JP2001037726A - Slit-lamp microscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a slit-lamp microscope which enables a testee to easily carry out work without assuming a too much undue posture from the alignment of the testee to the end of observation and inspection. SOLUTION: The slit-lamp microscope, which has a supporting means for supporting the testee's head and stabilizing the position of the eye to be examined, an illumination optical system for slit-illumination of the eye to be examined and condition setting means for setting the observation conditions of the eye to be examined has an image pickup means which picks up the image of the eye to be examined subjected to the slit-illumination to a photoelectric image pickup element, a bed which is placed movably on a fixing base by operation of an operation means and is mounted with the illumination optical system and the image pickup section rotatably with each other around the same axis and a display means which has a display 30 mounted at the bed and displays the eye to be examined subjected to the image pickup by the image pickup means on the display 30.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a slit lamp microscope for observing an eye to be examined.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, observation and inspection of a subject's eye (patient's eye) with a slit lamp microscope have been widely used as general examinations in ophthalmology, and examinations are performed using various techniques. When using a slit lamp microscope, support the subject's face on a headrest with a chin rest and a forehead rest so that the subject's face does not move, and then operate the knob provided on the headrest to move the chin rest. The eye was moved up and down to adjust the position of the eye to be examined to a predetermined position.

[0003] Thereafter, the subject's eye is observed by moving a slit lamp microscope main body having an illuminating part for irradiating slit illumination light to the subject's eye and an observation part. When observing and examining the cross-sectional image of the eye,
By narrowing the width of the slit and adjusting the axis angle between the optical axis of the illumination light from the illumination unit and the observation axis of the observation unit, a cross-sectional image of the cornea, anterior chamber, lens, vitreous body, etc. of the eye to be examined can be obtained. I was getting it.

[0004]

However, when aligning the position of the eye to be examined, a knob for raising and lowering the chin rest is located near the chin rest, and the examiner (operator) must reach out and operate each time. Very cumbersome because it had to be.

In order to observe a cross-sectional image of an eye even when examining the eye to be inspected, it is necessary to swing the observation angle of the observation section to the right and left rather than in front of the eye to be inspected. Therefore, the examiner observes and examines the subject's eye in an impossible posture.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above prior art, the present invention provides a slit in which the examiner can easily perform the work from the position of the examinee to the observation and the end of the examination without taking an excessively difficult posture. A technical problem is to provide a light microscope.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is characterized by having the following configuration.

(1) A thin section having a support means for supporting the head of the subject and stabilizing the position of the subject's eye, an illumination optical system for slit-illuminating the subject's eye, and condition setting means for setting observation conditions for the subject's eye. In the slit lamp microscope, an imaging unit for imaging the slit-illuminated eye to be inspected on the photoelectric imaging element, and the illumination optical system and the imaging unit are mounted movably on a fixed base by operating an operation unit. A base mounted so as to be rotatable with respect to an axis, and display means having a display mounted on the base and displaying an eye to be inspected imaged by the imaging means on the display. And

(2) The slit lamp microscope of (1) further comprises a detecting means for detecting the observation condition set by the condition setting means, and the observation condition is the same as that of the eye image displayed on the display. It is characterized in that it is displayed in the field of view.

(3) The slit lamp microscope of (2) is characterized in that the observation conditions are displayed so as to be superimposed on the image of the eye to be examined.

(4) The observation condition (2) is characterized in that it includes at least the amount of illumination light or the slit width by the illumination optical system.

(5) In the slit lamp microscope of (1),
The support means includes moving means for moving the chin rest up and down electrically, and signal input means for inputting a signal for commanding movement of the chin rest, and the signal input means is provided with an eye to be inspected displayed on the display. It is characterized by being arranged in the same field of view as the image.

(6) In the slit lamp microscope of (5),
The signal input means includes a second input means provided on the support means side.

