Visionstar SW-800

Screening Young Children

The instrument requires no verbal response, no letter chart and no cooperation beyond looking toward a flashing light with an accompanying sound. That is what allows pre verbal and pre literate children to be screened at all. Measurement at one metre also keeps the instrument away from the child's face, which matters with children who will not tolerate an instrument close to their face, and who cannot be persuaded otherwise.

Community and School Sessions

At 0.8kg with a 6 hour replaceable battery, the unit works through a session away from any mains supply. A school, nursery or community clinic can screen a full list and carry the results away, with Wi-Fi or USB transfer afterwards. Camera tripods appear among the optional accessories, which suits a fixed screening station set up for a morning in a hall or a classroom.

Practice Pre Screening

In an optical practice the instrument gives a rapid objective indication before a full examination, which is useful with patients who are difficult to refract conventionally. The manufacturer lists detection of myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, strabismus, anisometropia, pupil size variation, asymmetric fixation and abnormal light reflection among the screening outputs, which between them cover the common amblyopia risk factors seen in children.

Supporting Referral Decisions

Because the instrument records figures rather than impressions, a referral can be accompanied by measured values for sphere, cylinder, axis, pupil size, pupil distance and fixation direction. A receiving clinician then has something concrete to work from, and a repeat screening at a later date can be set against the original record from the first visit.

Screening Without Cooperation

Every conventional refraction depends on the patient doing something: reading a chart, responding to a question, sitting still at a chin rest. This instrument depends only on the person looking toward a light and a sound for about a second, from a metre away. That single design decision is what opens screening to infants, to young children and to adults with communication or cognitive difficulties who cannot be tested conventionally.

Genuinely Portable

At 0.8kg and 180 by 130 by 110mm, with a 6 hour battery that can itself be replaced, the unit goes where the people are instead of requiring them to attend a clinic. For community screening programmes, school sessions and domiciliary work, equipment that runs a full morning away from a socket removes the constraint that usually determines where screening can realistically happen at all.

Figures That Support a Referral

Recording sphere, cylinder, axis, pupil size, interpupillary distance and direction of fixation gives a referral measured content rather than a general concern. Wi-Fi and USB transfer means those figures reach a record system without transcription. For a screening programme, the ability to show what was found and when is what makes the activity auditable rather than merely well intentioned, which matters to anyone funding a programme.

Binocular Measurement at One Metre

Measuring distance is 1m plus or minus 5cm, with operation mode listed as binocular or mono and optometry described as automatic throughout.

About One Second per Measurement

Time per measurement is approximately 1 second, with the whole process from focus to result described as taking 3 to 5 seconds.

Sphere and Cylinder Ranges

Sphere covers minus 7.50 to plus 7.50 dioptres and cylinder 0.00 to 3.00 dioptres, both at 0.25 or 0.01 dioptre resolution with accuracy of plus or minus 0.50 dioptres.

Axis Measurement

Axis is measured from 1 to 180 degrees at 1 degree resolution, with stated accuracy of plus or minus 5 degrees on the reading obtained.

Pupil Size and Distance

Pupil size is measured from 4.0 to 9.00mm and pupil distance from 35 to 80mm, at 0.1mm and 1mm resolution respectively with matching accuracy figures.

Gaze and Fixation

Gaze is measured from 0 to 20 degrees, with fixation held by a light flash and an attractive sound rather than by instruction to the person being screened.

Portable and Battery Powered

The unit measures 180 by 130 by 110mm, weighs 0.8kg, carries a 5 inch touch screen and runs from a replaceable rechargeable lithium battery of 6 hours duration.

Data Transfer and Accessories

Wi-Fi and USB are both listed as data interfaces, with camera tripods and a printer named among the optional accessories available.

The Visionstar SW-800 screens both eyes together from one metre in about a second. Sphere is measured from minus 7.50 to plus 7.50 dioptres and cylinder from 0.00 to 3.00 dioptres, both at 0.25 or 0.01 dioptre resolution with accuracy of plus or minus 0.50 dioptres, axis from 1 to 180 degrees, pupil size from 4.0 to 9.00mm, pupil distance from 35 to 80mm and gaze from 0 to 20 degrees. The unit weighs 0.8kg, measures 180 by 130 by 110mm, carries a 5 inch touch screen and runs 6 hours on a replaceable lithium battery with Wi-Fi and USB transfer.

One point should be understood before purchase. The stated accuracy of plus or minus 0.50 dioptres is a screening tolerance. This instrument identifies who warrants a fuller examination; it does not produce a prescription or establish a diagnosis, and the manufacturer's own display messages reflect that by recommending a complete eye examination where measurements fall outside range. Charging arrangements, software version, configuration and condition are not stated here, and nothing on this page should be read as a claim about testing or regulatory approval.

If your service runs vision screening in schools, community settings or a practice, and wants the ranges and accuracy figures checked against your screening protocol, speak to Medigear.uk. As a verified medical equipment supplier working across medical, dental, rehabilitation and aquatic therapy settings, the team will confirm what this instrument offers and how it would fit your programme.