JP6950263B2 - Ophthalmic equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to an ophthalmic device used in contact with or in close proximity to an eye to be inspected via a tip.

Conventionally, as a kind of ophthalmic apparatus, an apparatus used in a state where the apparatus is close to or in contact with the eye to be inspected is known.

For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an apparatus for photographing an angle of an eye to be inspected with the eye to be inspected and the apparatus in close proximity to each other.

International Publication 2015/180923

In this type of device, for example, when the tip of the device comes into contact with the subject in a situation such as alignment adjustment between the eye to be inspected and the device, a strong pressure is momentarily applied from the device to the subject. It was easy to join, and as a result, it was sometimes not possible to inspect smoothly.

The present disclosure has been made in view of the problems of the prior art, and it is a technical subject to provide an ophthalmic device that can be used smoothly by bringing the device close to or in contact with the eye to be inspected.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is characterized by having the following configurations.

A main unit that is placed in contact with or close to the eye to be inspected via the tip,
An alignment mechanism that supports the main body unit and moves the main body unit to adjust the positional relationship between the eye to be inspected and the main body unit.
By applying a load in the retracting direction, which is a direction away from the eye to be inspected, to the tip portion provided on the main body unit, the entire main body unit is moved in the retracting direction with respect to the alignment mechanism according to the load. A stationary ophthalmic apparatus including a moving mechanism for moving the entire main body unit independently of the alignment mechanism.
It is characterized by including a spirit level for confirming whether or not the moving direction of the entire main body unit by the moving mechanism is the horizontal direction.

According to the present disclosure, the device can be brought close to or in contact with the eye to be inspected and used smoothly.

"Overview"
Hereinafter, the ophthalmic apparatus of the present disclosure will be described based on the embodiment.

The ophthalmic apparatus is used for examination or surgery of the eye to be inspected.

The ophthalmic apparatus may be used for either an examination by imaging or an examination by measurement of eye characteristics. That is, the ophthalmic apparatus may be an ophthalmologic imaging apparatus or an ophthalmologic measuring apparatus for measuring the eye characteristics of the eye to be inspected.

In the case of an ophthalmologic imaging device, the fundus of the eye to be inspected may be imaged, or the anterior segment of the eye may be imaged. Further, in this case, a front image of the eye to be inspected may be taken, or a cross-sectional image (including a tomographic image) may be taken. Further, as in the angle imaging device shown as an embodiment, an imaging device having an oblique photographing optical axis with respect to the optical axis (visual axis or eye axis) of the eye to be inspected may be used.

Further, when the ophthalmic device is used for surgery, the ophthalmologic device may be a corrective surgical device that corrects the shape of a translucent body such as a corneum by projecting a laser, or performs photocoagulation treatment. It may be a photocoagulation device, a device for incising an eye to be examined, or another surgical device.

The ophthalmic apparatus has at least a main body unit, an alignment mechanism, and a moving mechanism. Further, it may have a control unit for controlling at least one of these operations. The ophthalmic device may be a so-called stationary device.

The main body unit may be a main body unit that is placed in contact with or close to the eye to be inspected via the tip portion. The main body unit may be, for example, an optical unit including an optical system or an ultrasonic unit including an ultrasonic probe.

<Optical unit>
When an optical unit is used as the main body unit, the optical unit may include an optical system that transmits and receives at least one of light and reception to the eye to be inspected via the tip of the optical unit with the tip thereof facing the eye to be inspected. The optical system may be the main optical system used for examination or surgery of the eye to be examined.

The tip may be, for example, the part of the entire ophthalmic apparatus that is closest to the eye to be inspected. For example, in a proper alignment state, the distance between the tip and the eye to be inspected (that is, the working distance) may be about several millimeters, or the tip and the eye to be inspected may be in contact with each other. However, this is not always the case, and the tip portion and the eye to be inspected may be arranged at a distance of 10 mm or more in a proper alignment state.

The optical unit may have a detachable member that is attached / detached for each subject or for each eye to be inspected (every time the subject or the eye to be inspected changes). For example, it is a member that comes into direct or indirect contact with the eye to be inspected, and a part or all of the tip portion may be detachable as a detachable member. The term "indirect contact" refers to, for example, the case where a gel or the like is interposed between the eye to be inspected and the tip portion. In this case, every time the subject or the eye to be inspected changes, the detachable member at the tip is replaced with a sterilized one. Further, the detachable member may be reusable after cleaning, or may be disposable. The gel may be used in a state of being filled in a container holding the gel in contact with the subject (for details, refer to "Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-17680" by the applicant. ).

<Example of shooting optical system>
The ophthalmic apparatus may have an imaging optical system in the optical unit for capturing an angle image. The photographing optical system projects light to the corner region and receives return light from the corner region along the photographing optical axis.

The photographing optical system may be configured to irradiate the entire photographing range in the surface structure of the corner with light and receive the return light from the photographing range by the light receiving element. In this case, the light receiving element may be a two-dimensional light receiving element. The two-dimensional light receiving element captures an image of the corner image formed on the light receiving surface as a corner image. However, the photographing optical system is not necessarily limited to this. For example, the photographing optical system may be a line scan or a two-dimensional scan type optical system. In this case, by scanning the light with respect to the photographing range (line scan or two-dimensional scan), an angle image is generated by the image processing unit as a result of receiving the return light for each scan.

The photographing optical system includes at least a floodlight optical system and a light receiving optical system. The projection optical system projects light onto the corner region of the eye to be inspected. The light projected from the projection optical system may be visible light or invisible light (for example, infrared light). Further, it may be monochromatic light or multicolored light. The light receiving optical system has at least a light receiving element that receives the reflected light from the angle region.