(7) Support means for holding a chin rest for supporting the face of the examinee, stabilizing the position of the examinee's eye, an illumination optical system for slit illumination of the examinee's eye, and conditions for setting the observation conditions of the examinee's eye In a slit lamp microscope having setting means, an observation means for observing an eye to be inspected slit-illuminated, and movably mounted on a fixed base by operation of operation means, the illumination optical system and the imaging unit A base mounted rotatably with respect to the same axis, moving means for vertically moving the chin rest, and signal input means for inputting a signal for commanding movement of the moving means. The signal input means is arranged at a position where the examiner can operate it while maintaining a posture for observing the eye image to be inspected.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<Overall Configuration> FIG. 1A is a side view of a slit lamp microscope used in the present embodiment.
(B) is the figure seen from the examiner (operator) side.

The slit lamp microscope main body 1 has a base 2 at a lower portion. The base 2 is mounted on a table 3 and a well-known joystick moving mechanism mounted on the base 2. The table 3 can be moved in the horizontal direction. By operating the joystick 4, the base 2 can be coarsely and finely moved on the surface of the table 3. The table 3 is provided with a headrest 40 for fixing the face of the subject (patient).

Reference numeral 10 denotes an illumination unit for irradiating slit illumination light to the eye to be inspected (patient's eye), and includes various optical members described later. The illumination unit 10 is rotatable about the axis L with respect to the base 2, so that the examiner can arbitrarily change the illumination angle of the illumination light as needed. Reference numeral 20 denotes a microscope unit for observing the subject's eye, in which an observation optical system having a CCD camera 58 and the like to be described later is arranged. The microscope unit 20 is also rotatable about the axis L with respect to the base 2 similarly to the illumination unit 10, and the examiner can arbitrarily change the observation angle of the microscope unit 20 as necessary. It has become. The relative opening degree (angle) of the illumination unit 10 and the microscope unit 20 can be fixed by operating the fixing knob 24, and the opening angle can be known from the axis angle scale 23. In addition, by using the fixing knob 22, the position of the microscope unit 20 with respect to the base 4 can be fixed.

Reference numeral 30 denotes a CCD camera 5 of the microscope unit 20.
8 is a display for displaying an image captured by 8, and is fixed to the base 2 via a support shaft 31. The slit lamp microscope 1 used in the present embodiment does not have an observation unit having an eyepiece, and instead has a display 3.
The examinee's eye E projected on 0 is observed. In addition to the observation image of the subject's eye,
Information such as parameters for setting various conditions is displayed as shown in FIG.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a control box, and a power switch 8
a. The control box 8 includes a slit light amount setting switch 6a for setting an illumination light amount according to the slit width, and a filter light amount setting switch for setting an illumination light amount according to various filters to be described later disposed in the illumination unit 10. A light amount setting switch 6b is also attached, and the light amount of the illumination light can be set as needed. A dimming knob 5 for adjusting the amount of slit illumination light is provided near the joystick 4 on the base 2.

<Structure of Main Parts> Next, the structure of each part is divided into an illumination unit 10, a microscope unit 20, and a headrest 40.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an optical system and a control system inside the slit lamp microscope 1, and FIG.
Diagram illustrating the configuration of the filter disk arranged in the
FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view of a vertical movement mechanism of the chin rest 43 in the headrest 40.

(A) Illumination Unit In FIG. 2, an illumination light source 50 is provided inside the illumination unit 10, and a visible light beam emitted from the illumination light source 50 passes through a condenser lens 51, and the height thereof is changed by an aperture 52. The width is determined by the slit plate 53 and is formed into a slit-like light beam. After that, the slit illumination light passing through the variable slit plate 53 passes through the filter disk 14 and the projection lens 54 and is reflected by the split mirrors 55a and 55b to illuminate the eye E of the subject. When observing the fundus, illumination and observation are performed via a contact lens.

The aperture 52 has a diameter of φ0.2 on the circumference of the disk.
A plurality of openings with different diameters of up to φ14 mm are provided, and the aperture 52 through which the aperture 52 is rotated using the aperture switching knob 13 can be switched in a stepwise manner.

The variable slit plate 53 is constituted by two blades, and the blades are connected to the slit width control knob 11 via a plurality of cams (not shown). , The blades open and close. Slit width is 0
It can be continuously adjusted up to 14 mm.

