Lighted spectacles illuminate wound care
Welch-Allyn glasses give spectacular view
Sometimes leafing through a catalog is no more than an idle occupation during a coffee break. However, the day Ronald Scott, MD, happened across a catalog ad for a type of spectacles used as binocular "headlights" by surgeons, dermatologists, and otolaryngologists, a metaphorical light bulb went on above his head.
"I looked at this ad and said, Hey, that looks great! Why couldn’t we use these in wound care?’" Scott says. He immediately ordered a pair and gave them a try. Scott, who is medical director of the Wound Care Clinic of North Texas at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, now uses a Welch-Allyn LumiView Binocular Headlight consistently when debriding wounds.
"It’s been just excellent," Scott says, "especially on making rounds in the hospital. A couple of hospitals I go to have notoriously poor lighting in the rooms. If the room is dark and I’m inspecting a wound, the spectacle headlight glasses are great for lighting it up, even without using the magnification feature. It’s very easy to take them on rounds. You just put the battery pack in your pocket, put the glasses around your neck, and when you get in the room, put your glasses on, put your gloves on, and turn on the light, you get a great view."
Scott adds, "We’re constantly fighting a battle to turn the patient and see the wounds. This is great because it gives off bright white halogen light. We bought another pair for the clinic and started using them when we inspect cavity wounds. In the past, we’d have to use a hand-held light at various angles. This makes it much, much easier to do the inspection of the wound."
Byron J. Bailey, MD, professor of otolaryngology at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, also is a fan of the glasses.
"I use a LumiView headlight frequently for minor surgical procedures because the light is so good, it doesn’t have to be adjusted, it’s bright enough, and it’s lightweight. It’s comfortable to wear. Some of the more elaborate devices are a little heavy and bulky. It’s a very versatile piece of equipment."
Suggested retail pricing for the product is between $595 and $715. [Editor’s note: For more information on LumiView glasses, contact Welch-Allyn at (800) 535-6663.]
Scott says the lighted spectacles are much less expensive than some of the other lights and less cumbersome than the headlights he’s used in the operating room. He cautions that correct adjustment is important when using the magnifying aspect of the glasses.
The LumiView Binocular Headlight is designed to be adjusted specifically for the wearer’s interpupillary distance (IPD) and other facial anatomy. Below each eyepiece, there is an adjustment slide and screened reference scale for adjusting the IPD. To obtain correct adjustment:
• Put on the headlight and look at a single point drawn on a piece of paper held 16 to 20 inches away. Then close one eye and move the IPD adjustment until the point is at the center of your optical field.
• Repeat the procedure with the other eye without moving your head.
• Stare at the point with both eyes open, allowing the image to fuse into full binocular vision. It may take a few seconds and some practice for the image to merge into a single view.
• To check alignment, look at your own eyes in the mirror through the headlight with the lamp turned off.
Each eye should be centered in the square optical area just below the lamp reflector. (See diagram, above left.)
• If the light is beneath the point, move the optics downward by loosening the adjustment screw and sliding the optics down in the adjustment track. Retighten the screw and check the adjustment as above.
• If the light is above the point, move the optics upward. If the LumiView spectacles cannot be adjusted to center the light around the point 16 to 20 inches away, your optician may need to adjust the nose pads or temple bars. An optician also can insert prescription lenses into the glasses.
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