The photographing optical system may have a photographing optical axis that is inclined with respect to the fixation optical axis and is directed toward the angle region. Light is projected and received from the corner region via this photographing optical axis. The fixation optical axis is, for example, the projection optical axis of the fixation target with respect to the eye to be inspected. If the optometry device is projected, the ophthalmic apparatus may further include optometry optics for projecting the optometry device.

The following objective optical system may be provided in the photographing optical system. That is, an objective optical system may be provided that tilts the photographing optical axis with respect to the fixation optical axis and guides the light from the light source to the angle region of the eye to be inspected. The objective optical system in the photographing optical system may be a reflective system. That is, the objective optical system may include a member that reflects light, such as a mirror or a prism. The objective optical system may be arranged closest to the eye to be inspected in the photographing optical system. The objective optical system bends (eg, reflects) the light from the light source from the inside to the outside of the device toward the fixed optical axis. As a result, a photographing optical axis inclined with respect to the fixation optical axis may be formed. The objective optical system is not necessarily limited to the reflection system, and a part or the whole may be formed by a refraction system (for example, a lens system).

The tip portion of the optical unit may be formed by a part of such an objective optical system.

Further, the ophthalmologic apparatus may have a switching unit that displaces the imaging position in the imaging optical system with respect to the entire circumference of the angle. By providing the switching unit, it is possible to take a corner image at a plurality of imaging positions on the entire circumference of the corner.

When the photographing optical axis is tilted with respect to the fixation optical axis, the switching unit may be, for example, a unit that rotates the photographing optical axis around the fixation optical axis. The switching unit may rotate the photographing optical axis around the fixation optical axis by rotating a part or the whole of the photographing optical system around the fixation optical axis. In this case, the switching unit may have a drive source such as a motor.

The switching unit is not necessarily limited to this. For example, instead of rotating the imaging optical axis tilted with respect to the fixation optical axis around the fixation optical axis, the switching unit guides fixation so that the direction of the line of sight of the eye to be inspected is greatly displaced. It may be configured to adjust the three-dimensional positional relationship between the eye to be inspected and the device, or it may be configured to combine these.

<Alignment mechanism>
The alignment mechanism supports the main body unit and adjusts the positional relationship between the eye to be inspected and the main body unit by moving the main body unit. The alignment mechanism is provided, for example, on a base in an ophthalmic apparatus. The alignment mechanism moves the main body unit at least in the front-rear direction (working distance direction). Further, it may be moved in one or both of the left-right direction and the up-down direction. The alignment mechanism may be a mechanical mechanism, a mechanism for moving the main body unit by an electric actuator, or a mechanism including both. The alignment mechanism may be manually driven, for example, in response to an operation of an operating member (for example, a joystick, etc.), or may be automatically driven, for example, based on an observation image of the eye to be inspected taken by the main body unit. May be good.

<Movement mechanism>
The moving mechanism (retracting mechanism) moves at least a part of the main body unit in the retreating direction according to the load by applying a load in the retreating direction to the tip portion. In this case, the main body unit is retracted (moved in the retracting direction) with respect to the alignment mechanism.

For convenience, in the following, the portion of the main body unit that is retracted by the moving mechanism will be referred to as a "movable portion". When the movable portion is a part of the main body unit, the movable portion may include at least the tip end portion of the main body unit. Further, when the optical system inside the main body unit includes a telecentric optical system, the member on the side to be inspected may be displaceable as a movable portion from the portion where the luminous flux is telecentric. Of course, the present invention is not limited to this, and a part of the optical system may be moved as a movable part.

When the tip portion comes into contact with the eye to be inspected, the force momentarily applied from the tip portion to the eye to be inspected is reduced by moving the movable portion by the moving mechanism. The backward direction referred to here is a direction away from the eye to be inspected. Further, the direction opposite to the backward direction is referred to as a forward direction.

The moving mechanism may be a mechanical mechanism. For example, it may have an urging portion (a urging means) for urging the movable portion in the forward direction. The urging portion may be, for example, a mechanism for urging using the elastic deformation of the elastic member, a mechanism for urging using the own weight of the movable portion, or other principles. It may be a mechanism for urging with. As a specific example of the elastic member, any one of a spring, rubber and the like may be applied.

The moving mechanism may move the movable portion independently of the alignment mechanism. In this case, the moving mechanism may be provided between the alignment mechanism and the optical unit. That is, a moving mechanism is provided above the alignment mechanism. As a result, when the moving mechanism moves the movable portion in the retracting direction, it is less likely to be affected by the weight of the alignment mechanism, so that the movable portion can be easily retracted smoothly with a small load.

<Level>
The ophthalmic apparatus of the present embodiment may be a stationary ophthalmic apparatus mounted on an optometry table, an operating table, or the like. In this case, the ophthalmic apparatus of the present embodiment may be provided with a spirit level for confirming whether or not the moving direction of the movable portion by the retracting mechanism is in the horizontal direction. Thereby, for example, it is possible to confirm whether or not the retracting mechanism can be properly operated. The horizontal direction according to the present embodiment is described as a direction parallel to a horizontal plane (a plane perpendicular to the direction in which gravity acts).

For example, the spirit level may be a spirit level for confirming the horizontal state in the front-rear direction, or the spirit level may be a spirit level for confirming the horizontal state in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction. good.