A potentiometer 61 is attached to the slit width control knob 11, and the degree of opening (slit width) of the variable slit plate 53 corresponding to the amount of rotation of the slit width control knob 11 is detected by the potentiometer 61. Can be recognized by the control unit 60.

As shown in FIG. 3, the filter disk 14 has a structure in which a part of the filter disk 14 is exposed from the housing of the illumination unit 10. By rotating the exposed part, a desired filter is irradiated with illumination light. It can be switched on the axis (in the optical path). In addition, the filter disk 14
When the is rotated, a click feeling (not shown) can be obtained every 90 degrees by a click mechanism (not shown), so that it can be seen that the filter has completely entered the optical axis of the illumination light.

The filter disk 14 is provided with
4a, a heat ray absorbing filter 14b having an anti-glare and heat-insulating effect, a non-red filter 14c used for examining abnormalities of the optic nerve fiber and the like, and a blue filter 14d used for observing fluorescence and staining reactions are 90%. It is provided at intervals of degrees. In the vicinity of each of the filters 14b to 14d and the transparent portion 14a, identification plates 15a to 15d for recognizing the type of the filter and an identification plate 18 used for detecting insertion of the filter are provided. Identification plate 15
a to 15d are composed of two types of combinations of a reflection plate that reflects light and a plate that does not reflect the light, and by changing these two types of combinations, the transparent portions 14a arranged on the illumination optical axis,
Filters 14b to 14d can be identified. The identification boards 15a to 15d are identified by the photo interrupter 16, and the control unit 60 detects which type of filter is inserted on the illumination optical axis based on an output signal from the photo interrupter 16. The discrimination plate 18 is made of only a reflection plate, and has a transparent portion 14a, a filter 14b,
Used to detect that 14d has been inserted.
Similarly, the photo interrupter 1 is used to detect the identification plate 18.
Perform at 6.

Marks 17a to 17d indicate the types of filters inserted on the optical axis of the illuminating light, and each of the filters is color-coded so that the type can be recognized. Mark 17a for the transparent portion 14a
(White), but mark 17b for filter 14b
(Red), but mark 17c for filter 14c
(Green) but mark 17d for filter 14d
(Blue) correspond to each other. These marks 1
7a to 17d are provided on the filter side located on the opposite side to the corresponding filter. For example, when the transparent portion 14a is inserted on the optical axis, the mark 17a appears outside the illumination unit 10 and is used. The inspector can understand at a glance.

(B) Microscope section The objective lens 56 and the variable power lens 5 are provided inside the microscope section 20.
7. A CCD camera 58 is provided. Since the illumination light from the illumination unit 10 is split by the split mirrors 55a and 55b, there is no obstacle on the optical axis of the objective lens 56, and the reflection from the subject's eye E is reflected by the CCD 58 camera. Can be captured by The image captured by the CCD camera 58 is displayed on the display 30 through the control unit 60. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 21 denotes a magnification switching knob 21 which is used to switch the magnification lens 57 to change the observation magnification on the display 30.

(C) Headrest In FIG. 1, two columns 44 fixed to the table 3
A forehead support 41 and a chin rest 43 are provided between R and 44L so that the face of the subject can be held firmly. The lower portion of the column 44R is covered with a column cover 44a, and a mechanism for electrically moving the chin rest 43 up and down is provided inside the column cover 44a. The vertical movement of the chin rest 43 can be performed by a switch 7a provided on the side surface of the column cover 44a and a switch 7b provided on the base 2. Reference numeral 42 denotes an eye level marker for adjusting the eye height of the subject, and is provided on each of the two columns 44R and 44L.

The vertical movement mechanism of the chin rest 43 in the headrest 40 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view of the support 44R side. A feed screw 46 is inserted between the support 44R and the support cover 44a, and the feed screw 46 is rotatably held on the support 44R by a bearing 47. Further, the feed screw portion 46 is provided with the stopper 4
8 and is fixed so as not to move in the vertical direction, and a gear formed at the lower end is engaged with the gear on the motor 62 side.

