Slit Lamps

Slit lamp microscopes for anterior segment examination

The slit lamp (or slit lamp biomicroscope) is the workhorse of the anterior segment exam: a variable slit of light plus a stereo microscope, used to examine lids, cornea, anterior chamber, iris and lens, and — with an auxiliary lens — the posterior segment. The three groups below differ in what you add to that base instrument: nothing, a camera, or an applanation tonometer.

US Ophthalmic is a provider of diagnostic equipment to eye care practices across the USA and Latin America, with US warranty, in-house service and genuine spare parts. Browse slit lamps by type:

• Conventional slit lamps — the standard examination instrument, in Galilean and Greenough optical designs and in 2-step, 3-step and 5-step magnification. Includes the Ezer ESL and Emerald ranges, Huvitz HS-5000 and a MiiS portable model.
• Digital and imaging slit lamps — slit lamps with an integrated or attached camera path for capturing, documenting and sharing anterior segment findings. Ezer Emerald-26 and ESL-Emerald-VD, Huvitz HIS-5000 and HIS-7000, plus Custom Surgical MicroREC smartphone adapters and beamsplitters.
• Slit lamp applanation tonometers — Goldmann-type tonometers that mount to the slit lamp to measure intraocular pressure during the same exam. Ezer ESL-Emerald-TN, LuxVision TN-150 and TN-180B, Kowa HA-2 and Huvitz HT-5000.

Choosing a slit lamp

Start with the optical system and magnification steps. A Galilean (converging) system gives a wider, flatter field and is what most clinicians expect day to day; a Greenough stereoscopic system is a more economical build that still gives true stereo. Two or three magnification steps cover routine anterior segment work; five steps earn their cost when you are grading fine corneal detail or doing contact lens and post-surgical follow-up. Then decide whether documentation matters: retrofitting imaging later is possible with a beamsplitter, but an integrated digital model is cleaner if you intend to photograph routinely. Finally, check the tonometer mount — if you plan to applanate at the slit lamp, buy the tonometer matched to that model rather than adapting one.

Related categories: non-contact tonometers, refraction units, chairs and stands, and retinal cameras for posterior segment imaging.

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