JP2003010134A - Ophthalmologic photographing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To adjust a focus in a papilla without causing miosis in a subject eye by allowing visual observation of only a papilla part. SOLUTION: An imaging element 7r generates a signal for indicating an eyeground image by illumination of infrared radiation indicated in a picture signal 7A. An image control means makes two picture signals from this picture signal 7A. One is the picture signal 7B of brightening only the papilla part, and blackening the other part, and this image is displayed on a liquid crystal display means. The other one is the picture signal 7C of darkening only the papilla part. These mages are synthesized with a picture signal 7D generated by an imaging element 7g, and is displayed on a television monitor 27 as a picture signal 7E. By this picture, a photographer observes only the papilla by visible light, and can observe a part other than that by infrared radiation. The photographer adjusts the focus to a desired position in the papilla by moving a focus lens by an operation means while looking at the picture of the papilla reflected in the television monitor 27.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ophthalmologic photographing apparatus used in an ophthalmology clinic or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art (1) Conventionally, since the index of the focus detection means is difficult to observe in the nipple when the nipple is photographed by a non-mydriasis fundus camera which photographs while observing the fundus with infrared light. , The image is taken while focusing on the rim of the teat.

(2) When fluorescence imaging is performed with this non-mydriasis fundus camera, the timing at which fluorescence appears is unknown, so fluorescence imaging is begun in advance at an appropriate time.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example (1), when the nipple is magnified and photographed, for example, the bottom of the nipple is to be focused, first, the rim of the nipple is focused. After that, you have to rely on your intuition to shift the focus by a certain amount, but it is difficult to focus because the amount of nipple depression varies greatly among individuals.

Further, in the conventional example (2), the timing of the appearance of the fluorescence is not known, and if the timing is taken appropriately to perform the photographing, the photographing is wasted, and the burden on the subject is large and the photographing efficiency is high. There is a problem that

The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems,
An object of the present invention is to provide an ophthalmologic photographing device capable of accurately photographing the nipple.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To achieve the above object, an ophthalmologic imaging apparatus according to the present invention comprises a fundus illuminating means for illuminating the fundus of the eye to be inspected with infrared light, and a nipple for detecting the position of the nipple of the fundus of the eye to be inspected. Position detecting means, visible light illuminating means for illuminating the nipple detected by the detecting means with visible light, and fundus observing means for observing the fundus image illuminated with the infrared light and the nipple image illuminated with visible light. It is characterized by having.

Further, the ophthalmologic image taking apparatus according to the present invention detects the fundus illuminating means for illuminating the fundus of the eye to be inspected with infrared light, the nipple position detecting means for detecting the nipple position of the fundus of the eye to be inspected, and the detecting means. A visible light illuminating means for illuminating the nipple with visible excitation light, and a fluorescence observation means for observing a fundus image illuminated with the infrared light and a fluorescent image of a nipple portion illuminated with visible excitation light. .

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described in detail based on the illustrated embodiments. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a fundus camera embodying the present invention. In front of the eye E to be inspected, the objective lens 1,
An image pickup mechanism including a perforated mirror 2, a photographing diaphragm 3 arranged in the hole of the perforated mirror 2, a focus lens 4, a photographing lens 5, a color separation prism 6, and image pickup devices 7r, 7g, and 7b is arranged.

For the fundus illumination system in the incident direction of the perforated mirror 2, the relay lens 8 from the side of the perforated mirror 2, the optical path branching member 9 which can be inserted into and removed from the optical path, and the infrared path which can be inserted into and removed from the optical path are cut. An infrared light cut filter 10, a diaphragm 11 having a ring-shaped aperture, a photographing light source 12 including a strobe tube, a condenser lens 13, and an observation light source 14 such as a halogen lamp that emits constant light are arranged.

In the incident direction of the optical path branching member 9, the lens 1
5, a liquid crystal display unit 16, a lens 17, and a nipple illumination system 19 including a visible light source 18 formed of an LED arranged substantially conjugate with the fundus of the eye are provided. The teat illumination system 19 is adapted to move in conjunction with the focus lens 4 so that the liquid crystal display means 16 is kept substantially conjugate with the image pickup devices 7r, 7b, 7g. The visible light source 18 is arranged substantially eccentrically from the optical axis and substantially eccentric with the pupil of the eye to be inspected, but since it is projected to infinity by the lens 15, even if the entire nipple illumination system moves,
The conjugate relationship with the pupil does not change.

