Olathe, KS -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/22/2014 -- There are few things more recognizable than the standard optometrist’s eye chart. Officially known as the Snellen Eye Chart, named after its Dutch ophthalmologist inventor, Hermann Snellen, who introduced the chart back on 1862, it has been the standard for measuring vision acuity during an eye exam for over 100 years. Today, like so many other things we are familiar with, the Snellen Chart has gone digital.

Here in the Olathe area, Dr. Diane Galbrecht of Galbrecht Eye Care recently removed her cardboard Snellen chart and installed the world's most advanced Digital Acuity System known as Clear Chart. “With the digital chart, a doctor can show a whole chart of letters, a single line of letters, and even a single letter if needed,” reported Dr. Galbrecht. “This type of chart also gives the doctor the option to use numbers, a tumbling C or E, and pictures if the patient can’t read.” With current technology, the contrast has also been improved and is much better for patients to see the letters, but can also be dimmed to check for glare or contrast problems. It also has a hearing impaired communication system for effective testing of patients with hearing difficulties.

One of the difficulties of the cardboard Snellen chart is it can be memorized and guessing can skew results. With the digital chart, ototypes, or letters on the screen are randomized when they appear getting a truer reading of the patient’s visual acuity. “The program also comes with patient education materials and a cartoon loop when I am assessing very young children,” stated Dr. Galbrecht. “The letters can also be easily replaced with pictures for patients who are not readers or for younger patients who do not yet know their alphabet or numbers.”

Dr. Galbrecht is offering this technology in both her Shawnee and Olathe locations.