Glossary
Ophthalmic Technician Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential ophthalmic technician terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key ophthalmic technician vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in ophthalmic technician training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Biometry
- Measuring the eye for lens implants.
- Cataract
- Cloudy lens.
- Dilation
- Widening pupils.
- Glaucoma
- Optic nerve damage.
- Intraocular pressure
- Pressure inside the eye.
- JCAHPO
- Ophthalmic certification body.
- OCT
- Retinal imaging.
- Pupil exam
- Checking pupil response.
- Refraction
- Measuring a prescription.
- Slit lamp
- Eye microscope.
- Snellen chart
- Standard eye chart.
- Tonometry
- Measuring eye pressure.
- Visual acuity
- Sharpness of vision.
- Visual field
- Side vision test.
- Workup
- Testing before the doctor sees the patient.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Ophthalmic Technician practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Ophthalmic Technician training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.