AN OPTICIANS has recently invested in hospital quality technology, which can help detect treatable eye conditions such as macular degeneration sooner.

Specsavers Nelson has invested £45,000 into an optical coherence tomography (OCT) machine and viewing screens.

The scan allows an optician to look deeper into the eyes than ever before and it can help to detect glaucoma up to four years in advance, meaning conditions can be managed before they get worse and can help prevent potential sight loss.

Specsavers Nelson, Colne, and Burnley store director Mark Addison said: "This investment gives us the ability to enhance the services to the local community by identifying and helping to detect or manage conditions, with a level of diagnostic capability which previously would have needed a hospital visit."

An OCT scan uses light to take more than 1,000 images of the back of the eye and beyond, looking right back to the optic nerve and creating a cross-section view.

Mr Addison said: "You can imagine it like a cake, we can see the top of the cake and the icing, but the image produced from an OCT scan slices the cake in half and turns it on its side, so we can see all the layers inside.

"It gives the optician an incredibly accurate picture of your eye and its structures, allowing them to check your eye health."

Specsavers says OCT scans can be conducted in addition to normal eye tests and can be requested when customers book an appointment or arrive in store.

Meanwhile, Specsavers across England are staying open for all eye and hearing care.

Under current government guidance, people are allowed to leave home to attend medical appointments, including eye and hearing tests, which are considered essential healthcare services.

If customers can’t leave home unaccompanied for an eye test, they can request a home visit instead.

To find out more, go to: specsavers.co.uk/nelson.