A handheld non-mydriatic fundus camera Ð the NM-200D

As has been reported many times in these pages, the use of digital imaging technology in optometry continues apace. For fundus imaging, much attention has been paid to systems of the approved resolution and field of view deemed suitable for retinopathy screening. Considering the great numbers of diabetics requiring regular review, it is hardly surprising that the need to produce as large a field of as high a resolution as necessary to pick up even the smallest retinal lesions has been paramount in most practitioners' minds when considering purchasing instruments. The downside of this, however, may be a loss of flexibility and portability. Flexibility is important if one wants an imaging system capable of capturing as wide a variety of images as possible which may be easily manipulated, stored or transferred. Portability is useful both within a large practice environment and, perhaps more significantly, when it comes to imaging patients either housebound or with a mobility problem. When one considers the number of housebound diabetics potentially unable to access either the mobile van or practice-based screening programmes, this is perhaps a factor which will receive more prominence in some schemes in the future. The Nidek NM-200D (developed from the original NM-100) claims both flexibility and portability and so was used in a variety of situations in the Fight for Sight Optometry Clinic at City University to see if these claims were valid.