Defining Ultra-widefield (UWF™) Retinal Imaging 

Optos technology has been used in over 30,000 global locations in over 4,000 peer-reviewed papers, and 365+ disease states & pathologies. What differentiates widefield retinal imaging from ultra-widefield retinal imaging? In 2019, the International Widefield Study Group published their classification & guidelines on the definitions for widefield and UWF; they defined UWF as “images showing retinal anatomy anterior to the vortex vein ampullae in all four quadrants.”  Optos technology represents the ONLY single capture retinal imaging that meets these criteria.  

Widefield v Ultra-widefield v Optos Ultra-widefield v Pan-retinal 

The International Widefield Imaging Study Group reviewed a set of images from various manufacturers to help support the generation of the following definitions when describing the field of view of retinal images¹:  

Widefield – centered on the fovea and includes the retina in all four quadrants posterior to and including the vortex vein ampullae. 

Ultra-widefield – images showing retinal anatomy anterior to the vortex vein ampullae in all four quadrants – Optos UWF does this in a single, 200⁰ image capture in less than ½ second, whereas the other products require multiple images and increased time to be considered ultra-widefield.  

Pan-retinal – ora-to-ora image of the retina either in the horizontal or vertical direction. 

View the summary document to visualize the difference between widefield and Optos UWF.  

optomap Increases Patient Workflow 

In this study and other studies combined, optomap imaging has been demonstrated to capture the widest field of view in a single capture of any imaging technology: more than 50% additional retinal area captured versus one single-capture widefield lens based system¹⁴, 110° more than a single capture widefield image and 65° more than the montaged ultra-widefield image from another lens based camera system¹⁶, more vortex veins visualized¹⁵ and statistically significantly more retinal surface area.^17,18 

“A single capture image which provides a view of the vortex veins in all four quadrants and beyond, thus meeting the widefield & ultra-widefield definitions, would offer enhanced efficiency in a real-world clinical setting versus a montage image, whether it be manual or automated.” — International Widefield Study Group 

We encourage you to contact us if you have questions regarding how optomap and Optos technology can benefit your patients and clinical settings.