SonoTip and Trick: “See” the eye better…Hey ‘bright’ eyes: no pain, no ‘GAIN’!!

Ok, so the “no pain, no gain” doesn’t really make too much sense as the point of this tip and trick is for better visualization of the eyeball : INCREASE THE GAIN! Puts a whole new meaning to the term “Bright eyes.” When you have a patient with painful or painless vision loss, unilateral visual field deficit, trauma to the eye, or if you have a suspicion of a foreign body in the globe – increase the gain – yup, that’s right. Even though the eye is filled with fluid, and fluid is the lover of ultrasound allowing better visualization of structures deep to it on the screen, it can be difficult to visualize WITHIN that fluid filled structure. Lets see some examples:

SonoApp: Ocular US – “Blinded by the light!” – Pupillary Constriction

THIS is truly my fav when it come to US applications. If you ever show this to any group of students or other learners, the entre room responds with , “Oooooooh, Awwwww.” You can see pupillary constriction by angling the probe upward to get a coronal view of the eye and shining a light on the eye – or the opposite eye. Or, you can decrease your depth and have the linear probe directly on the eyelid in transverse view while the patient looks upward. You will see the linear muscle layers which will constrict when a light is shined in the opposite eye (as seen below) … Pretty cool stuff, I tell ya….