Bill Harvey: Welcome to the show that never ends

It’s been a busy few days, not least because of a hectic weekend at Optrafair.

As always, the event offered a useful opportunity to catch up with developments in instrumentation. I was particularly interested in a new software system aimed at automating image analysis. Images of the anterior eye, such as areas of hyperaemia or of staining, can be imported and then analysed automatically.

Options include quantitative assessment of staining, hyperaemia grading, and measuring the rate of change in appearance of lesions over time using sequential images. Retinal image analysis can only be a short time away. I mention this because, compared with previous attempts to automate image analysis, the new system appears much more robust and I very much look forward to trying it out soon – look for a review in the coming issues.