The spirit level may be provided on the outer surface of the housing of the ophthalmic apparatus. Further, the spirit level may be able to visually check whether or not the moving direction of the movable portion is in the horizontal direction. Thereby, for example, it can be easily confirmed whether or not the retracting mechanism is properly operated.

<Tilt adjustment mechanism>
The ophthalmic apparatus of the present embodiment may be provided with an inclination adjusting mechanism for adjusting the inclination of the movable portion in the moving direction. In this case, for example, the inclination of the movable portion in the moving direction may be adjusted with respect to the horizontal direction. According to this, it is possible to adjust the inclination of the movable portion in the moving direction so that the retracting mechanism can operate properly.

<Example of transformation>
In the above description, a spirit level for confirming whether or not the moving direction of the movable portion by the moving mechanism (retracting mechanism) is in the horizontal direction is taken as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the spirit level may be configured to confirm whether or not the moving direction of the main body unit is the horizontal direction. For example, whether the moving direction of the main body unit by the alignment mechanism is the horizontal direction. It may be provided to confirm whether or not. Thereby, for example, it is possible to confirm whether or not the main body unit can be aligned horizontally with respect to the eye to be inspected. Further, the spirit level may have a configuration provided for confirming whether or not the main body unit is horizontal. As a result, for example, the main body unit is held against the eye to be inspected, so that proper examination, surgery, and the like can be performed.

"Example"
Hereinafter, examples of the ophthalmic apparatus according to the present disclosure will be shown with reference to the drawings.

<Device configuration>
A schematic device configuration of the ophthalmic device 1 will be described with reference to FIG. In the following description, the X direction shown in FIG. 1 will be referred to as a left-right direction, the Y direction will be referred to as a vertical direction, and the Z direction will be referred to as a front-back direction.

The ophthalmic apparatus 1 according to the embodiment is an angle photographing device that captures a reflected image by the corner angle of the eye to be inspected. The ophthalmic apparatus 1 has a photographing optical axis in an oblique direction with respect to the visual axis of the eye E to be inspected. Then, the ophthalmic apparatus 1 projects the illumination light and receives the reflected light from the corner portion along the photographing optical axis, thereby photographing the reflected image at the corner portion of the eye to be inspected. In order to capture the reflected image of the corner angle in this way, it is necessary to greatly incline the imaging optical axis with respect to the visual axis. Therefore, it is conceivable that the operating distance of the ophthalmic apparatus 1 (the distance from the corneal surface of the eye E to be inspected to the tip portion 11 in an appropriate alignment state) is set to be relatively short, about several mm.

As shown in FIG. 1, the ophthalmic apparatus 1 includes an optical unit 10, a retracting mechanism 20 (“moving mechanism” in this embodiment), and alignment mechanisms 4 and 5. Further, in this embodiment, the ophthalmic apparatus 1 has a base 3, a face support unit 6, a joystick 7, a monitor 8, and the like.

The optical unit 10 has a main optical system (hereinafter, referred to as “photographing optical system” in this embodiment) used for photographing a reflected image of a corner angle. In this embodiment, the optical unit 10 (photographing optical system) projects illumination light in an oblique direction with respect to the visual axis of the eye E to be inspected when fixed in a predetermined direction. As a result, the illumination light is applied to the corner of the eye E to be inspected and its vicinity (hereinafter, collectively referred to as "corneal portion"). Then, the reflected light from the corner portion is guided to the inside of the optical unit 10 along the photographing optical axis, and is received by a light receiving element (for example, a two-dimensional imaging element) provided in the optical unit 10. Based on the light receiving signal from the light receiving element output as a result, the ophthalmic apparatus 1 acquires a reflected image of the corner portion.

The light reception and reception in the optical unit 10 at this time is performed via the tip portion 11 of the optical unit 10. In this embodiment, the tip portion 11 is provided with a reflecting member (as at least a part of the objective reflecting portion 50 (see FIG. 4)) for tilting the optical axis of the photographing optical system with respect to the visual axis. .. In the following, it is assumed that a prism is provided as an example of the reflective member. The prism (that is, the tip portion 11) is indirectly contacted with the cornea via the gel G in order to suppress the corneal reflected light of the illumination light from being guided to the light receiving element as noise. Therefore, the prism needs to be sterilized every time the subject changes, so that the prism can be attached to and detached from the optical unit 10.

Details of the optical system applicable to the optical unit 10 will be described later with reference to FIG.

In the embodiment, the optical unit 10 is housed in the cover 10a. However, the tip portion 11 is exposed to the outside of the cover 10a. As shown in FIG. 1, the tip portion 11 may be exposed so as to protrude from the cover 10a.

In this embodiment, the monitor 8 displays an angle image taken through the optical unit 10. Further, in this embodiment, it is used as a "notification unit" that performs various notification operations.

The base 3 supports the alignment mechanisms 4 and 5 and the face support unit 6.

The alignment mechanisms 4 and 5 in this embodiment are roughly classified into a moving table 4 and a Y drive unit 5. Of these, the moving table 4 is operated by a mechanical mechanism, and the Y drive unit 5 is operated by an electric actuator.

The moving table 4 is arranged on the base 3 and has a mechanical moving mechanism between the moving table 4 and the base 3. This moving mechanism moves the moving table 4 in the XZ direction, and as a result, adjusts the positional relationship between the eye E to be inspected and the optical unit 10 in the XZ direction. The examiner moves the moving table 4 with respect to the base 3 by operating the joystick 7.

