JP2000262468A - Dry eye preventive device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely prevent the dry eye in the VDT work. SOLUTION: An ocular position detection sensor 4 and a lacrimal layer detection sensor 5 are arranged on a peripheral portion of a display 3, the film thickness of the lacrimal layer on the ocular surface detected by the ocular position detection sensor 4 is measured by the lacrimal layer detection sensor 5, and an alarm is given when the film thickness is below a specified value.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dry eye prevention device suitable for operating video equipment such as a personal computer and a television.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Operating video equipment such as a personal computer and a video game machine for a long time causes various obstacles to the eyes of an operator. In particular, since the operator of the video equipment gazes at the screen, the number of blinks decreases, resulting in dry eyes (dry eyes), which causes eyestrain. Therefore, in order to prevent dry eyes due to a decrease in the number of blinks during operation of video equipment, the number of blinks per unit time during display work is measured, and when the value falls below a certain value, a change in brightness is given on the display, giving the operator A device that calls attention has been proposed (JP-A-8-314423).
No.).

[0003]

In the VDT work,
As the number of blinks decreases, the tears evaporate and eventually tears disappear, exposing the corneal surface. Tear fluid has a protective effect on the surface of the eyeball, a lubricating effect, an optical function of forming a smooth surface on the cornea surface, and the like. However, the above proposals measure the degree of dry eye by measuring the number of blinks per unit time, so that it is not possible to directly evaluate tears, and as an accuracy of measuring eye strain, Not enough.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to prevent dry eye more reliably.

[0005]

According to the dry eye prevention device of the present invention, an eyeball position detecting sensor and a tear film detecting sensor are arranged around a display, and a tear film on the surface of the eyeball detected by the eyeball position detecting sensor is provided. The film thickness is measured by a tear film detection sensor, and a warning is issued when the film thickness falls below a certain value. Further, the present invention provides an eyeball position detection sensor and a tear film detection sensor on head-mounted glasses, and measures the tear film thickness on the surface of the eyeball detected by the eyeball position detection sensor with the tear film detection sensor. However, a warning is issued when the film thickness falls below a certain value.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a personal computer provided with the dry eye prevention device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an eyeball position detection sensor, and FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a tear film detection sensor.

In FIG. 1, a keyboard 1, a computer main body 2, and a display 3 are the same as those of an ordinary personal computer. An eyeball position detecting sensor 4 and a tear film detecting sensor 5 are provided at the upper end of the display 3, for example. I have. As shown in FIG. 2, the eyeball position detection sensor 4 includes an infrared light emitting diode (LED) 4a for not stimulating eyes, and a light receiving element 4b for detecting infrared reflected light from the eyeball. The image of the LED 4a projected on the corneal surface of the eyeball by the element 4b is detected. The reflected image of the LED on the corneal surface moves up, down, left, and right with the movement of the eyeball, and the position of the eyeball can be detected by detecting the image of the LED 4a.

In the present invention, the tear film detecting sensor 5 measures the thickness of the tear film at the eyeball position detected by the eyeball position detecting sensor 4. The tear film detection sensor 5 consists of a small and highly sensitive camera for observing the cornea of the eyeball. The lens of the camera is moved by a motor to focus on the corneal position, and then the lens is moved to focus on the tear film surface. Then, the thickness of the tear film is measured based on the moving distance.

Using such a sensor, the position of the eyeball and the film thickness at that position are measured, and when the film thickness of the tear film becomes a predetermined value or less, for example, 2 μm or less, a signal is sent to the personal computer main body 2. The main unit 2 sounds a warning sound,
Alternatively, a warning is displayed on the display 3. In addition, as a type of a display, a self-luminous type such as a CRT and an EL,
It does not matter whether it is a non-light emitting type such as an LCD. Further, the eyeball position detection sensor and the tear film detection sensor may be provided at other positions besides being provided at the upper end of the display, or may be provided in head-mounted glasses.

Next, the dry eye prevention processing procedure in the VDT work will be described. FIG. 4 is a view for explaining the eyeball position detection processing at the start of the VDT work. First, the eyeball position is detected at the start of the VDT work. For this purpose, the VDT worker gazes at the eyeball position detection sensor of the personal computer for 5 seconds (S
1) When the eyeball position detection signal is taken into the personal computer and it is confirmed that the eyeball position has been detected, the personal computer
T Work start preparation OK is displayed on the display.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a dry eye prevention processing flow during VDT work. First, an eyeball position during the VDT operation is detected by the detection sensor (S11). Since the eyeball position has been detected in the processing of FIG. 4, the detection sensor can easily detect the eyeball following the movement of the eyeball. Next, it is checked whether there is a blink for 5 seconds or more (S12). Blinking can be detected by a change in the signal level to the eyeball position detection sensor. By monitoring this signal, the personal computer determines whether blinking has occurred within 5 seconds. If there is a blink within 5 seconds, there is no fear of dry eye, and the process returns to S11 without proceeding to the subsequent processes. If there is no blink for 5 seconds or more, the eyeball position is detected by the tear film detection sensor (S13). This is for adjusting the tear film detection sensor to the eyeball position. Next, the small sensitive camera of the tear film detection sensor focuses on the cornea of the eyeball (S14), and then focuses on the tear film surface (S1).
5). The tear film thickness is determined from the movement distance of the lens at the time of focusing (S16). The above processing is performed on the left and right eyeballs, and then the tear film thickness of either eyeball is 2 μm
It is checked whether or not it is below (S17). If it is 2 μm or more, there is no fear of dry eye and the process returns to S11. When the thickness is 2 μm or less, a warning is issued by a warning sound or a warning display to urge blinking or a stop of the VDT work.

[0012]

As described above, according to the present invention, when performing VDT work, the decrease in tears is automatically measured, and a warning is issued to the worker before the corneal surface is exposed. As a result, the work can be temporarily stopped before the dry eye occurs, and eyestrain can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a personal computer provided with a dry eye prevention device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an eyeball position detection sensor.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a tear film detection sensor.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an eyeball position detection process at the start of a VDT operation.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a dry eye prevention processing flow.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Keyboard, 2 ... PC body, 3 ... Display, 4 ... Eyeball position detection sensor, 5 ... Tear film detection sensor (small high sensitivity camera).

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An eyeball position detection sensor and a tear film detection sensor are arranged in a peripheral portion of a display, and a film thickness of a tear film on an eyeball surface detected by the eyeball position detection sensor is measured by the tear film detection sensor. A dry eye prevention device, wherein a warning is issued when the film thickness falls below a certain value. 2. An eyeball position detection sensor and a tear film detection sensor are arranged on the head-mounted glasses, and the tear film thickness on the surface of the eyeball detected by the eyeball position detection sensor is measured by the tear film detection sensor. A warning is issued when the film thickness becomes below a certain value.