I’ve had plenty of tests but only had this one on the 17th September, so thought I would explain about it incase anyones having a scan soon and wondering what to expect.
Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive imaging test. OCT uses light waves to take cross-section pictures of your retina.
With OCT, your eye doctor can see each of the retina’s distinctive layers. This allows your ophthalmologist to map and measure their thickness. These measurements help with diagnosis of several conditions.
What happens during OCT?
To prepare you for an OCT exam, your ophthalmologist may or may not put dilating eye drops in your eyes.
I didn’t have any put in myself.
These drops widen your pupil and make it easier to examine the retina.
You sit in front of the OCT machine and rest your head on a support to keep it motionless.
You put each eye in turn, against the viewer to see the screen inside.
The equipment will then scan your eye without touching it. Scanning takes about 5 to 10 minutes.
The OCT scan uses light waves to create an image, similar to an ultrasound that uses sound waves to create an image.
The OCT will scan each of your eyes, whilst you fix your gaze on a blue cross in the top corner.
The red circle is for the retinal disc to fit into that the nurse will adjust from her side of things.
OCT is often used to evaluate disorders of the Optic Nerve as well. The OCT exam helps your ophthalmologist see any changes to the fibers of the optic nerve.
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