Pachymetry (Corneal Thickness Measurement)

Equipment:

• Optovue Ocular Coherence Tomograph
• Ultrasound Corneal Pachymeter

Procedures:

• Corneal Thickness Measurement

When measuring the intra-ocular pressures, we lightly touch the front surface of the eye (the cornea). If the cornea is thicker or thinner than average, this may affect the measurement. In order to correct for this potential error, we can measure the thickness of the cornea and adjust the pressure measurement accordingly.

Corneal thickness measurement, or pachymetry as it is also known, can be carried out using optical coherence tomography. The machine can identify the front and back surfaces of the cornea and can measure the distance between the two. In this way, a map can be produced showing the thickness of the cornea. We then use a formula to correct the pressure measurement.