The animated eye

Movies like Toy Story and Finding Nemo have shown how computergenerated animation has matured and potentially surpassed traditional animation techniques.
This technology is now available to the eye care professions for the purpose of effective patient education, whether in the consulting room, the reception area, the dispensing room, or on the practice website.
The two-CD set offers a wealth of animations to educate patients about the range of ophthalmic problems and surgical and non-surgical solutions available.

The package
Produced by 3D-Eye Office, eyeMaginations is distributed in the UK by Optimed. These animations offer the eye care professional an immense resource dedicated to surgical and non-surgical solutions to common eye problems.
Whether the patient is simply myopic or considering a specific type of spectacle or contact lens, or even refractive surgery, there is an animation to suit. Thus, the anatomy of the eye, its physiology, the pathologies that might affect it, the modes of correction and common surgical procedures are all covered in extremely detailed, full-colour 3D animations.
There are two modules to the software Ð eyeMaginations and Heyelites. Eyemaginations is designed to be used in the waiting or dispensing area. It has pre-selected animations with narration on ocular conditions and spectacle lenses, and even allows the practitioner or staff to create their own pre-set sequence if required.
HeyeLites, on the other hand, has no narration but has many more animations. It is designed for the consulting room so that practitioners can select their own playlist and talk patients through the sequence and draw on screen with the mouse.
For instance, when dealing with presbyopia, the animation explains how light rays from close objects are divergent, how the ciliary body contracts and how, in a young patient, the lens responds.
There are additional animations that show the effect of a near correction, its limitations and how multifocals overcome these. There are also numerous animations of ocular disease. For example, for cataract, the anatomy, the effect of scatter and the patient's view of the real world can all be described in simulated 3D animation. Having demonstrated this, the practitioner can also address patient concerns of surgery with 3D animations.
Additionally, many still images are available for inclusion in newsletters, while videos can be placed on the practice website, or presented to patients in the waiting room or in the dispensing suite. If necessary, there is no reason why selected images or videos could not be burnt onto a CD, emailed or printed out for patients to view at home. This would help patients explain to family members exactly what their ophthalmic problems are and help to promote products or services.
The real potential of digital animation approach is fully realised when the practitioner configures their own sequences and makes a short movie. This is done by clicking a sequence of individual files, so that they run in the order required and in a seamless fashion. So, in the case of presbyopia, a sequence can be created, and then stored, to show the cause and the potential solutions. For instance, the animation could be configured to start with an overview of ocular anatomy, then an explanation of presbyopia and finally an overview of potential solutions, from single-vision spectacles to multifocals to bifocal contact lenses. Equally, the myopic patient can be shown a sequence of animations that explain the underlying cause of a disease, how it may be corrected and the pros and cons of the various options. Thus, a -3.00D myope can be shown relevant and clear simulations of spectacles, contact lenses, orthokeratology and refractive surgery, allowing them to make a more informed choice from the array of available options.
There are also a number of pre-configured sequential animations to choose from. Some examples are lenses for computer users, advice for those considering contact lenses and contact lenses for the over-40s. These add to the potential multiple uses of the digital animations.

pros and cons
Every type of eye care practitioner will find animations that may be helpful to their practice. The ophthalmologist and optometrist will find the surgical simulations useful in allowing a patient to better understand what surgery entails. The optometrist will also value the explanations of refractive error, eye disease and the different modes of correction, and the dispensing optician will find the detailed simulations of different lenses most useful.
I suspect most practitioners may wish to switch off the US soundtrack and talk through the animations themselves to further customise the information given.
Already a Spanish soundtrack is available and in the future all major languages will be provided to enable the non-English speaking patient to be better informed. However, it would be perfectly feasible to run a five-minute sequence, with the soundtrack on and pop out of the consulting room for a quick break.
The sheer amount of information available and the need for decent video display capability does mean that a reasonably modern computer is required.
My 18-month-old Sony Vaio laptop had no problem installing or running the software, but an older 286 processor with less RAM and a smaller hard drive did find it difficult to run.
In the fully integrated practice the software can be networked and then configured for every workstation, so that wherever you are in the practice, the patient can receive appropriate information to enable them to make an informed choice about products or services.
To sum up, this software is a major modern resource for patient education that can help the practitioner tailor the plethora of potential vision correction modalities to individual patients, leading to an increase in patient satisfaction.
The total cost of the software is in the region of £650, which is payable per annum or £59 per month. In return, the user receives updates.

You can try the software free for 30 days by emailing ordersoptimed.ltd.uk or telephone 024 7644 4118.