The Y drive unit 5 in this embodiment is further loaded on the moving table 4 to support the retracting mechanism 20 and the optical unit 10. The Y drive unit 5 moves the optical unit 10 in the Y direction together with the retracting mechanism 20 based on a control signal from the control unit 80 (see FIG. 5) of the ophthalmic apparatus 1. As a result, the positional relationship between the eye E to be inspected and the optical unit 10 is adjusted in the Y direction.

Further, also in the XZ direction, a drive mechanism (XY drive unit) operated by an electric actuator may be provided. In this case, it is preferable that the Y drive unit 5 is loaded on the XZ drive unit.

In this embodiment, the cover 10a accommodating the optical unit 10 is fixed to the alignment mechanisms 4 and 5. As an example, in the following description, it is assumed that the cover 10a is fixed to the Y drive unit 5b.

The retracting mechanism 20 moves the optical unit 10 in the retracting direction according to the load by applying a load in the retracting direction to the tip portion 11. The retracting mechanism 20 of FIG. 1 shown as an embodiment is a mechanical mechanism powered by a load on the tip portion 11. The retracting mechanism 20 in this embodiment integrally retracts the entire optical unit 10. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this, and the retracting mechanism 20 may be a mechanism for retracting a part of the optical unit 10 including the tip portion 11.

<Detailed explanation of the retreat mechanism>
Here, the detailed configuration of the retracting mechanism 20 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. In FIGS. 2 and 3, the hatched portion by the diagonal line is a portion that moves integrally with the alignment mechanisms 4 and 5 at least in the Z direction, and is a portion without hatching (mainly, the optical unit 10). ) Is a portion that can move in the Z direction independently of the alignment mechanisms 4 and 5.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the retracting mechanism 20 in the embodiment has at least a guide 22. Further, the retracting mechanism 20 further has a pedestal 21 for attaching the guide 22 to the upper parts of the alignment mechanisms 4 and 5.

The guide 22 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is a linear guide for moving the optical unit 10 in the Z direction. The guide 22 includes, for example, a rail and a carriage. The rail is fixed to the pedestal 21 side, and the carriage is fixed to the optical unit 10 side. The rail extends in the Z direction, and a carriage attached to the optical unit 10 slides along the rail. That is, the optical unit 10 can move in the Z direction.

The retreating mechanism 20 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 has a coil spring 23 (an example of “biasing means”). The coil spring 23 in this embodiment is a tension spring, but a compression spring may be applied instead. Further, a leaf spring may be applied instead of the coil spring 23. The optical unit 10 is arranged at the most advanced position (hereinafter referred to as "reference position") in a state where no load is applied to the tip portion 11. When a load is applied to the tip portion 11 in the retracting direction, the optical unit 10 is retracted from the reference position with elastic deformation of the coil spring 23. In this way, the retracting mechanism 20 in this embodiment moves the optical unit 10 according to the load applied to the tip portion 11 in the retracting direction. As a result, when the tip 11 comes into contact with the eye E to be inspected, the force momentarily applied from the tip 11 to the eye E to be inspected is reduced by moving the optical unit 10.

The ophthalmic device 1 has lock mechanisms 25a, 25 for locking the advance of the optical unit 10.
b (“switching mechanism” in the embodiment) is provided. Lock mechanism 25a in the embodiment
, 25b sets the state of the retreat mechanism 20 between a state in which the optical unit 10 is allowed to move (at least retreat) by the retreat mechanism 20 and a state in which the movement is restricted (locked) based on the operation of the examiner. Switch. The lock mechanisms 25a and 25b retract the optical unit 10 by the retracting mechanism 20 based on the operation when locking the movement of the optical unit 10. That is, the lock mechanisms 25a and 25b retract the optical unit 10 based on the operation by the examiner, and further restrict the movement of the optical unit 10 at the retracted position. At this time, since the optical unit 10 is difficult to move in the backward direction due to the coil spring 23, the lock mechanisms 25a and 25b may at least limit the forward movement. Of course, the lock mechanisms 25a and 25b may have a structure that limits the retreat of the optical unit 10.

The lock mechanisms 25a and 25b shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 include a cam mechanism 25a and a contact portion 25.
b and. In the examples of FIGS. 2 and 3, the cam mechanism 25a is provided on the pedestal 21 side, and the contact portion 25b is provided on the optical unit 10 side. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the cam mechanism 25a may be provided on the optical unit 10 side and the contact portion 25b may be provided on the pedestal 21 side.

The cam mechanism 25a has a cam 26 and a lever 27. The lever 27 is an example of an operation unit operated by an examiner to operate the lock mechanism 25. In this embodiment, at least the lever 27 is arranged so as to be exposed to the outside from the cover 10a. The lever 27 is fixed to the cam 26, and the cam 26 rotates about a predetermined axis when the lever 27 is tilted (clockwise in the front view of FIG. 3) by the examiner.

When the lever 27 is tilted by the examiner, the contact portion 25b retracts while contacting the cam 26. At this time, the optical unit 10 fixed to the contact portion 25b also retracts at the same time.

As shown in FIG. 3, a recess for holding the contact portion 25b is formed on the outer periphery of the cam 26. The recess is formed in the outer peripheral portion of the cam 26 that comes into contact with the contact portion 25b when the optical unit 10 is arranged at a position retracted by a predetermined distance from the reference position. In the embodiment, the contact portion 25b is held in the recess (more specifically, it fits shallowly), so that the optical unit 10 cannot be advanced only by the elastic force from the coil spring 23 described above. This locks the movement of the optical unit 10. That is, the movement of the optical unit 10 is locked at a position where the optical unit 10 is retracted by a predetermined distance from the reference position.