Numeral 49 denotes an upper and lower nut portion through which the support 44R is inserted and which is screwed with the feed screw portion 46. The chin rest 41 is fixed to the upper end. With such a configuration, when the motor 62 rotates, the feed screw portion 46 starts rotating. Upper and lower nut portions 4 screwed to the feed screw portion 46
9 is sent out in the vertical direction by this rotational movement, so that the chin rest 41 can move steplessly in the vertical direction.

The operation of the slit lamp microscope having the above configuration will be described. First, a method of adjusting the light amount for the slit width and the filter of the illumination unit 10 will be described.

When the power is turned on by the power switch 8a, the control unit 60 displays the image received by the CCD camera 58 on the display 30. When setting so that the amount of illumination light automatically changes in accordance with the slit width (standard settings may be made at the time of shipment), the switches 6a and the like are operated in advance to make this setting. When the switch 6a is pressed, the control unit 60 controls the LE 6 above the switch 6a.
D is turned on to inform the examiner that preparation for light amount adjustment by the slit width is completed, and the current slit width and the light amount information of the illumination light are displayed on the screen of the display 30. The examiner turns the slit width control knob 11 while watching the slit width information displayed on the display 30, and adjusts the slit width by the variable slit plate 53 to a width for which light amount adjustment is considered necessary (for example, suitable for cross-sectional observation). 0.3 mm). Next, dimming is performed by using the dimming knob 5 while looking at the display 30 in the same manner until a necessary illumination light amount is obtained (when the slit width is reduced, the light amount is maximized). .

When the light amount for a predetermined slit width is determined, the switch 6a is pressed again to complete the setting.
When the switch 6a is pressed again, the control unit 60 turns off the LED, stores the slit width at that time, the light amount state of the illumination light in the memory 63, the slit width displayed on the display 30, and the light amount information of the illumination light. To return to the original observation screen. The light amount adjustment for the slit width is controlled by the control unit 60 so that the light is illuminated with the set light amount when the slit width is equal to or smaller than the set slit width.

When setting so that the amount of illumination light is automatically adjusted according to various filters of the filter disk 14, this setting is performed by operating the switch 6b and the like.
When the switch 6b is pressed, the control unit 60 illuminates the LED provided on the switch 6b to notify that the light quantity adjustment is ready, as described above, and determines the type of the filter currently inserted on the display 30. , And displays light amount information of the illumination light. The examiner rotates the filter disk 14 while watching the information on the type of the filter and the light amount of the illumination light displayed on the display 30, and adjusts the filter to a filter whose light amount is to be determined in advance. After that, a dimming operation is performed so that a desired illumination light is obtained by the dimming knob 5. For example, when the blue filter 14d is selected, the illumination light amount is attenuated, so that the light amount setting is maximized.

When the amount of light for the selected filter is determined, the switch 6b is pressed again to complete the setting. When the switch 6b is pressed, the control unit 60 stores the selected filter and the amount of illumination light in the memory 63, and returns the display on the display 30 to the original state. When the amount of illumination light is automatically adjusted in the same manner for another filter, the current operation may be repeated.

With the above-described settings, the examiner can preliminarily set the amount of illumination light which is considered to be optimal for the slit width and each filter, and can store them.

It is preferable to set the light amount while observing the model eye. However, when setting the light amount, the width of the slit, the type of the filter, and the light amount level are displayed on the display 30. It is also possible to set based on.

Next, the slit lamp microscope 1 whose light quantity adjustment is completed
The operation of observing the subject's eye E by using will be described.
First, the subject's face is fixed to the headrest 40. The subject abuts the forehead against the forehead rest 41 and the chin rest 43
Instruct the chin to put on the chin. Thereafter, the chin rest 4 is moved so that the subject's eye E comes to the position of the eye level marker 42.
3 is moved up and down to adjust its position. The up and down movement of the chin rest 43 can be performed by any of the switches 7a and 7b. However, when the examiner facing the subject performs this adjustment, the up and down movement switch 7b provided on the base 2 is operated. Can be done using Since the switch 7b is near the examiner's hand, it is not necessary to reach the headrest 40 side each time, and the switch 7b can be efficiently operated.