The respective outputs of the image pickup devices 7r, 7g, 7b are connected to the image boards 21r, 21g, 21b via the signal amplification circuits 20r, 20g, 20b. Image boards 21r, 21g and 21b are A / D for red, green and blue signals.
Converters 22r, 22g, 22b, memories 23r, 23
g, 23b, and image boards 21r, 21g, 2
The output of 1b is connected to the image control means 24.

The image control means 24 is connected to the control means 25, the image recording means 26, the television monitor 27, and the liquid crystal display means 16. The image recording means 26 is MO, MD, DVD-RA.
It is a drive device that performs writing or reading to or from a recording medium D capable of storing and holding, even if power is not supplied from the outside such as M, VTR tape, and hard disk.

The control means 25 is connected to the photographing light source 12 via the photographing switch 29 and the strobe light emission control circuit 30. A memory 25a is provided in the control means 25, and a condenser 3 for controlling the amount of emitted light is provided in the strobe light emission control circuit 30.
0a is provided.

When the nipple of the eye E to be examined is focused and photographed using this fundus camera, the photographer sits the subject in front of the fundus camera, and first the fundus Er of the eye E to be examined is infrared. The eye E to be inspected and the fundus camera are aligned while observing with light. In this observation state, the infrared light cut filter 10 is separated from the optical path, and the optical path branching member 9 is arranged in the optical path.

The infrared light emitted from the observation light source 14 is condensed by the condenser lens 13, and the photographing light source 12 and diaphragm 11 are used.
Through the aperture of the optical path branching member 9 and the lens 8 and is reflected to the left by the mirror portion around the perforated mirror 2.
The fundus Er is illuminated through the objective lens 1 and the pupil Ep.
In this way, the image of the fundus Er which is illuminated with infrared light passes through the objective lens 1, the photographing diaphragm 3, the focus lens 4, and the photographing lens 5 again and enters the color separation prism 6. The color separation prism 6 guides infrared light and red light to the image pickup element 7r, blue light to the image pickup element 7b, and green light to the image pickup element 7g, but since the observation light is infrared light, it is coupled to the image pickup element 7r. Imaged and converted to electrical signals. This signal passes through the signal amplifying means 20r, is amplified by an amplification factor predetermined for observation, is input to the image control means 24, and is displayed on the television monitor 27.
At the same time, the image control means 24 generates a video signal showing only the position of the teat from this image.

The papilla is generally the brightest part of the fundus image. Therefore, as shown in FIG.
Select the maximum value from the video signal 7A generated in
For example, binarization is performed with 70% of the maximum value Dmax.
This may be performed by processing the video signal as it is as an analog signal, or by once converting it into a digital signal and performing arithmetic processing. That is, in the image data Dij, Dmax * 0.7
The above values are set to the maximum value of 256, and Dmax * 0.
The portion of 7 or less is set to 0, which corresponds to a pitch dark signal, and the video signal 7B is formed again. This video signal is input to the liquid crystal display means 16 and transmits only the light of the portion corresponding to the teat. Further, the lens 15 is designed so as to be projected on the fundus Er of the eye E to be inspected in the same size as the image pickup device 7.

The fundus image displayed on the liquid crystal display means 16 is
Since the size of the fundus Er on the fundus of the eye matches the actual size of the fundus Er, the binarized image showing the papilla corresponds to the actual papilla part, and the liquid crystal display means 16 should be illuminated from behind with visible light. Thereby, only the nipple portion of the fundus Er can be illuminated with visible light.

For example, visible light having a wavelength of 570 nm emitted from the light source 18 passes through the lens 17, illuminates the liquid crystal display means 16, passes through a transparent portion corresponding to the nipple of the liquid crystal display means 16, and passes through the lens 15. It is reflected upward by the optical path branching member 9 and passes through the lens 8, and is reflected leftward by the perforated mirror 2 and passes through the objective lens 1 to illuminate the papilla of the fundus Er from the decentered region of the pupil Ep. Normally, when the fundus Er is irradiated with visible light, the subject feels glare and has miosis, but the papilla is a part called a blind spot and does not feel light.
Even when illuminated with visible light in this way, there is no glare or miosis.

The visible image of the nipple thus illuminated is:
The light passes through the same optical path as the fundus image, enters the color separation prism 6, forms an image on the image sensor 7g, and is converted into a video signal. This video signal is combined with the fundus image by infrared light in the image control means 24 and displayed on the television monitor 27.

Next, a method of generating an image displayed on the television monitor 27 will be described. FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of this processing, in which the image pickup device 7r generates a signal indicating a fundus image of illumination by infrared light as shown in the video signal 7A. The image control means 24 creates two video signals from this video signal 7A.
One is a video signal 7B in which only the nipple portion is brightened and the other portions are blackened, and this image is displayed on the liquid crystal display means 16 as described above. The other one is a video signal 7C in which only the nipple portion is darkened. This image is combined with the video signal 7D generated by the image sensor 7g and displayed on the television monitor 27 as a video signal 7E.

