What Is Pupillometry?

Mr Glenn Carp – “Pupillometry is the measurement of pupil size.  Pupils needs to be measured in different lighting conditions, so we do what is called scotopic, mesopic, and dark measurements of pupil to try to work out what the person’s habitual pupil size is under the different lighting conditions and these can then be focused into the actual treatment in terms of appropriate treatment to the appropriate pupil diameter.”

Pupillometry Explained Further…

Pupillometry measures the size of your pupils, the windows that let light into your eye. The measurement of your pupil size takes place in a darkened room to ensure that your pupils are open fully.

Accurate pupillometry is critically important because the laser is only capable of treating a defined area. Typically, this is a circle with a diameter of 6mm to 8mm, depending on the laser used. If your pupils were larger than the area treated by the laser, it would leave you with an untreated ring around the smaller circle corrected by the laser. It would be like looking through a clear patch in the middle of a smeared window.

This is why pupillometry is such an essential part of the assessment before surgery. The results will determine the type of laser eye treatment you need. Specific lasers that are capable of covering an area larger than their pupils can only treat some people with large pupils.