In the Eye of the Beholder: Sight, Illusion, and Disorder
Ophthalmoscopes
32. Ophthalmologist conducting a vision exam using a refractor, circa 1935, from Ophthalmic Lenses: Their History, Theory
and Application, Rochester, NY: Bausch & Lomb Optical Company, 1935, p. 11. |
The ophthalmoscope was invented nearly 150 years ago and quickly became a primary diagnostic tool. The original instrument, fabricated by German physicist Hermann von Helmholtz, made it possible for the first time to observe the interior of the eye. Helmholtz concentrated a beam of light onto the subject's retina which reflected an image of the eye's interior back to the examiner. This new technology eventually enabled physicians to study alterations in the living eye's structure and uncover evidence of disease in many areas of the body, hastening early diagnosis and treatment.
Numerous modifications were made to the ophthalmoscope in the years following 1850, particularly the addition of multiple lenses. The exhibit includes twelve different models beginning with the reflecting ophthalmoscope of the 1850s through the addition of electrically powered light bulbs in 1885 and battery-powered bulbs at the turn of the century. |
| Beginning in about the middle of the 20th century ophthalmoscopy could also be conducted using a binocular headpiece, providing a stereoscopic view of the fundus. |
33. Clockwise from top left: Loring's Ophthalmoscope,
1878, from the Medical Museum collection. Liebreich's Ophthalmoscope, 1855,
from the collection of Mitchell Wolf, MD Reflecting ophthalmoscope, circa
1874, courtesy of the Department of Ophthalmology, UIHC. |
|
34. The Eye Clinic, State University of Iowa
Hospital (now UIHC), circa 1920. Courtesy of
the UI Archives. |
|
