Eye boost

From the archive, first published Saturday 23rd Feb 2008.

A Bradford eye hospital is marking international Glaucoma Day on Thursday, March 6 by unveiling a new state-of-the scanning facility to diagnose the condition more easily.

Consultants at the Yorkshire Eye Hospital are also urging the public not to miss routine eye examinations at their optician as early detection is crucial.

Glaucoma, which can cause sight loss due to damage to the eye's optic nerve, is the second most common cause of blindness worldwide.

The new OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) scanning facilities provides ultra high resolution pictures of the retina and optic nerve, which means patients no longer have to rely upon regular eye examinations using traditional equipment.

Ian Johnston, chairman of Yorkshire Eye Hospital said: "We have invested over £50,000 in this state of the art medical equipment which will help glaucoma patients throughout Yorkshire to benefit from rapid diagnosis and accurate treatment.

"The device, which monitors the effects of glaucoma on the optic nerve is already generating some very dramatic results and we are all very excited about its future use as a clinical aid."