Description: Ophthalmoscopes, invented in 1850, are devices used to reflect light through the pupil of the patient’s eye to view the retina. Used in tandem with varying refractive powers of lenses, ophthalmoscopes are predominantly used to test the degree of far- or nearsightedness (hyperopia or myopia). Ophthalmoscopes were also used to view the state of a patient’s nervous system and to detect for hypertension and for other diseases affecting the health of one’s circulatory system.
Origin: Circa Late 1800s; United States