A technique for the transfer of retinal images from the mirror of a contact lens.

In 1965 Rene Dufour developed a method for the direct transfer of retinal images reflected in the mirrors of a contact lens to retinal drawing paper. The retinal images are drawn on the reverse side of semi-transparent paper that is oriented such that the sector of the retinal diagram is aligned with the mirror of the contact lens that is viewing the sector. The images can be drawn exactly as they are seen in the mirror. When the drawing is viewed right-side-up over a light box, the detail is oriented correctly. The method is valuable for the precise localization of retinal breaks that are discovered through the slit-lamp microscope but are too small to be seen by indirect ophthalmoscopy. The breaks can be oriented in relation to other fundus detail large enough to be seen through the ophthalmoscope and then found at the operating table without the aid of a microscope.