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What is Specular Microscopy?

Experienced eye care doctors use specular microscopy to study a patient’s corneal endothelium. The non-invasive technique is used to evaluate...
Experienced eye care doctors use specular microscopy to study a patient’s corneal endothelium.

The non-invasive technique is used to evaluate the health of the corneal endothelium or inspect any damage that may have been caused to it by disease, surgery or injury.

The corneal endothelium consists of a single layer of flat mitochondria cells that rest between the corneal stroma and the anterior chamber. The function of the endothelium is the dehydration of the corneal stroma. It essentially pumps fluid out of the cornea enabling good vision.

The health of the corneal endothelium is compromised with diseases such as keratoconus, Fuch’s dystrophy, posterior polymorphous dystrophy, congenital hereditary endothelial dystrophy and iridocorneal endothelial syndrome.

Each of these conditions can have severe results if not addressed by an experienced eye care specialist. Dr. Irwin Azman is familiar with corneal endothelium disease and knows when specular miscroscopy is appropriate for their patients. Diagnosing irregularities with the corneal endothelium, in a timely manner, is essential to taking the appropriate steps for treatment.

Specular microscopy is a quick and painless procedure. The reflected-light microscope shines onto the cornea and captures images that are reflected from the optical interface between the endothelium and the aqueous humor. Experienced eye doctors like Dr. Irwin Azman use the highly magnified images to analyze the endothelial cell density and morphology.

Surprisingly, specular microscopy is not conducted at all eye care facilities. Only experienced eye care doctors are able to make an accurate distinction between normal and abnormal endothelial structures.

Dr. Azman has found that the clinical benefits of specular microscopy are endless. Dr. Azman has top-of-the-line instruments at his facility including a specular microscope to achieve the best results for his patients. While we have a variety of instruments used for diagnostic purposes, our specular microscope is the fastest method to obtain accurate, consistent information that we are not able to gather with our other effective methods like corneal topography and biomicroscopy.

Dr. Azman thoroughly explores every treatment option for his patients before corneal transplantation is recommended. Dr. Azman is known nationwide as the doctor who welcomes the most challenging cases and is able to prescribe healing treatments for those patients.

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