practice eye examinations.”
Clinical accuracy and credibility
Bill Harvey highlights the importance of accurately monitoring change over time in patient’s eyes for robust referrals:
“One trick I have learned over the years is to scan the same patient twice. In theory, with just minutes between scans, the values gained should be identical."
“Sadly, this is rarely the case with many instruments as focusing, patient movement and less than accurate tracking results in variation. Obviously, when seeing a patient and comparing the new values with those previously obtained introduces significant error in referrals.”
“The SPECTRALIS SPIRIT includes the same TruTrack Active Eye Tracking patented technology as the SPECTRALIS.
TruTrack effectively ‘freezes’ the retina, allowing you to capture the precise OCT image you want, even if the patient blinks or moves. It is widely accepted in hospital settings too, so any referral from the SPECTRALIS SPIRIT based upon changes in values over any period will be taken seriously by hospital departments.”
Ease of use
“I was impressed by a number of new features making operation easy. Indeed, a retinal and disc analysis of both eyes, even on some trickier patients, was quite possible within just four minutes.”
“None of my sample of patients had concerns about their scanning and confirmed it was both quick and comfortable.”
Conclusion
Bill Harvey concluded by saying:
“I believe the Heidelberg SPECTRALIS SPIRIT is what the high street is waiting for – a reliable, easy to use OCT that allows useful scanning of ocular health in a way that most secondary care can relate to.”
Find out more about the SPECTRALIS SPIRIT at www.LoveYourOCT.com
