Goldmann applanation tonometry free of the slitlamp

A prototype device was developed for using the Goldmann applanation tonometer (GAT) without a slitlamp to make it potentially practical to measure intraocular pressure (IOP) away from the clinic. Inexpensive consumer video components and a small flashlight replaced the microscope and illuminator of the slitlamp in a device that was assembled to use a standard, unmodified GAT. The device was evaluated for IOP measurement by volunteer measurer-subjects, who had no experience using the GAT, on each other and also by volunteers on themselves (self-tonometry). In a single, short training session with the prototype, the naive volunteers learned to measure IOP with the GAT. Other naive volunteers made IOP measurements on themselves with the prototype that were comparable in reliability with those obtained with the prototype by a professional measurer.