What is a slit lamp examination?
It is the microscope examination of the front of the eye with a narrow beam of light, which shows the cornea, the front chamber, the iris and the lens at magnification. It is also the instrument used to examine the retina with a lens held in front of the eye.
- Subject
- Surgery journey
- Topic
- Eye tests & scans
- Kind of question
- What is…
- Last reviewed
- 22 September 2026
In more detail
Most of what a clinician concludes about your eye comes from this examination rather than from a machine. The scans measure; the slit lamp is where the measurements are interpreted against what the tissue actually looks like.
What this answer depends on
- Whether the pupil was dilated at the time
- How the findings compare with previous examinations
- Whether photographs were taken for the record
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It is one of 483 answers in the vision and eye health knowledge base, filed under The surgery journey in Eye tests & scans . The subject page carries the answers either side of it, and the hub is searchable.
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This information is for educational purposes and does not replace an examination by a qualified eye-care professional.
General answers cannot tell you what is happening in your own eyes. Only an examination by a qualified ophthalmologist can do that.
Sources & further reading
We prefer primary sources. Where a claim comes from a manufacturer, a single study or a regulator, it is labelled as such below.
- EyeSmart: eye health information for the public
Patient-facing material from the largest ophthalmology professional body, covering conditions, tests and treatments outside refractive surgery.
Used for Cross-checking patient-facing explanations of non-refractive eye conditions; Describing what tests such as dilation and OCT involve.
Link checked 23 September 2026