In the lock mechanism 25 of this embodiment, the movement of the optical unit 10 is easily locked by fitting the contact portion 25b shallowly into the recess of the cam 26. At this time, the position of the lever 27 is also fixed. From there, when the examiner pushes (or pulls back) the lever 27 further, the lock is released. That is, the state switches to the state where the movement of the optical unit 10 is allowed.

In this embodiment, the retracting mechanism 20 is provided with a sensor 29 that detects that the optical unit 10 is locked at the locked position. In this embodiment, when the lock mechanism 25 is operated and the optical unit 10 reaches the second lock position, the movement of the optical unit 10 is automatically locked as described above. Therefore, the sensor 29 may detect that the optical unit 10 has reached the locked position. For example, in this embodiment, a photocoupler is used as the sensor 29. Of course, it is not limited to this. For example, in this embodiment, the sensor 29 may be a pressure sensor or the like provided in the recess of the cam 26 to detect contact with the contact portion 25, and may be a position where the optical unit 10 is located. It may be a position sensor to detect.

In this embodiment, control of light reception and reception from the optical unit 10 and notification operation are executed based on the output signal from the sensor 29 (details will be described later).

<Level>
The ophthalmic apparatus according to this embodiment may be provided with, for example, a spirit level 100. The spirit level 100 may be provided, for example, to confirm whether or not the moving direction of the optical unit 10 by the retracting mechanism 20 is in the horizontal direction. In this case, the spirit level 100 may be configured so that the horizontal state in the front-rear direction (Z direction) can be confirmed, and whether or not the moving direction of the optical unit 10 by the retracting mechanism 20 is in the horizontal direction according to the configuration. May be confirmed. Further, the spirit level 100 may be configured so that the horizontal state can be confirmed not only in the front-rear direction but also in the left-right direction.

The spirit level 100 may be provided on the outer surface of the housing of the ophthalmic device, and the spirit level 100 may be provided on, for example, the right side surface or the left side surface of the device housing, or may be provided on the upper surface of the device housing. You may. The arrangement position of the spirit level 100 is not limited to this, and may be arranged inside the apparatus, for example.

As the level 100, for example, a bubble level may be used, or an electronic level may be used. As the electronic level, for example, a tilt sensor (gyro sensor or acceleration sensor) may be used.

The spirit level 100 may be visually observable, for example, whether or not the moving direction of the optical unit 10 by the retracting mechanism 20 is in the horizontal direction. In this case, by confirming the position of the bubble in the bubble level, it is confirmed whether or not the moving direction of the optical unit 10 is horizontal, and the bubble is located at the position corresponding to the horizontal. The tilt of the optical unit 10 in the moving direction may be adjusted by the retracting mechanism 20.

<Tilt adjustment mechanism>
The ophthalmic apparatus according to this embodiment may be provided with, for example, an inclination adjusting mechanism 200. The tilt adjusting mechanism 200 may be provided, for example, to adjust the tilt of the optical unit 10 in the moving direction by the retracting mechanism 20.

The tilt adjusting mechanism 200 may be, for example, a horizontal adjusting leg 202 provided at the lower part of the base 3. The horizontal adjusting legs 202 may be provided at the four lower corners of the base 3. By providing the horizontal adjusting legs 202 at the four corners, the inclination of the optical unit 10 in the moving direction by the retracting mechanism 20 can be adjusted in the front-rear direction, and the inclination in the left-right direction can also be adjusted. Further, the present invention is not limited to this, and the horizontal adjusting leg 202 may be provided at at least one point below the base 3.

The horizontal adjusting leg 202 may include, for example, a ground contact portion 204 and a screw portion 206. A female screw portion (not shown) is formed on the bottom surface of the base 3. The screw portion 206 is attached to the female screw portion by a screw action, and projects vertically from the bottom surface of the base 3.

Here, when the horizontal adjusting leg 202 is operated, the inclination of the entire ophthalmic apparatus is adjusted, and as a result, the inclination of the optical unit 10 in the moving direction by the retracting mechanism 20 is adjusted. Here, it is confirmed by using the spirit level 100 whether or not the moving direction of the optical unit 10 by the retracting mechanism 20 is in the horizontal direction. If it is not in the horizontal direction, the horizontal adjusting leg 202 adjusts the inclination of the entire ophthalmic apparatus until it is confirmed that the moving direction of the optical unit 10 by the retracting mechanism 20 is the horizontal direction.

Here, when the ophthalmic apparatus is installed on an optometry table or the like in a state where the moving direction of the optical unit 10 by the retracting mechanism 20 is too forward tilted with respect to the horizontal plane (tilted so that the optometry side is lowered), the forward tilting direction. Since a load is applied to the retracting mechanism 20, the retracting mechanism 20 may not operate smoothly. Further, when the ophthalmologic apparatus is installed on an optometry table or the like in a state where the moving direction of the optical unit 10 by the retracting mechanism 20 is too backward tilted with respect to the horizontal plane (tilted so that the examiner side is lowered), the moving direction is backward tilted direction. Since the load of the above is applied, the retracting mechanism 20 may unexpectedly operate.

On the other hand, according to the spirit level 100 and the tilt adjusting mechanism 200, the moving direction of the optical unit 10 by the retracting mechanism 20 can be arranged horizontally regardless of the installed state of the ophthalmic device, so that the retracting mechanism 20 is reliably operated. It becomes possible to make it.

