Pupillary examination with infrared consumer videocamera

Background: Pupillary observation in the dark is always a problem in a gene ral ophthalmological practice or an outpatient clinic without specialized e quipment. We present two methods for observation of the pupils in darkness: 1) illumination of the pupils with the skiascope as a routine examination and 2) infrared observation of the pupils with a consumer digital video cam era. Methods: (1) Pupillary reactions are observed with the skiascope/retinoscop e, the observation beam of the device focused to infinity and documented wi th a video camera. (2) Infrared observation of the pupils was performed wit h a digital consumer video camera, allowing observation of the pupillary re action in darkness. After recording, video sequences of interest were trans ferred to a personal computer and the still images of interest extracted. Results: In everyday clinical routine, observation of the pupillary reactio n with the skiascope/retinoscope proves as a reliable tool with a large ban dwidth of illumination and a high contrast between pupil and surrounding ar ea. The infrared video camera allows an excellent visualization of the pupi llary reflex in darkness. The transfer of the video sequences to a personal computer proved to be simple and single images can easily be choosen. Conclusion: Observation of the pupillary reflex with the skiascope proved a useful tool that is available in practically every ophthalmological office . Use of the infrared digital consumer video camera (available at low price s) is a highly sophisticated tool for observation and documentation of pupi llary reflex in darkness.