Think about how difficult it can be to communicate ocular health conditions to your patients.  Meibomian glands, glaucoma, epiretinal membranes – it’s no easy task explaining our findings.  Now picture having to explain it in a different language.

If you just threw your hands in the air and mumbled, “Impossible!” let me ask you to reconsider.  There is after all, an app for that.

OpTranslate was made by optometrists for optometrists to translate common ocular exam findings and patient instructions in 8 different languages (and growing!).  Founded by multilingual optometry student Dimitriy Richter of The New England College of Optometry, OpTranslate is available for both Apple and Android devices and designed to be utilized right in the exam room.  You can walk through the eye exam point by point, from pre-testing skills to slit lamp exam, with translation help written by optometrists fluent in the language needed.  This isn’t just your standard, “cover the right eye” translation. The app includes binocular vision exams and contact lens exams as well.  At this time OpTranslate supports Spanish, Portuguese, French, Haitian Creole, Korean, Mandarin, Hindi, and Gujarati, with more languages planned to roll out in the future.

What does OpTranslate brainchild and student optometrist Richter plan for 2018?  Passing boards tops his to do list.  But in addition to hurdling on towards graduation and patient care, he is planning an optometric version of Rosetta Stone, with video and audio build-outs on his app and website to help you learn to speak the language of the eye exam more fluently in 5 minute segments from the comfort of your couch.  Download OpTranslate from your mobile device’s app store now to get started!