http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/17/canon-rolls-out-cf-1-digital-retinal-camera/ Engadget Comments for Canon rolls out CF-1 digital retinal camera http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/17/canon-rolls-out-cf-1-digital-retinal-camera/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/17/canon-rolls-out-cf-1-digital-retinal-camera/Aug 17th 2007 11:43AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/17/canon-rolls-out-cf-1-digital-retinal-camera/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/17/canon-rolls-out-cf-1-digital-retinal-camera/Aug 17th 2007 11:53AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/17/canon-rolls-out-cf-1-digital-retinal-camera/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/17/canon-rolls-out-cf-1-digital-retinal-camera/Aug 17th 2007 11:55AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/17/canon-rolls-out-cf-1-digital-retinal-camera/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/17/canon-rolls-out-cf-1-digital-retinal-camera/
Does buying a machine like this mean my ophthalmologist will have another excuse to overcharge me? It already costs $180 for just an exam and fitting.]]>Aug 17th 2007 1:36PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/17/canon-rolls-out-cf-1-digital-retinal-camera/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/17/canon-rolls-out-cf-1-digital-retinal-camera/
As an aside it's pretty interesting to have photo's like this taken because they take multiple pictures in rapid succession. Although that might not sound interesting, the bit that is interesting is that the rapid flashes deplete your eyes of the chemical compounds needed to see color. After the flashes you are momentarily (less than a second) blind, with black and white vision coming then color coming back slowly as your body recreates the chemicals used to see color (the first color you see is red so the first thing you see is a red/pink tinted world, it's quite trippy).

Don't try this at home BTW, the flashes used in retinal photography are different than those used in conventional flash photography, enough so that doing the same thing with a conventional flash could possibly damage your retina.]]>Aug 17th 2007 1:45PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/17/canon-rolls-out-cf-1-digital-retinal-camera/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/17/canon-rolls-out-cf-1-digital-retinal-camera/http://www.lasikathome.com/]]>Aug 17th 2007 12:21PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/17/canon-rolls-out-cf-1-digital-retinal-camera/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/17/canon-rolls-out-cf-1-digital-retinal-camera/Aug 17th 2007 3:23PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/17/canon-rolls-out-cf-1-digital-retinal-camera/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/17/canon-rolls-out-cf-1-digital-retinal-camera/
They should try that again but with this retinal camera.]]>Aug 17th 2007 4:36PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/17/canon-rolls-out-cf-1-digital-retinal-camera/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/17/canon-rolls-out-cf-1-digital-retinal-camera/http://www.optos.com/us/Products-Services/About-optomap-products/optomap-Retinal-Exam/

Canon has dominated the analog fundus photography market for decades, fundus photography is basically obsolete. They have dominated the analog fundus photography market, when analog's ability was only able to capture 30 degrees of the retina. Now, trying to compete with Optos, Canon has increased their quality w/ higher megapixels and an increase of 20 degrees of the retina- but that is still far behind the 200 degrees of coverage from the Optomap machine.

That 150 degree difference makes one 1/4 second shot on the Optos a 4-shot process on the Canon, having to adjust the patient several times to capture a full 200 degree image. Not only that, it will be the doctor's job to put together all four images, I believe, and diagnose based on that.

Also, Canon does offer three imaging modes. But you will have to take a separate shot in each of the three modes to attain an image that can be separated by a click of a button on the optos review program.

Doing the math 4 images(200 degree image), 3 images (3 imaging modes), 2 eyes = 24 Images on a Canon, which the Optomap can do in two.

I'd say that Canon is trying to cling on to a market that they are no longer on top of. I guess, they offer high resolution and added functionality, which can be beneficial to doctor's who don't have hundreds of thousands of dollars to lease an Optomap machine. Any way you look at it, whenever they get a new machine- it's a new charge to you! haha

But in all seriousness, I've been an optometric assistant for 3 years, and I love the Optomap Retinal Scan. It's fast, easy, and painless. I've used the analog fundus camera, and it takes me about 15-20 minutes to fully capture an equivalent 30 second mapping on the Optos. Optomap or Retinal photography is a preventive measure when no symptoms are present, and serves a monitoring purpose when a condition is detected. It does cost extra money, but there have been a several cases each year where we have saved a patient from going blind, and my vision is worth more than that $50, $100, or $1,000,000 charge.
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