With this image, the photographer can observe only the nipple with visible light and the other portion with infrared light. Therefore, the photographer uses the operation means (not shown) while watching the image of the teat reflected on the TV monitor 27.
By moving the focus lens 4, it is possible to focus on a desired position in the nipple.

Upon detecting the input from the photographing switch 29, the control means 25 inserts the infrared light cut filter 10 into the optical path, removes the optical path branching member 9 from the optical path, and causes the strobe emission control circuit 30 to operate the condenser 30a. The electric charge is discharged and the photographing light source 12 emits light. The light emitted from the photographing light source 12 passes through the aperture of the diaphragm 11, only the visible light is transmitted by the infrared light cut filter 10, passes through the relay lens 8, and is reflected to the left by the mirror portion around the perforated mirror 2. The fundus Er is illuminated through the objective lens 1 and the pupil Ep.

The image of the fundus Er thus illuminated passes through the objective lens 1, the photographic diaphragm 3, the focus lens 4 and the photographic lens 5 again, enters the color separation prism 6, and is separated into each color, and the image pickup device 7r. , 7g, 7b, and converted into electric signals. This signal is transmitted to the signal amplification means 20r, 2
Amplified at a predetermined amplification rate through 0g, 20b,
It is input to the image control means 24, recorded on the recording medium D, and displayed on the television monitor 27.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the case of fluorescence imaging. The infrared light cut filter 10 of FIG. 1 is replaced with a fluorescence excitation filter 31 which transmits fluorescence excitation light and infrared light, and a visible light source 18 is used. Instead of the LED light source 32 that emits light having a fluorescence excitation wavelength of about 488 nm. Further, the fluorescent filter 33 is inserted between the taking lens 5 and the color separation filter 6. LED light source 32, liquid crystal display means 16, lens 15
Constitutes a fluorescence excitation light papilla illumination system 19 '.

As in the case of color photography, the photographer sits the subject in front of the fundus camera and first observes the fundus Er with infrared light while aligning the eye E with the fundus camera. . In this observation state, the optical path branching member 9 is arranged in the optical path.

The infrared light emitted from the observation light source 14 is condensed by the condenser lens 13, and the photographing light source 12 and the diaphragm 11 are used.
Through the infrared light transmission band of the fluorescence excitation filter 31, the optical path branching member 9 and the lens 8, and is reflected to the left by the mirror portion around the perforated mirror 2, and the objective lens 1 and the pupil. The fundus Er is illuminated through Ep. The image of the fundus Er that is illuminated with infrared light in this way passes through the objective lens 1, the photographing diaphragm 3, the focus lens 4, and the photographing lens 5 again, enters the color separation prism 6, and is imaged on the image sensor 7r. It is converted into an electric signal.

This signal passes through the signal amplifying means 20r, is amplified at a predetermined amplification factor for observation, is input to the image controlling means 24, and is displayed on the television monitor 27. At the same time, the image control means 24 produces a video signal showing only the position of the nipple in the same manner as that for this image.

Therefore, since the fundus image displayed on the liquid crystal display means 16 matches the actual size of the fundus at the fundus, the binarized image showing the papilla corresponds to the actual papilla part. Then, by illuminating the liquid crystal display means 16 from behind with fluorescent excitation light, only the papilla of the fundus Er can be illuminated with excitation light.

For example, 488n emitting the LED light source 32
The visible light of wavelength m passes through the lens 17 and the liquid crystal display means 1
6 of the liquid crystal display device 16 is transmitted through a transparent portion corresponding to the nipple portion, passes through the lens 15, is reflected upward by the optical path branching member 9, passes through the relay lens 8, and the perforated mirror 2
Is reflected to the left by and passes through the objective lens 1 to illuminate the papilla of the fundus Er from the decentered region of the pupil Ep. The image of the papilla illuminated with the excitation light in this way cannot be observed because it is blocked by the fluorescence filter 33.

However, when the fluorescent agent is intravenously injected into the subject in such a state and the fluorescent agent reaches the artery near the papilla,
When excited by excitation light, it emits fluorescence. This fluorescence passes through the same optical path as the fundus image and is incident on the color separation prism 6 and enters the image pickup device 7
The image is formed on g and converted into a video signal. This video signal is combined with the fundus image by infrared light by the image control means 24 as in the previous embodiment and displayed on the television monitor 27. This allows the photographer to observe only the nipple portion with fluorescence and the other portions with infrared light. Therefore, the photographer detects the appearance of the fluorescent image by confirming the fluorescent image of the nipple on the television monitor 27, and operates the photographing switch 29 to perform fluorescent photographing.

