08 November 2009

Portable slit lamp donated

Shin Nippon XL-1 LED slit lamp.
One of the most important tools in optometry and ophthalmology is the slit lamp, a microscope designed for examining the eye. Usually, equipment like this is fixed to a table in a clinic and that's where it stays – so when we do remote, ad hoc clinics we have to rig up something portable. On our last visit, Jim Seymour was lent a portable slit-lamp by Paul Tyler, of Tyler Opticians, Tiptree, and he made an adjustable carriage to hold it steady. However, we are now going to be spoilt, because we have recently received a purpose-built, brand-new, portable LED slit lamp! This has been donated by The MacNair Medical Mission Trust, a charity formed by Dr Duncan MacNair, who spent many years working in Livingstonia. Dr McNair tells us that a sum of money was made available to the trust and he felt that this should be spent on equipment for the eye-care work at Livingstonia. This slit lamp will help extend the hospital's eye-care outreach work enormously. Thank you Dr McNair!