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What is an Optometer?

Mary McMahon
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Updated: May 17, 2024
Views: 21,641
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An optometer is a device which is used to assess a patient's vision, looking both at power and range. This device is utilized by an optometrist or ophthalmologist in a clinical setting. It may be used for a variety of purposes, and it generates numbers which can be written in the patient's chart to provide a record of the status of the patient's vision during the appointment. One useful thing about generating standard measurements is that the chart can be read by any eye care professional. A phrase like “patient's vision is poor” does not provide very much meaningful information, while measurements with an optometer provide an instant frame of reference.

One of the most common reasons to use an optometer is to fit a patient for glasses. In a vision exam, the device is used to precisely measure the refraction of the eye for the purpose of determining the appropriate lens prescription. The eye care professional is very careful during the exam to make sure that it is accurate because a lens of the wrong power can hurt the patient's eyes in addition to being not very effective for vision correction.

With a subjective optometer, the patient is shown a test object and is asked to say whether it is sharp or blurry. As the optometer is adjusted, the patient continues to provide feedback. When the object sharpens and appears as crisp as possible, the optometrist can take note of the number readings on the device and can use these to write a prescription for vision correct. However, subjective devices can be tricky to read because the eyes tend to adjust and adapt and thus the final reading may not be perfectly accurate.

An objective optometer, also known as a refractometer, measures the light reflected from the retina. This measurement may be more accurate and useful because it does not rely on self-reporting by the patient. Objective optometers are less prone to errors such as confusion by the patient, poor communication skills on the part of the patient, and so forth.

The terms “optometer” and “refractometer” are also used more generally to describe devices which measure light and refraction. These devices can be used in a variety of settings ranging from labs where reflected light is used to measure the specific gravity of samples to the field, where engineers may use an optometer to confirm that the level of light being emitted by a lamp conforms with safety guidelines.

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Mary McMahon
By Mary McMahon

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a WiseGeek researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.

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Discussion Comments
By nony — On Dec 03, 2011

@David09 - I agree. I had my lenses checked once and the optometrist actually told me that my existing power on the glasses were a little too strong. That should not be the case.

I don’t think if you use the objective devices that you will err on the side of either being too strong or too weak. My lenses were causing a little bit of eye strain as a result of the slight power increase, and so I had to change them.

By David09 — On Dec 02, 2011

I recently changed the prescription on my glasses. When I went to the eye doctor they used this new fangled optometer to take measurements, in addition to the usual eye exam and traditional equipment used for eye exams.

I was very impressed with the device because it displayed the results objectively in a digital readout. Honestly, I’ve never been a fan of the old way of testing my vision, where they switch different lenses in front of you and ask, “Better or worse?”

Those methods have always been too subjective for my tastes and it’s easy to contradict yourself. With the fancy new optometer they have a more objective way of testing my vision.

Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a...

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