The control means 25, which has detected the input from the photographing switch 29, causes the strobe light emission control circuit 30 to discharge the electric charge of the capacitor 30a and cause the photographing light source 12 to emit light.
The light flux emitted from the photographing light source 12 passes through the aperture of the diaphragm 11,
Only the excitation light and the infrared light are transmitted by the fluorescence excitation filter 31, pass through the optical path branching member 9 and the lens 8, and the perforated mirror 2
The light is reflected to the left by the mirror portion around the eye and illuminates the fundus Er through the objective lens 1 and the pupil Ep.

The fundus Er thus illuminated with the excitation light emits fluorescence, and the fluorescence image passes through the objective lens 1, the photographing diaphragm 3, the focus lens 4, and the photographing lens 5 again, and only the fluorescence is filtered by the fluorescence filter 33. The light is transmitted, enters the color separation prism 6, forms an image on the image sensor 7g, and is converted into an electric signal. This signal passes through the signal amplification means 20g and is amplified at a predetermined amplification factor for fluorescence imaging, and the image control means 2
4 and is recorded on the recording medium D.
Is displayed in. Since all the infrared reflection components of the fundus Er are guided to the image sensor 7r, only the fluorescent image is formed on the image sensor 7g.

Although the position of the teat is detected from the observed image in the above embodiment, the position of the teat may be detected by the position of the fixation lamp. The positional relationship between the macula, which is the position of the fixation lamp projection, and the papilla is exactly the same, although it varies from person to person due to individual differences. Therefore, the left and right of the eye to be inspected may be detected, the nipple position may be calculated from the projection position of the fixation lamp, and the nipple may be illuminated. By doing so, it is not necessary to perform image calculation such as image processing, so that the configuration is simplified and the cost is reduced.

Further, in order to prevent the nipple position from being mistaken due to the mixture of flare, ghost, etc. and the visible light from being irradiated to the sensitive part of the eye E, a means for detecting a known pupil diameter is provided. When the diameter becomes smaller than a certain value, it is preferable to turn off the visible light source 18 or the LED light source 32. By doing so, the time during which the subject feels glare is minimized, and the subject's eye E re-diverges in a short period of time, so that imaging can be continued.

[0036]

As described above, since the ophthalmologic photographing apparatus according to the present invention can illuminate and observe only the inside of the nipple with visible light, it can be applied to any nipple without burdening the subject. Since the focus of the region can be confirmed and the image can be taken, the efficiency of imaging and the accuracy of diagnosis can be improved.

Since only the papilla where fluorescence appears earliest can be photographed while illuminating with excitation light and observing fluorescence, it is possible to accurately grasp the timing of appearance of fluorescence without burdening the subject. Therefore, the efficiency of imaging and the accuracy of diagnosis can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a fundus camera according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of video signal processing.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a fundus camera according to a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols] 1 Objective lens 2 perforated mirror 3 Shooting aperture 4 focus lens 5 shooting lens 6-color split prism 7 Image sensor 9 Optical path branching member 10 Infrared light cut filter 11 Ring aperture stop 12 Shooting light source 14 Observation light source 16 Liquid crystal display means 18 visible light source 19, 19 'Nipple illumination system 20 amplifier circuit 21 image board 22 A / D converter 23 memory 24 Image control means 25 Control means 26 Image recording means 27 TV monitor 29 Shooting switch 30 Flash control circuit 31 Fluorescence excitation filter 32 LED light source 33 Fluorescent filter

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A fundus illuminating means for illuminating the fundus of the eye to be inspected with infrared light, a nipple position detecting means for detecting a nipple position of the fundus of the eye to be inspected, and a visible light for illuminating the nipple detected by the detecting means with visible light. An ophthalmologic photographing apparatus comprising: an illuminating unit and a fundus observing unit for observing the fundus image illuminated with the infrared light and the papilla image illuminated with visible light. 2. A fundus illuminating means for illuminating the fundus of the eye to be inspected with infrared light, a nipple position detecting means for detecting the nipple position of the fundus of the eye to be inspected, and a visible light for illuminating the nipple detected by the detecting means with visible excitation light. An ophthalmologic photographing apparatus comprising: a light illuminating unit; and a fluorescence observing unit for observing a fundus image illuminated with the infrared light and a fluorescence image of a papilla portion illuminated with visible excitation light.