Schiøtz tonometer is an indentation

tonometer Tonometry is the procedure eye care professionals perform to determine the intraocular pressure (IOP), the fluid pressure inside the eye. It is an important test in the evaluation of patients at risk from glaucoma. Most tonometers are calibrated ...

, used to measure the

intraocular pressure Intraocular pressure (IOP) is the fluid pressure inside the eye Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response fu ...

(IOP) by measuring the depth produced on the surface of the

cornea The cornea is the transparent front part of the eye that covers the iris, pupil, and anterior chamber. Along with the anterior chamber and lens, the cornea refracts light, accounting for approximately two-thirds of the eye's total optical ...

by a load of a known weight. The indentation of corneal surface is related to the IOP.

Parts

The Schiotz tonometer consists of a ''curved footplate'' which is placed on the cornea of a supine patient. A weighted ''plunger'' attached to the footplate sinks into the cornea. A ''scale'' then gives a reading depending on how much the plunger sinks into the cornea, and a ''conversion table'' converts the scale reading into IOP measured in mmHg. Footplates have to be cool, dry and sterilized before use.

Eponym

It was invented by the Norwegian ophthalmologist Hjalmar August Schiøtz, who presented it to the Norwegian Medical Society on 10 May 1905.

References

External links

How to measure intraocular pressure: Schiötz tonometry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schiotz tonometer Medical equipment Eye procedures Ophthalmic equipment