Optometrist David Ruston practises in central London
Movies like Toy Story and Finding Nemo have shown how computergenerated animation has matured and potentially surpassed traditional animation techniques.
This technology is now available to the eye care professions for the purpose of effective patient education, whether in the consulting room, the reception area, the dispensing room, or on the practice website.
The two-CD set offers a wealth of animations to educate patients about the range of ophthalmic problems and surgical and non-surgical solutions available.

The package
Produced by 3D-Eye Office, eyeMaginations is distributed in the UK by Optimed. These animations offer the eye care professional an immense resource dedicated to surgical and non-surgical solutions to common eye problems.
Whether the patient is simply myopic or considering a specific type of spectacle or contact lens, or even refractive surgery, there is an animation to suit. Thus, the anatomy of the eye, its physiology, the pathologies that might affect it, the modes of correction and common surgical procedures are all covered in extremely detailed, full-colour 3D animations.
There are two modules to the software Ð eyeMaginations and Heyelites. Eyemaginations is designed to be used in the waiting or dispensing area. It has pre-selected animations with narration on ocular conditions and spectacle lenses, and even allows the practitioner or staff to create their own pre-set sequence if required.
HeyeLites, on the other hand, has no narration but has many more animations. It is designed for the consulting room so that practitioners can select their own playlist and talk patients through the sequence and draw on screen with the mouse.
For instance, when dealing with presbyopia, the animation explains how light rays from close objects are divergent, how the ciliary body contracts and how, in a young patient, the lens responds.
There are additional animations that show the effect of a near correction, its limitations and how multifocals overcome these. There are also numerous animations of ocular disease. For example, for cataract, the anatomy, the effect of scatter and the patient's view of the real world can all be described in simulated 3D animation. Having demonstrated this, the practitioner can also address patient concerns of surgery with 3D animations.
Additionally, many still images are available for inclusion in newsletters, while videos can be placed on the practice website, or presented to patients in the waiting room or in the dispensing suite. If necessary, there is no reason why selected images or videos could not be burnt onto a CD, emailed or printed out for patients to view at home. This would help patients explain to family members exactly what their ophthalmic problems are and help to promote products or services.
The real potential of digital animation approach is fully realised when the practitioner configures their own sequences and makes a short movie. This is done by clicking a sequence of individual files, so that they run in the order required and in a seamless fashion. So, in the case of presbyopia, a sequence can be created, and then stored, to show the cause and the potential solutions. For instance, the animation could be configured to start with an overview of ocular anatomy, then an explanation of presbyopia and finally an overview of potential solutions, from single-vision spectacles to multifocals to bifocal contact lenses. Equally, the myopic patient can be shown a sequence of animations that explain the underlying cause of a disease, how it may be corrected and the pros and cons of the various options. Thus, a -3.00D myope can be shown relevant and clear simulations of spectacles, contact lenses, orthokeratology and refractive surgery, allowing them to make a more informed choice from the array of available options.
There are also a number of pre-configured sequential animations to choose from. Some examples are lenses for computer users, advice for those considering contact lenses and contact lenses for the over-40s. These add to the potential multiple uses of the digital animations.

pros and cons
Every type of eye care practitioner will find animations that may be helpful to their practice. The ophthalmologist and optometrist will find the surgical simulations useful in allowing a patient to better understand what surgery entails. The optometrist will also value the explanations of refractive error, eye disease and the different modes of correction, and the dispensing optician will find the detailed simulations of different lenses most useful.
I suspect most practitioners may wish to switch off the US soundtrack and talk through the animations themselves to further customise the information given.
Already a Spanish soundtrack is available and in the future all major languages will be provided to enable the non-English speaking patient to be better informed. However, it would be perfectly feasible to run a five-minute sequence, with the soundtrack on and pop out of the consulting room for a quick break.
The sheer amount of information available and the need for decent video display capability does mean that a reasonably modern computer is required.
My 18-month-old Sony Vaio laptop had no problem installing or running the software, but an older 286 processor with less RAM and a smaller hard drive did find it difficult to run.
In the fully integrated practice the software can be networked and then configured for every workstation, so that wherever you are in the practice, the patient can receive appropriate information to enable them to make an informed choice about products or services.
To sum up, this software is a major modern resource for patient education that can help the practitioner tailor the plethora of potential vision correction modalities to individual patients, leading to an increase in patient satisfaction.
The total cost of the software is in the region of £650, which is payable per annum or £59 per month. In return, the user receives updates.

You can try the software free for 30 days by emailing ordersoptimed.ltd.uk or telephone 024 7644 4118.

Optometrist David Ruston practises in central London