The timing at which the spirit level 100 and the tilt adjusting mechanism 200 are used may be, for example, when the ophthalmic apparatus according to the present embodiment is installed on a mounting table (for example, an optometry table). Further, the present invention is not limited to this, and after the installation of the ophthalmic apparatus is completed, confirmation using the spirit level 100 and tilt adjustment using the tilt adjusting mechanism 200 may be performed periodically.

The spirit level 100 does not necessarily have to be able to strictly confirm whether or not the moving direction of the optical unit 10 by the retracting mechanism 20 is the horizontal direction. For example, within the range in which the retracting mechanism 20 operates properly. The configuration may be such that it is possible to confirm whether or not the moving direction of the optical unit 10 by the retracting mechanism 20 is the horizontal direction.

<Adjustment process>
Next, an example of the adjustment process (for example, the manufacturing stage) will be shown. In the adjustment step, for example, in a state where a spirit level (a spirit level different from the spirit level 100 may be different from the spirit level 100) is arranged in the empty space of the guide 22 of the retracting mechanism 20 in the front-rear direction, the spirit level is horizontal. The tilt adjusting mechanism 200 adjusts the tilt of the guide 22 in the front-rear direction until it is confirmed that the guide 22 is present. As a result, the moving direction of the retracting mechanism 20 is set to the horizontal direction.

Next, the spirit level 100 is attached to the ophthalmic apparatus. In this case, for example, the spirit level 100 is attached to the ophthalmic apparatus to indicate that the spirit level 100 is horizontal. As a result, it becomes possible for the spirit level 100 to confirm whether or not the moving direction of the optical unit 10 by the retracting mechanism 20 is in the horizontal direction. The product may be shipped with the tilt adjusting mechanism 200 adjusted as described above.

<Example of transformation>
In the above embodiment, a bubble level was used as the level 100, but the level is not limited to this. As the level 100, for example, an electronic level may be used. A tilt sensor (gyro sensor or accelerometer) may be used as the electronic level.

When an electronic level is used, the horizontal state detected by the electronic level may be displayed on a monitor (eg, monitor 8). In this case, for example, the tilt may be adjusted while looking at the horizontal indicator displayed on the monitor.

Further, when the electronic level detects that the moving direction of the optical unit 10 by the retracting mechanism 20 is not the horizontal direction, it may be notified as an alarm that the moving direction is tilted. The notification means may be, for example, notification by a monitor or notification by a voice generating unit.

In the above embodiment, the horizontal adjusting leg 202 is used as the tilt adjusting mechanism 200, but the present invention is not limited to this. As the tilt adjusting mechanism 200, an electric or mechanical elevating mechanism may be provided.

<Optical system>
Next, the optical system provided in the optical unit 10 will be described with reference to FIG. The optical unit 10 has at least a photographing optical system 30. Further, in this embodiment, the optometry optical system 70 is further provided.

For convenience, first, the optometry optical system 70 will be described. The optometry optical system 70 has at least a optometry light source (optometry target) 71. Further, in FIG. 4, the optometry optical system 70 further includes an aperture 72, a lens 73, and a mirror 74. The light emitted from the light source 71 passes through the lens 73 via the aperture 72 and is collimated with a predetermined luminous flux diameter. The collimated light is bent by the mirror 74 and projected onto the eye E to be inspected. In FIG. 4, the optical axis of the fixation optical system 70 (more specifically, the range from the mirror 74 to the eye E to be inspected in the optical axis of the fixation optical system 70) is represented by the reference numeral L1. Further, L1 is referred to as a fixed optical axis. Each member of the photographing optical system 30 shown in FIG. 4 is arranged with reference to the fixed optical axis.

The photographing optical system 30 includes a floodlight optical system 40 and a light receiving optical system 60. Further, the photographing optical system 30 has a photographing optical axis L2. The photographing optical axis L2 is inclined with respect to the fixation optical axis L1 and faces the corner angle of the eye E to be inspected.

The projection optical system 40 has at least an objective reflection unit 50 and a light eccentric unit 48. Further, in the embodiment, the projection optical system 40 includes a light source 41, a lens 42, an aperture 43, a lens 44, a mirror 45, a ring aperture 46, a perforated mirror 47, and a lens 49.

The light source 41 is a light source of illumination light emitted to a corner. In this embodiment, the light source 41 emits visible light. In the following description, in order to obtain a corner image as a color image, it is assumed that at least light of a plurality of colors having different wavelength ranges (for example, white light) can be emitted.

The light (illumination light) from the light source 41 is incident on the optical eccentric portion 48 via the lens 42, the aperture 43, the lens 44, the mirror 45, the ring aperture 46, and the perforated mirror 47.

Here, the ring aperture 46 is provided to suppress stray light due to reflection inside the photographing optical system 30. For example, reflection by the surface of the lens 48c, the lens 49, etc. on the light source 41 side is suppressed by the ring aperture 46.

Further, the perforated mirror 47 is an example of an optical path branching portion for branching an optical path between the light projecting optical system 40 and the light receiving optical system 60. Instead of the perforated mirror 47, another beam splitter such as a half mirror may be applied. In this embodiment, the light from the light source 41 is reflected by the mirror surface of the perforated mirror 47 toward the light eccentric portion 48.

In this embodiment, the optical path center of the illumination light reflected by the perforated mirror 47 is coaxial with the fixation light axis L1.

The optical eccentric portion 48 eccentricizes the optical path of the illumination light with respect to the fixed-view optical axis L1. In this embodiment, the center of the optical path of the illumination light is shifted by a predetermined interval with respect to the fixation light axis L1 by using two mirrors 48a and 48b arranged in parallel. The shifted illumination light passes through the lens 48c and is emitted to the outside from the optical eccentric portion 48.