On the other hand, when an assistant such as a nurse adjusts the position of the chin rest 43 instead of the examiner, the switch 7a is used.
The adjustment can be made using. The assistant can also use the switch 7b provided on the base 2, but in this case, the slit lamp microscope 1 may be inadvertently moved. On the other hand, if the switch 7a provided on the headrest 40 side is used, this can be reliably avoided. In addition, the switch 7a is usually easier to operate because the assistant often accompanies the subject.

When the position of the subject has been determined, the examiner illuminates the subject's eye E with illumination light and performs observation. The observation of the subject's eye E includes cross-sectional observation of the eye, observation of the anterior eye, observation of the fundus, and the like.

In the case of cross-sectional observation, the cross-section of the anterior ocular segment, which has been light-cut by the slit illumination light from the illumination unit 10, is
To allow observation. The examiner instructs the subject to stare at a fixation lamp (not shown), and then sets the axis angle scale 23.
The illumination unit 10 and the microscope unit 20 are relatively positioned about the rotation axis L so that the angle formed by the illumination unit 10 and the microscope unit 20 becomes a desired angle (for example, about 25 degrees) while watching the image. Rotate. Both angles can be fixed by the fixing knob 24.

In the case of cross-section observation, the slit width is set to be small by the control knob 11. The adjustment state of the slit width is detected by the potentiometer 61, and the slit width is set to a value less than or equal to the set value stored in the memory 63 (0.3
(mm or less), the control unit 60 controls the illumination light from the illumination light source 50 to have the previously set light amount. This allows the examiner to operate the control knob 11 without operating the light control knob 5.
The desired light quantity can be obtained automatically only by adjusting the slit width by the operator, so that the examiner can proceed to the next procedure without any trouble. When the automatic light control by the control unit 60 does not meet the wishes of the examiner, the light amount can be manually adjusted by operating the light control knob 5 as before. When the light control knob 5 is operated, the operation signal is input to the control unit 60, and the control unit 60 temporarily cancels the automatic light control setting.

In the cross-sectional observation of the subject's eye E, if the angle formed between the illumination unit 10 and the microscope unit 20 is fixed by the fixing knob 24, the microscope unit 20 can be swung about the axis L to obtain a desired angle. The cross-sectional angle can be set, and the examiner observes the cross-sectional image on the display 30.

Here, in the case of a conventional slit lamp microscope having an eyepiece section in the microscope section, if the microscope section is swung about the axis L, the eyepiece section is swung together with it. The examiner had to observe in an unreasonable position, or move and observe in order to make the position easy to see. However, in the present embodiment, since the image received by the CCD camera 58 included in the microscope unit 20 is displayed on the display 30 located in front of the examiner, the examiner does not need to move each time, and can sit at any angle while sitting in front of the examiner. You can observe the video from

Next, the case of observing the anterior eye will be described. Here, a case where fluorescence observation is performed will be described as an example. The examiner injects fluorescein on the corneal surface of the eye E in advance, and starts observing the anterior segment. In this observation, the slit width is widened so that the illumination light illuminates the entire cornea. Next, the filter disk 14 is rotated to insert the blue filter 14d on the optical axis of the illumination light. When the blue filter 14d is located on the optical axis,
Blue filter 14 by photo interrupter 16
It is detected that d has been inserted, and the detection signal is input to the control unit 60. When the detection signal is input, the control unit 60 controls the light amount of the illumination light emitted from the illumination light source 50 to a predetermined level (maximum). Generally, when the blue filter 14d is inserted, the amount of light illuminating the anterior segment is significantly reduced. Therefore, it is necessary for the examiner to operate the light control knob 5 so as to increase the amount of light. Since the light amount adjustment is performed in a specific manner, the examiner can perform the examination smoothly and concentrate on the observation without bothering the examiner.

The illuminating light from the illuminating light source 50 becomes blue light by the blue filter 14d and illuminates the entire cornea, and the corneal surface shows a fluorescent reaction and shows specific color light. The examiner observes the corneal surface in such a state and measures the tear film destruction time and the like.

