Former fire chief Dennis Mee, 78, of Solihull, England, can credit a spanking new piece of equipment for not only detecting signs of wet macular degeneration, but also enabling him to seek vision-saving medical attention.
According to a report in the Birmingham Mail, Mee was the first person to be tested with the £50,000 Occular Coherance Tomography (OCT) medical equipment at Dr. Dan Sanders’ Perspective Opticians practice last December. The the OCT scanner works by utilizing light waves in a way that, one, makes a 3D image of the eye and, two, shows numerous layers that sometimes go undetected by other scanners. It was in these often undetected layers that Dr. Sanders discovered so-called bleeds that are the result of wet macular degeneration that can lead to severe vision conditions such as blindness.
In the aftermath of the test performed by Dr. Sanders, Mee said that the new piece of equipment was responsible for saving the vision in his right eye, according to the report. He explained in the report that Dr. Sanders had initially suggested that he be the first test candidate – on the very same day that the piece of medical equipment was delivered to Perspective Opticians. Mee added in the report that the test results demonstrated that he needed “quick treatment” so as to prevent complications that could include blindness.
According to the report, Mee said that the recent development is actually the second time his vision has been spared courtesy of tests performed at Perspective Opticians. The first test, which was conducted four years back, also revealed wet macular degeneration. Mee said in the report that the medical equipment enabled him to head over to the hospital post-haste to save his vision. According to the report, wet macular degeneration, which generally impacts the elderly, causes more damage the longer it is left untreated. So the quick diagnosis, in a very real sense, saved Mee’s sense of sight.
As for Dr. Sanders, he said in the report that the successful diagnosis in Mee’s case shows that the £50,000 purchase was very much money well spent. It’s certainly one “massive investment” that he’s glad he won’t second guess.
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