Burlington, IA -- (SBWIRE) -- 06/29/2015 -- American Eyecare, a local optometric practice with a reputation for forward thinking, technology minded patient care, recently announced the newest addition to its eye care office, state of the art OCT technology.

Optical Coherence Tomography, also known as OCT, is a game changing technology in the field of Optometry. In explaining how the new OCT technology works, Dr. Tod Gerhardt comments, " This amazing device uses a sophisticated laser platform to capture extremely accurate images of the eye, with detail down to 1/100th the width of a human hair, and is able to identify eye disease undetectable to the human eye. Even the standard view of the doctor through a microscope cannot see this kind of incredible detail! This kind of detail allows us to see the eye like never before to find disease when it starts, not when halfway to blindness, and allowing us to change course if need be to tailor treatment to the unique needs of each patient. "

The amazing accuracy and detail made possible by OCT has revolutionized the early detection and treatment of many eye diseases, including glaucoma, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, vascular disease and buried drusen. This increased ability to detect these earlier than ever before, helps our experienced doctors here at American Eyecare treat their patients with greater success and accuracy.

All patients can benefit from receiving an OCT scan during their next yearly comprehensive eye exam, especially those with a family or personal history of disease. According to Dr. Gerhardt, "The patient experience is extremely comfortable and convenient, requiring only about 15 seconds staring at a red light in the device while the eye is scanned. Afterwards, we can show the patients the images we look at to give them a very personal look at their own ocular health or disease. The software includes a progression mode that we can use to quickly show whether or not the disease is stable or worsening. In this way we have identified dozens of patient with wet macular degeneration at the point in time it starts and have been able to dramatically change the course of the disease by early diagnosis, management, and treatment."

For more information about the advantages of OCT, come see us at American Eyecare today!