Spacious waiting area - In designing reception, our overwhelming criterion was to make you feel at ease. The colour scheme, inspired by the Outback, feels familiar and relaxing. The background music has been selected to calm. Because the reception area is quite expansive, we have been able to provide generous spacing for the seating. Speaking of which, Dr Hunt chose the chairs only after personally testing a fair few. The pictures adorning our walls all feature classic Shire holiday destinations. Fresh water is readily available. And, perhaps best of all, the magazines we provide are up to date.

Pleasant screening rooms - Here is where the first, or preparatory, stage of your examination takes place. Using some of the diagnostic equipment shown below, our orthoptist will carry out an initial assessment of your eyes, checking both your vision and the ocular pressure. The results are then passed on to your ophthamologist for interpretation and discussion with you. In all likelihood you'll also have eye drops administered preparatory to examination by your doctor.

Comfortable consultation rooms - We have four consultation rooms, one of which has a laser while another also serves as a procedure area. It is in one of these rooms that your doctor will assess your eyes and discuss any tests required either in the surgery or at an outside facility equipped for such special areas as radiology or pathology. When the results of tests become available, this is where your doctor will interpret them for you. And where he'll talk about treatment options available to you or further action you can take to maintain the health of your eyes. We have provided ample room for parents to accompany their children or other relatives or friends to sit in with older patients and provide another pair of ears.

Well-equipped procedure room - We use this room for minor operations performed under local anaesthetic. They range from eyelid procedures such as incision and drainage of cysts to injections of Lucentis into your eye to help combat macular degeneration. As you can see from the photo, you'll be experiencing these surgeries while laying back on a motorised dentist chair. We have chosen this particular item of furniture for both you and us. You'll find it much easier to climb onto than a rigid examination table and a lot more comfortable. And we have better accessibility when treating your eyes.

Haag-Streit BQ 900® slit lamp - Lamps like this are the foundation of ophthalmology. What they do is shine a thin sheet of light into your eye, providing us with a stereoscopic magnified view of the eye structures in some detail. This, in turn, allows us to make anatomical diagnoses for a variety of eye conditions including macular degeneration, cataract, diabetic retinopathy, corneal ulcer, retinal detachment and conjunctivitis. In recent years numerous inexpensive versions have appeared from China and India. But this Swiss-built slit lamp is the best available, offering unequalled precision and functionality. As Dr Hunt says, “My patients may not be able to tell the difference, but I certainly can.”

Zeiss VISUCAM camera system - Retinal cameras are highly complex and difficult-to-manufacture microscopes with an attached camera. They are designed to take colour photographs of the interior surface of your eye, including the retina, optic disc, macula and posterior pole. We use our VISUCAM to diagnose retinal diseases associated with diabetes as well as macular degeneration. In a process called angiography we intravenously inject fluorescent dye, which allows sophisticated filters to produce a very high-contrast image of the vessels. The process starts in a matter of seconds and is all over within a few minutes. By shooting a timed sequence of photographs as the dye progresses, we are able to see whether you have any abnormal blood vessels and, even more important, whether there's any leakage.

Zeiss Cirrus™ HD-OCT - This latest generation of high-definition optical scanner features dramatically increased scanning speed combined with an even higher axial resolution. The Zeiss model we use provides us with a much more detailed image of the macular or optic nerve head and the surrounding retinal nerve fiber layer. The greater speed also gives us more consistent and sharper images. It has become a crucial tool in assessment and monitoring wet macular degeneration. For our glaucoma patients, we now have a much better opportunity to see how the disease affects the optic nerve and RNFL. Not only are we better able to distinguish between glaucomatous and normal eyes, it's also easier to identify glaucoma progression.

Zeiss VISULAS YAG III Combi laser system - Like several other instruments we use at Eye Surgeons Miranda, this wonderfully versatile combination has each been precision-engineered in Germany by Carl Zeiss Meditec, manufacturer of what are generally regarded as the world's most advanced surgical and diagnostic solutions in ophthalmology. The VISULAS YAG III uses two laser sources of different frequency. This dual action means we don't have to move back and forth between two separate lasers while performing laser procedures. It has proven exceptionally useful for managing glaucoma, cataract, retinal conditions and even misdirected eyelashes. Dr Hunt has used every laser on the market, and the Zeiss is his personal favourite.

Humphrey Zeiss visual field analyser - This instrument plays a critical part in diagnosing and monitoring glaucoma. By assessing the state of your eye's visual field, it helps us predict future clinical developments and make prognoses. Perhaps the greatest advantage of this latest generation of Humphrey analysers is its ability to make accurate measurements of each eye in about five minutes. Because this process can become very boring for patients, many tire and lose concentration, resulting in less-than-accurate responses. As you can imagine, the quicker the exam the less tired you become, and the more reliable the results the more effective your treatment.

Zeiss IOLMaster - Quite simply, this is the latest and greatest instrument for measuring the eye prior to cataract surgery. In the past eye surgeons would rely on the ultrasound method to measure your eye. With the advent of laser technology, we are now able to get a far more accurate picture so that we can choose the best-fitting intra-ocular lens to place into your eye during the operation. Which means you end up with even better vision than would have been likely just a few years ago.

Magnon OM-400 keratometer - Keratometers, also known as ophthalmometers, have been around since 1880. They are diagnostic instruments used for measuring the curvature of the anterior surface of the cornea and detecting irregulaties called keratoconas. The manual Bausch and Lomb keratometer we use served as a workhorse in the days when measurement of the eye prior to cataract surgery was less technically advanced. The reason we have one at Eye Surgeons Miranda is that despite its advanced age in design terms, it very accurately assesses the alignment of the newest intra-ocular lenses used to correct astigmatism in cataract surgery. We employ it to provide a kind of ‘second opinion’ to our IOLMaster.

Genie software - This dedicated medical software continues to evolve and now offers thousands of features that help us look after you more efficiently. In days gone by, your information would have been kept in cumbersome file folders, and digging out specific information could prove quite time-consuming. Especially if something went missing. With this Genie system everything we have to know about you - your medical history, various test results, key scans and photos - is all integrated and available to us instantaneously, 24 hours a day, wherever we might be. We can even load your file onto a laptop and have it immediately accessible when we're operating. Just as important, all your information is continually protected by automated backups.