In some cases, inspection and observation may be performed while changing the slit width without changing the filter. When the slit width is changed by operating the control knob 11 and the slit width is set to be equal to or less than the set value stored in the memory 63, the control unit 60 controls the light amount of the illumination light so that the set value is prioritized. Do. This is because the examiner thinks that it is important to change the slit width for observation. Further, even if the light amount is determined by the filter or slit width, the light amount can be adjusted to an arbitrary light amount by using the light control knob 5. The control unit 60 gives priority to the operation signal from the light control knob 5, and sets the light amount according to the operation signal.

In the embodiment described above, the slit width and the light amount setting for the filter are stored in a single light amount setting under each condition. It is also conceivable to store a plurality of condition settings. By doing so, a plurality of examiners can set the light amount according to each, and the inspection and observation can be performed by setting the light amount for each examiner as needed.

The switching of the filter disk 14 is detected by using the photo interrupter 16. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the rotation amount of the filter disk 14 may be detected by using a potentiometer or an encoder. May be used to detect the switching of the filter. Further, a selection switch for selecting each filter is provided, and by using this selection switch, when a mechanism for electrically controlling the rotation of the filter disk 14 is used, a signal transmitted from the selection switch is detected. Thus, it is possible to detect the switching of the filter.

[0052]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The examiner (operator) can easily perform the work without taking an unreasonable posture. That is, even when the microscope unit is swung right and left, the examiner can observe the subject's eye (patient's eye) in a comfortable posture without moving, while facing directly. Also,
The examiner and assistant can easily move the chin rest.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an appearance of a slit lamp microscope.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an optical system and a control system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a filter disk.

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view showing a vertical drive mechanism of the chin rest.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Slit lamp microscope body 5 Dimming knob 6a Slit light quantity setting switch 6b Filter light quantity setting switch 7a Vertical movement switch 7b Vertical movement switch 10 Illumination unit 20 Microscope unit 30 Display 40 Headrest 43 Jaw rest 50 Illumination light source 60 Control Department

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A slit having support means for supporting the head of a subject and stabilizing the position of the subject's eye, an illumination optical system for slit-illuminating the subject's eye, and condition setting means for setting observation conditions for the subject's eye. In a light microscope, an imaging unit that images a slit-illuminated eye to be examined on a photoelectric imaging element, and a movable base mounted on a fixed base by operation of an operation unit, and the illumination optical system and the imaging unit are coaxial. A base mounted rotatably with respect to the base, and display means having a display mounted on the base and displaying an eye to be inspected imaged by the imaging means on the display. Slit lamp microscope. 2. The slit lamp microscope according to claim 1, further comprising detection means for detecting an observation condition set by said condition setting means, wherein the observation condition is in the same field of view as the image of the eye to be inspected displayed on the display. A slit lamp microscope characterized by being displayed inside. 3. The slit lamp microscope according to claim 2, wherein the observation conditions are displayed so as to be superimposed on an image of the eye to be inspected. 4. The slit lamp microscope according to claim 2, wherein the observation condition includes at least an amount of illumination light or a slit width by the illumination optical system. 5. The slit lamp microscope according to claim 1, wherein said support means includes a moving means for vertically moving the chin rest and a signal input means for inputting a signal for commanding the movement of said chin rest. The slit lamp microscope, wherein the signal input means is arranged in the same field of view as the eye image displayed on the display. 6. The slit lamp microscope according to claim 5, wherein said signal input means includes second input means provided on said support means side. 7. A means for holding a chin rest for supporting the face of the subject, supporting means for stabilizing the position of the subject's eye, an illumination optical system for slit-illuminating the subject's eye, and condition setting for setting observation conditions for the subject's eye. In the slit lamp microscope having the means, the observation means for observing the eye to be examined which is illuminated by the slit, and movably mounted on the fixed base by the operation of the operation means, the illumination optical system and the imaging unit A base mounted rotatably with respect to the same axis, moving means for vertically moving the chin rest, and signal input means for inputting a signal for commanding movement of the moving means, The slit lamp microscope, wherein the signal input means is arranged at a position where the examiner can operate while maintaining a posture for observing the image of the eye to be inspected.