New retinal camera at University of Utah Hospital Helping Moran Physicians Save Sight
Sep 14, 2026
Moran’s Theresa Long, MD, demonstrates the new state-of-the-art ophthalmic imaging camera that is improving emergency eye care for patients at the University of Utah Hospital.
Thanks to a collaboration with the John A. Moran Eye Center, new imaging technology at the University of Utah Hospital is improving emergency eye care.
Moran ophthalmologists provide urgent eye care during routine workday hours at the eye center, but many patients with eye injuries go to the University of Utah Emergency Department (ED) first. To make sure patients are getting the best eye care possible when every minute counts, Moran ophthalmic hospitalist Theresa Long, MD, and neuro-ophthalmologist Judith E.A. Warner, MD recently led an initiative to purchase a state-of-the-art, non-invasive eye imaging camera for the ED.
“With the camera, we can detect if there’s a problem earlier when a patient comes into the Emergency Department,” explained Long, one of just a handful of ophthalmologists nationwide who care primarily for patients in the hospital. “That means we can take action faster.” Within seconds, the camera provides high-resolution images of the retina in the back of the eye that can be read on site or remotely. It’s used at least once a day and sometimes a dozen times per week or more. The images are reviewed by the resident ophthalmologist and Long within 24 hours.
The images can reveal a wide variety of health conditions, including swelling of the retina, indicating a potential eye stroke, as well as retinal detachment, damaged blood vessels, severe glaucoma, and even brain tumors.
“For so long we have known that it’s important to look at the back of the eye because it tells us about the brain — it tells us about the rest of the body,” said Long. “This camera allows us to do just that.”
Beyond a traditional exam
How does the camera work?
Patients place their chin on the device. The machine zooms in, and the patient sees a quick flash. Within seconds, the provider can review a picture of the back of the eye, the retina, and the optic nerve. No dilation is necessary.
Micah Ownbey, MD, medical director of the Emergency Department, has seen the benefit first-hand.
“This is giving us much better images and adds additional information that we really can’t get in a traditional exam,” Ownbey said. “It helps us reach a definitive conclusion earlier.”
A patient came into the emergency room last spring after sudden vision loss in one eye. Images from the retinal camera indicated the patient had experienced an eye stroke.
The patient was admitted to the hospital and treated, helping to prevent future strokes.
“Before the camera, it would have taken longer to get to the same diagnosis and might have gotten missed,” Long explained.
Moran clinics use advanced imaging to help diagnose conditions more accurately and efficiently. Thanks to the new camera, emergency room providers now have a similar tool.
“I think it's important that patients in the hospital have access to the same technologies that they would in a clinic,” Long said.
Decoding headaches
A common reason patients come to the emergency room is severe headache. Some return again and again.
Now the Emergency Department regularly uses the camera on patients with headaches and vision changes, such as blurriness, double vision, and vision loss, to try to determine the cause.
“Headaches can be a normal part of life for most people, but there are also dangerous types of headaches—some that can cause permanent vision loss,” Long said. "This camera is helping us screen for patients who may go blind.”
The eye, brain, and body are all connected, she explained. Sometimes conditions that affect the brain can be picked up by looking inside the eyes. And some conditions that affect the body begin in the eyes, too.
Like detectives, providers can use the camera to look for clues.
An Eye to the Future
By clarifying which patients may have more urgent needs, the new camera is increasing efficiency in the Emergency Department.
“It helps us move patients through more quickly,” Ownbey said.
He praised Long for her work educating providers about the camera’s importance and for her team’s support in maintaining the device. Now it’s fully integrated into the department, benefiting resident physicians as they train, too.
“It also improves the accuracy of the ophthalmology residents who are learning,” Long said. “They can diagnose clinically and then see the images — one confirms the other.”
She’s committed to teaching other departments more about eye health, especially those with doctors still honing their skills, including emergency medicine residents and pediatric emergency medicine fellows.
In the future, Long believes these kinds of eye cameras will improve care in communities with limited medical specialists. Images taken in a hospital or clinic where there are few providers can be reviewed remotely.
“Telemedicine is where the future is heading,” Long said. “There’s a huge shortage of neuro-ophthalmologists and ophthalmologists predicted in our country.”
She would like to see more technology used throughout University of Utah Health to diagnose eye conditions. A handheld eye camera could be brought to bedridden hospital patients to help rule out certain conditions and more accurately document findings in the back of the eye.
“My hope is this expands across Utah and emergency rooms across the community,” Long said. “The more we know about a patient’s eyes, the more we can learn about their health.”
vision
patient care