The optical axes of the lens 49 and the objective reflection unit 50 are arranged at positions separated from the optical path center of the illumination light eccentric by the optical eccentric unit 48. In this embodiment, the optical axes of the lens 49 and the objective reflection unit 50 are arranged coaxially with the fixation optical axis L1.

The lens 49 is a lens having a negative power, and the illumination light emitted from the optical eccentric portion 49 substantially parallel to the fixation optical axis L1 is bent in a direction away from the fixation optical axis L1 to be bent away from the fixation optical axis L1 to obtain an objective reflection portion 50. To be incident on.

The objective reflecting unit 50 has a reflecting surface that bends the illumination light toward the fixed optical axis L1 side. The optical axis of the illumination light reflected by the reflecting surface is bent so as to be greatly inclined with respect to the fixation light axis L1 and guided to the outside of the apparatus. At this time, the optical axis guided to the outside of the device is used as the photographing optical axis L2 in this embodiment. The illumination light from the device is applied to the corner region of the eye E to be inspected along the photographing optical axis L2.

In this embodiment, a plurality of reflecting surfaces are arranged side by side around the optical axis in the objective reflecting unit 50. As a specific example of the objective reflection unit 50, in this embodiment, for example, a frustum-shaped prism having a regular polygon on the bottom surface is used. More specifically, a prism having a regular hexadecagonal bottom surface and 16 side surfaces is utilized. In the present embodiment, the fixation optical axis L1 is seen in each direction of 0 °, 22.5 °, 45 °, 67.5 °, 90 ° ... (Omitted) ... 337.5 ° when viewed from the eye E to be inspected. A reflective surface facing the surface is arranged. In addition, each angle is an angle with respect to the fixation optical axis L1. Further, for convenience of explanation, 0 ° is on a horizontal plane.

However, the reflective surface does not necessarily have to be divided into a plurality of sheets, and may be formed by a series of curved surfaces. Further, the objective reflecting unit 50 does not necessarily have to be a prism, and may be, for example, a reflecting mirror. In the case of a reflecting mirror, it may be a cylindrical multi-sided mirror or a curved mirror having a reflecting surface on the optical axis side.

Here, the ophthalmic apparatus 1 of the present embodiment has a drive unit 48d (see FIG. 4) that rotates the optical eccentric unit 48 around the fixation optical axis L1. In response to the rotation of the optical eccentric portion 48, the incident position of the illumination light with respect to the lens 49 and the objective reflecting portion 50 is rotated around the fixed optical axis L1. As a result, the photographing optical axis L2 is rotated around the fixation optical axis L1, and as a result, the irradiation position of the illumination light around the entire circumference of the corner is displaced.

In this embodiment, gel G is interposed between the objective reflection unit 50 (prism) and the cornea.

The illumination light emitted by the projection optical system 40 is reflected in the corner region and is guided to the light receiving optical system 60 inside the apparatus by following the photographing optical axis L2.

In this embodiment, the light receiving optical system 60 has at least an image pickup element (an example of a light receiving element) 62. Further, the light receiving optical system 60 shares at least the objective reflection unit 50 and the perforated mirror (beam splitter) 47 with the light projecting optical system 40. Further, the optical eccentric portion 48, the lens 49, and the like may be shared with the light projecting optical system 40. Further, the light receiving optical system 60 has a focus lens 61. The focus lens 61 is a part of the focus changing portion in the photographing optical system 30 of this embodiment. The ophthalmic apparatus 1 is provided with a drive unit 61a for moving the focus lens 61 along the optical axis. The drive unit 61a may include, for example, a linear actuator.

The reflected light from the angle region is applied to the perforated mirror 47 via the objective reflecting portion 50, the lens 49, and the light eccentric portion 48. After that, the reflected light passes through the aperture of the perforated mirror 47 and the focus lens 61, respectively, and is imaged in the image sensor 62. As a result, a corner image is obtained based on the received signal from the image sensor 62, with the portion irradiated with the illumination light on the entire circumference of the corner as the imaging position.

Further, by rotating the optical eccentric portion 48 and rotating the photographing optical axis L2 around the fixation optical axis L1, the imaging position on the entire circumference of the corner can be switched. As described above, in the present embodiment, since the objective reflection unit 50 has 16 reflection surfaces, the entire circumference of the corner can be divided into 16 and each of them can be selectively imaged.

<Control system>
Next, the control system of the ophthalmic apparatus 1 in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The ophthalmic apparatus 1 includes a control unit (processor) 80. The control unit 80 executes control processing for the entire device and various arithmetic processing.

The control unit 80 may include a CPU, ROM, RAM, and the like. Temporary data used for shooting and measurement is stored in the RAM, for example.

The control unit 80 includes, for example, an alignment mechanism 5, a monitor 8, a sensor 29, a storage device 81, an operation unit 85, various light sources 41, 71, an image sensor 62, and the like via a bus or the like. The various light sources 41 and 71 may include a light source of illumination light emitted from the optical unit 10 to the eye E to be inspected. The image sensor 62 is provided in the optical unit 10, receives the reflected light from the corner portion, and outputs a signal for obtaining a corner image.

The storage device 81 is a rewritable non-volatile storage device. As the storage device 81, various storage devices such as a hard disk, a flash memory, and a USB memory can be applied. Further, the storage device 81 may store at least a program for causing the ophthalmology device 1 to execute various operations such as an imaging operation.

