Update on Auto-Lensmeters

 Update on Auto-Lensmeters

A lensmeter is an essential piece of equipment for the eye care professional. This instrument measures the power of spectacle and contact lenses and is one of the first purchases we make when setting up a practice. Whether manual or automatic, lensmeters function by neutralizing the power of the lens being measured and then displaying the resulting prescription. Specifically, lensmeters utilize a telescope to detect the neutralization point: the distance measurement is determined from the back vertex power, the add measurement is taken from the front vertex power, and any prism measurement is derived from displacement of the target pattern. The automatic devices, which are easier to use and have many additional bells and whistles, will be the focus of this article. Here are some of the latest lensmeters:

CL-300 (Topcon): this computerized lensmeter has innovative technology and easy to use features such as automatic mono and multi focal lens detection and measurement, a tiltable color LCD screen with a 5.7 inch touch panel and dynamic graphics, a green light reading beam to enhance measurement precision, and an ultraviolet transmittance measurement function. The lens support has increased height allowing more space for high-curve lenses, and also comes with ring accessories to measure rigid and soft contact lenses. There is also white marking ink to enable clear marking of lenses with any coating.

LM-1800PD (Nidek): this device features a Hartmann sensor with 108 multiple measurement points within the nosepiece to provide rapid measurement of the reading point with greater accuracy and reliability. This lensmeter also has a full graphic LCD monitor with 5.7 inch touch color panel which is tiltable for increased visibility, a green measurement light close to the ISO standard which gives more precise measurement values, and automatic lens type detection which determines the lens type and switches the measuring mode accordingly when the lens is placed on the nosepiece. Other benefits include the distortion check, which measures the lens distortion, and the refractive index measurement kit for determining refractive index of eyeglass lenses.

AL700 (Reichert): this auto lensometer quickly and accurately measure all types of lenses (i.e., single vision, bi-focal, progressive, and prism). Progressive lenses are automatically recognized and measured, and the rate of addition and diopter change are graphically displayed. Other features are measurement of ultraviolet transmittance, pupillary distance, soft and hard contact lens power determination, customized settings, and a full color tilt-screen for easy viewing when standing or seated. The device can also be configured to interface with EMR systems.

TL-5000 (Tomey): this instrument features a customizable color touch panel, a power map that indicates different lens powers in different colors which makes measurement of the reading point easier, an auto table lock function when the optical center of the lens is aligned, simultaneous measurement of ultraviolet transmissivity, and customizable shortcut buttons for the most frequently used functions. The lensmeter also has improved white ink marking points which are easily visible, supports high curved lenses and large optical frames, and contains an accessory box to store items such as the contact lens nose piece.

  • <<
  • >>

Comments