Autorefractors: the future of optometry?
Objective autorefractors are already a reliable and time-saving complement to optometric care, but Acuity asks if fully automated subjective machines threaten the profession itself.
A new generation of fully automated subjective autorefractors is entering the market. These machines – handheld, table-mounted or smartphone-based – have wide-ranging implications for the future role of the optometrist.
What will be the impact on your scope of practice, skill set, regulation and education? Will practices look very different, with ‘self-checkouts’? Will patients of the future get their refractive needs via technology in the home or in a shopping centre? And what effects could patients’ direct interaction with autorefraction, eye testing on phones for example, have on public health?
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Related further reading
One thing is certain: I wasn’t expecting the events of the last 10 weeks to take place when I wrote my last Optometry in Practice editorial in February this year.
The College of Optometrists was invited to provide evidence at the parliamentary hearing on The Safer Phones Bill, a private member’s bill aimed at protecting children’s rights and well-being in the digital age.
As the nights draw in and we enter a harsh winter, we may experience some issues with our eyes and even our vision, as we find that our eyes need some particular seasonal care.