The angle image captured by the ophthalmic apparatus 1 may be stored in the storage device 81. It may also be displayed on the monitor 8.

The operation unit 85 is an input interface in the ophthalmic apparatus 1. When the operation unit 85 is operated by the examiner, an instruction corresponding to the operation is input to the control unit 80. The operation unit 85 may be, for example, a pointing device such as a mouse and a touch panel, or a keyboard. Further, in the ophthalmic apparatus 1, the joystick 7 operated for alignment may be used as one of the operation units 85.

<Operation explanation>
The control unit 80 of the ophthalmic apparatus 1 switches the mode of the ophthalmic apparatus into an imaging mode (first mode) and a second mode according to the signal output from the sensor 29. The first mode is set based on the signal output from the sensor 29 when the movement of the optical unit 10 is allowed, and the sensor 29 is locked when the movement of the optical unit 10 is locked by the lock mechanisms 25a and 25b. The second mode is set based on the signal output from.

For example, the alignment operation, the shooting operation, and the like are executed when the first mode is set. In this case, the control unit 80 causes the optical unit 10 to project and receive the illumination light and the reflected light from the corner portion thereof, for example, at the time of observation or release.

On the other hand, when the second mode is set, the control unit 80 may stop the light emission and reception by the optical unit 10 (at least, the projection of the illumination light and the reception of the reflected light). For example, when the parts of the optical unit 10 are replaced, it is possible to prevent the light from the device from being applied to the eyes of the examiner.

Further, for example, when the second mode is set, the control unit 80 performs a notification operation via the monitor 8. For example, the monitor 8 may display information indicating that the lock state is set. For example, if the second mode is set during alignment and notification is performed, the examiner can grasp based on the notification that the tip portion 11 is in contact with the eye to be inspected E and is pressing the eye to be inspected. Further, for example, it is considered that the examiner is prevented from forgetting the unlocking operation and trying to operate the device.

<Modification example>
Although the retracting mechanism 20 in the embodiment has been described as having a guide 22 in combination with a rail and a carriage, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this. For example, instead of the retracting mechanism 20 of the embodiment, another linear motion guide such as a rack and pinion may be applied, or another mechanism may be applied.

Further, in the embodiment, it has been described that the lock mechanism 25 using a cam is provided, but the present invention is not necessarily limited to this. For example, when the rail and the carriage are provided, instead of the lock mechanism 25, a mechanism for increasing or decreasing the resistance (friction) generated between the two may be applied according to the operation by the examiner. Further, instead of the lock mechanism 25, a mechanism that does not involve an operation of retracting the optical mechanism 10 when locking may be applied. For example, the operation of locking the movement of the optical unit 10 may be possible only when the optical unit 10 is arranged at the second lock position.

Further, although the lock mechanism 25 in the embodiment is a mechanism composed of only mechanical elements, the lock mechanism does not necessarily have to be a mechanical mechanism. For example, it may include an electromagnetic element. As the electromagnetic element, a solenoid, various actuators, and the like can be considered. When a solenoid is used, the magnetic force generated from the solenoid acts directly on the optical unit 10 side and the pedestal 21 side, and the movement of the optical unit 10 is switched between a locked state and an unlocked state. It may be a mechanism. Further, the solenoid may be used as an actuator of a mechanical locking mechanism. When an electromagnetic element is adopted in the lock mechanism, a sensor for detecting that the optical unit 10 has reached a predetermined lock position may be provided at the same time. In this case, the control unit 80 controls the lock mechanism based on the output signal from the sensor, and switches between a state in which the movement of the optical unit 10 is locked and a state in which the lock is released.

It is a schematic diagram which showed the schematic structure of the ophthalmic apparatus in an Example. It is a figure which showed the optical unit and the moving mechanism seen from the side of the eye to be examined. (A) is a diagram showing a state in which the optical unit is in a reference position, and (b) is a diagram showing a state in which the movement of the optical unit is locked based on an operation on the operation unit. It is a figure which showed the optical system of an ophthalmic apparatus. It is a figure which showed the control system of an ophthalmic apparatus.

1 Ophthalmology device 4 Moving table 5 Y drive unit 8 Monitor 10 Optical unit 10a Cover 11 Tip part 20 Retreat mechanism 23 Coil spring 25a, 25b Lock mechanism 27 Lever

Claims (4)

A main unit that is placed in contact with or close to the eye to be inspected via the tip,
An alignment mechanism that supports the main body unit and moves the main body unit to adjust the positional relationship between the eye to be inspected and the main body unit.
By applying a load in the retracting direction, which is a direction away from the eye to be inspected, to the tip portion provided on the main body unit, the entire main body unit is moved in the retracting direction with respect to the alignment mechanism in response to the load. A stationary ophthalmic apparatus including a moving mechanism for moving the entire main body unit independently of the alignment mechanism.
An ophthalmic apparatus comprising a spirit level for confirming whether or not the movement direction of the entire main body unit by the movement mechanism is in the horizontal direction. The ophthalmic apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an inclination adjusting mechanism for adjusting the inclination of the entire main body unit in the moving direction. The leveling device is provided on the outer surface of the housing of the ophthalmic apparatus, and it is possible to visually check whether or not the moving direction of the entire main body unit is in the horizontal direction. Any ophthalmic device. The spirit level is an electronic spirit level.
One of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a notification means for notifying that the moving direction of the entire main body unit is inclined with respect to the horizontal direction based on a detection signal from the electronic level. Ophthalmology equipment.

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