Purpose: To evaluate a new ocular tonometer (Proview®) which functions by visualizing a phosphene after putting pressure on the upper eyelid. To ascertain its accuracy and reproducibility with respect to the Goldmann tonometer (GT).
Methods: A study on both eyes of 110 non-selected patients was performed. One measurement with GT and three subsequent measurements with Proview® were taken by the same investigator. The number of failed attempts to visualize the phosphene was recorded. We evaluated each eye separately to observe the possible learning effect.
Results: The intraocular pressure (IOP) mean with Proview® is 5 mm Hg higher than the GT (p0.05).
Conclusions: The Proview® tonometer showed low accuracy and reproducibility in comparison with the GT. This tonometer requires a long learning process before phosphene visualization. The results demonstrated that this tonometer is not clinically useful, except in patients with serious corneal diseases which make measurement with GT very difficul