Many ophthalmic professionals are overwhelmed by the technology choices available in today's ophthalmic technology market. This is especially true in exam lane and automated ophthalmic equipment options. In this case, we wanted to take the opportunity to further educate our consumers on some of the differences between the Futura Digital Refraction System and the Marco Epic System available from Marco.

Both of these ophthalmic examination systems provide a high tech automated solution to electronically collect screening data from an auto-refractor/keratometer and auto-lensmeter. The data is then electronically fed to the electronic refractor (HDR-7000 or TRS-5000).

The Epic-5100 Vision Diagnostic System is an electronic refractor, auto-refractor/keratometer, space saving chart projector, auto lensmeter and motorized table. The Futura Digital Refraction system completes all of these actions as well as offering a flexible configuration to complete the medical portion of the ophthalmic exam.

The Epic System is predominately used in practices where the refraction procedure is delegated to an ophthalmic technician, saving the physicians time to focus on medical/surgical related exams. By optimizing time spent on patients, the ophthalmic physician can achieve better profit margins and create a healthier business supporting his practice.

 

This is why the TRS-5000 is coupled with Marco's auto-refractor/keratometer on the same Epic 5100 Table. Despite this, the system does not allow a full ophthalmic exam to be performed on the patient since the Epic 5100 Table does not accommodate a slit lamp and other instruments needed for the medical portion of the exam.

Therefore an office utilizing the Epic System will have to have additional exam lanes equipped with these instruments. The downside is that an ophthalmic physician will end up "dividing" their office real estate into more specialized zones for specific purposes rather than enabling themselves to complete any examination in any exam room. This could create a need for a larger office space, which could impact the improved revenues from an automated exam system.

The Futura Digital Refraction System meets the needs of the ophthalmic market, but also has the added flexibility to be configured to accommodate the instruments needed to complete the "medical" portion of the ophthalmic exam. This means the Futura system can be used by ophthalmic physicians and ophthalmic technicians alike. The Futura system offers valuable flexibility and Veatch Instruments can also offer customized configurations to meet customer's specific needs.

One of the most important benefits of both of these systems is their potential space savings. In the case of the Futura and the Epic the ophthalmic professional has the ability to create a complete examination unit with a compact footprint. In order to accomplish this small footprint, a mirrored chart projector is required in order to "fold" the room effectively to achieve sufficient vision field (20') to accurately refract a patient's vision. (Huvitz model is the CDC-4000). Without the mirrored chart projector, you lose the space savings because you'll need a more traditional room configuration like the traditional exam lane.

To be completely comparable to the Marco Epic System, the Futura would need to be configured in the following way: