JP2008272258A - Contactless ophthalmotonometer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a contactless ophthalmotonometer capable of reducing unnecessary contact noises. <P>SOLUTION: In the contactless ophthalmotonometer, gas in a cylinder is compressed by a piston, the compressed gas is blown against an object's eye cornea, and intraocular pressures is measured by detecting a deformation state of the cornea. The contactless ophthalmotonometer is provided with: a piston having a gas passage linked to the air compression chamber and a gas release chamber in the cylinder; a rod which is connected to the piston so that it can move in an axial direction on the gas passage and has a drive valve for opening/closing the gas passage at its tip; an energizing means for energizing the drive valve and the piston in the direction in which the gas passage is closed; and a driving means which is driven by supply of drive current and moves the piston by moving the rod in the direction in which the gas in the cylinder is compressed. When the rod is driven at an initial position or in the direction in which the gas is compressed, it is in a state that the gas passage is closed by the drive valve; when the rod returns to the initial position, the gas passage is open. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a non-contact tonometer that measures the intraocular pressure of a subject's eye in a non-contact manner.

  When the piston returns to its initial position after detecting the deformed state of the cornea in a non-contact tonometer that measures the intraocular pressure by detecting the deformed state of the cornea by compressing the gas in the cylinder with the piston and spraying it on the eye cornea There is a problem that tears, dust, wrinkles, etc. of the eye to be inspected enter the inside of the apparatus due to sudden air suction.

As a configuration for solving such a problem, a piston rod for transmitting a driving force from a solenoid for driving the piston is provided so as to be movable with respect to the piston, and the piston is closed at the time of gas pressurization by the movement of the piston rod. A non-contact tonometer having a configuration in which a gas passage that is opened when returning to the piston is formed in a piston has been proposed (see Patent Document 1).
JP-A-9-31448

  By the way, in the case where the piston is movable with respect to the piston rod as in Patent Document 1, at the time of starting the movement of the piston or after the end of gas compression, The contact sound is generated by the collision. For example, generation of a contact sound at the start of piston movement may surprise the subject before starting the pressurizing operation, and may affect intraocular pressure measurement.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a non-contact tonometer that can reduce unnecessary contact sound.

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

(1) In a non-contact tonometer that measures the intraocular pressure by compressing the gas in the cylinder with a piston, blowing the compressed gas onto the eye cornea to be examined, and detecting the deformation state of the cornea,
A piston having therein a gas passage communicating with an air compression chamber and a gas release chamber formed in the cylinder, and a piston rod connected to the piston so as to be movable in the axial direction on the gas passage; , A piston rod having a drive valve for opening and closing the gas passage at its tip, and a biasing means for biasing the drive valve and the piston in a direction in which the gas passage is closed,
Driving means for moving the piston by driving the piston rod in a direction to compress the gas in the cylinder by supplying a driving current, and the piston rod in the direction to compress the initial position and gas. The gas passage is closed by the driving valve when the valve is driven, and the gas passage is opened when the piston rod returns to the initial position.
(2) In the non-contact tonometer of (1), the piston has a drive chamber for holding the drive valve movably in the axial direction of the cylinder, and a hole through which the piston rod is inserted. A drive valve presser that presses the drive valve in a state of being arranged in the drive chamber, and the biasing means is provided between an inner wall formed in the drive chamber and the drive valve presser It is characterized by that.
(3) In the non-contact tonometer of (2),
The biasing means is provided between an inner wall formed on the gas release chamber side of the drive chamber and the drive valve presser.
(4) In the non-contact tonometer that measures the intraocular pressure by compressing the gas in the cylinder by the piston, blowing the compressed gas onto the eye cornea to be examined, and detecting the deformation state of the cornea, the driving force of the driving means A piston rod having a tip connected to the piston, and a piston rod for holding the connecting portion movably in the axial direction of the cylinder. A piston having a drive chamber; and a biasing means for biasing the connecting portion and the piston in a direction in which a space formed between the side wall formed on the gas compression chamber side of the driving chamber and the connecting portion is closed. A non-contact tonometer, comprising:

  According to the present invention, unnecessary contact noise can be reduced.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a side schematic configuration and control system of an air compression mechanism for delivering fluid pressure in the non-contact tonometer of the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a diagram of an optical system in the vicinity of a nozzle as viewed from above. is there.

  Reference numeral 1 denotes a cylinder portion for air compression, and reference numeral 2 denotes a piston, which are used as an air compression mechanism for compressing air ejected to the eye to be examined. Reference numeral 3 denotes a rotary solenoid. When a drive current is applied, the rotary solenoid 3 moves the piston 2 in the compression direction (arrow A direction) via the arm 4 and the connecting rod (piston rod) 5. The air compressed in the air compression chamber 34 in the cylinder portion 1 by the movement of the piston 2 is passed through a tube 70 (which may be a pipe) connected to the tip of the cylinder 1 and an airtight chamber 71 for storing the compressed air. Then, it is ejected from the nozzle 6 toward the cornea of the eye 7 to be examined.

  The rotary solenoid 3 is provided with a coil spring (not shown). When the applied current is cut or reduced, the biasing force in the return direction of the coil spring moves the piston 2 moved in the compression direction in the return direction. And returned to the initial position. In the present embodiment, the piston 2 has a gas passage communicating with an air compression chamber and a gas release chamber formed in the cylinder 1 (details will be described later). Further, in the present embodiment, since the air compression mechanism is arranged above the axis of the nozzle 6, there is little possibility that tears or the like are sucked into the cylinder 1.

  A transparent glass plate 8 holds the nozzle 6 and transmits observation light and alignment light. The glass plate 8 is used as a side wall of the hermetic chamber 71. Reference numeral 9 denotes a transparent glass plate provided on the back surface of the nozzle 6, which constitutes the rear wall of the hermetic chamber 71 and transmits observation light and alignment light. An observation / alignment optical system 11 is disposed behind the glass plate 9, but the description thereof is omitted because it is not related to the present invention.

  12 is a pressure sensor for detecting the pressure in the airtight chamber 71, and 13 is an air vent hole. The resistance until the initial speed is applied to the piston 2 is reduced by the air vent hole 13, and a rising pressure change proportional to time can be obtained.

  Reference numeral 14 denotes an infrared LED (see FIG. 2) for detecting a corneal applanation. Light emitted from the LED 14 is collimated by a collimator lens 15 and projected onto the cornea of the eye to be examined. The light reflected by the cornea passes through the light receiving lens 16 and the pinhole plate 17 and is received by the photodetector 18. The corneal applanation detection optical system is arranged so that the amount of light received by the photodetector 18 is maximized when the eye to be examined is in a predetermined applanation state.

  Returning to the description of FIG. 20 is a control circuit, 21 is a pressure detection processing circuit that performs signal processing from the pressure sensor 12, 22 is a signal detection processing circuit that performs signal processing from the photodetector 18, and 23 is a drive circuit for driving the rotary solenoid 3. It is.

  3A and 3B are schematic cross-sectional views illustrating a specific configuration of the piston 2 having a gas passage. FIG. 3A shows a state when the gas passage is closed, and FIG. 3B shows a state when the gas passage is opened. . In FIG. 3, reference numeral 31 denotes a drive valve having a substantially spherical surface formed at the front end position of the connecting rod 5 on the piston side. The drive valve 31 serves as a valve for opening and closing the gas passage 50, and the piston 2 and the rod 5. It has a role as a rod side connection part for connecting. On the other hand, the piston 2 has a drive chamber 32 a that holds the drive valve 31 movably in the axial direction of the cylinder 1, and a cylindrical piston side connecting portion 32 that connects the tip of the rod 5 and the piston 2 is provided in the piston 2. It is being fixed by the compression chamber side wall 2a. As a result, the rod 5 is connected to the piston 2 so as to be movable in the axial direction on the gas passage 50. A spherical bearing 40 is formed on the inner wall of the drive chamber 32a on the side of the compression chamber 34. The spherical bearing portion 40 is formed in a shape matching the substantially spherical surface of the drive valve 31.

  The connecting portion 32 has a through hole 50a formed in the center of the driving chamber 32a on the compression chamber 34 side and connected to the air compression chamber 34, and a transparent hole formed in the center of the driving chamber 32a on the opening chamber 35 side and connected to the atmosphere opening chamber 35. And a hole 50b. Here, the through hole 50 a, the drive chamber 32 a, and the through hole 50 b are in communication with each other, and are used as a gas passage (vent hole) 50 that connects the air compression chamber 34 and the atmosphere release chamber 35. The through hole 50b also serves as a hole through which the rod 5 is inserted.

  Inside the drive chamber 32a, a hole 33a through which the rod 5 is inserted is formed to urge the drive valve 31 and the piston 2 in the direction in which the gas passage 50 is closed, and a disc-like drive valve presser 33 that holds the drive valve 31. A compression spring 60 used as an urging member (for example, a rubber as well as a spring as shown in FIG. 3) is disposed, and the inner wall of the drive chamber 32 a on the open chamber 35 side and the drive valve presser 33 are arranged. The compression spring 60 is interposed therebetween. A spherical bearing 41 is formed on the side of the drive valve 31 of the drive valve presser 33 so as to match the substantially spherical surface of the drive valve 31. The spherical bearing 40 and the spherical bearing 41 described above are driven. The rod 5 is rotatably supported with the ball center of the valve 31 as the center of rotation. In this case, the coupling spring 32 is constantly urged toward the open chamber 35 with respect to the drive valve 31 by the compression spring 60, and the drive valve 31 and the bearing portion 40 are fitted. In the present embodiment, a conical spring is used as the compression spring, and the thickness of the spring when compressed can be reduced, so that the drive chamber 32a can be reduced in size.

  In this case, after the piston 2 is moved in the compression direction (after the drive current supplied to the solenoid 3 is temporarily stopped), the piston 2 and the piston rod 5 are relatively opposed to the biasing force of the biasing member 60. The gas passage 50 is configured to be opened by being moved to (see FIG. 3B). On the other hand, the gas passage is closed by the urging force of the urging member 60 from the standby state before the start of measurement and from the start of driving of the solenoid 3 to the above-mentioned temporary stop of driving (FIG. 3A). reference).

  The operation of the non-contact tonometer having the above configuration will be described below.

  The examiner places the eye 7 to be examined at a predetermined position and operates a joystick (not shown) to perform alignment adjustment. When the alignment is completed, the examiner presses the measurement start switch (or the control circuit 20 automatically issues a measurement start signal based on the signal from the alignment optical system) and starts measurement. When the measurement start signal is input, the control circuit 20 applies current (voltage) as operable drive energy to the rotary solenoid 3 via the drive circuit 23 to drive it.

  4A is a diagram showing changes in the detected pressure Pn by the pressure sensor 12 and the received light quantity Qn of the photodetector 18 in time series, and FIG. 4B is a diagram for supplying current to the rotary solenoid 3. It is the figure which showed the change of the voltage V in time series.

  When a trigger signal for starting measurement is issued, the control circuit 20 applies a drive current to the rotary solenoid 3 via the drive circuit 23 to operate (drive) the rod 5. Here, since the drive valve 31 moves the piston 2 while closing the through hole 50a with its substantially spherical surface, the air in the air compression chamber 34 is compressed, and the compressed air is blown onto the cornea of the eye to be examined. In addition, since the drive valve 31 and the bearing portion 40 are in a fitted (contacted) state by the compression spring 60 at the start of the movement of the piston, the drive valve 31 moved in the compression direction comes into contact with the bearing portion 40. Generation of contact sound can be suppressed.

  The cornea of the eye 7 to be examined is gradually deformed by the blown compressed air. Reflected light from the cornea of light projected from the LED 14 enters the photodetector 18, and the deformed state of the cornea is detected by the photodetector 18.

  When the signal detection processing circuit 22 detects that the amount of received light indicates a predetermined peak from the signal from the light detector 18, that is, when it detects that a predetermined applanation state is obtained, the control circuit 20 Obtains intraocular pressure based on this detection signal.

  When the control circuit 20 detects that the eye to be examined has entered a predetermined applanation state, or when a predetermined time has elapsed (or a predetermined pressure is obtained) from the start of measurement by time monitoring, the rotary solenoid Stop the current supply to 3. The piston 2 is moved in the compression direction by inertia force even after the current to the rotary solenoid 3 is stopped, but the urging force in the return direction (direction toward the initial position) by the coil spring acts on the rod 5. In this case, the speed of the piston 2 is attenuated by the biasing force of the coil spring, temporarily stops, and then moved in the return direction.

At this time, the load in the direction in which the spring is contracted is applied to the compression spring 60 from the inner wall 37 on the open chamber 35 side of the drive chamber 32 a by the inertia force in the compression direction, and resists the biasing force of the compression spring 60. When the compression spring 60 is contracted, the through hole 50a is opened. As a result, the open chamber 35 and the compression chamber 34 are in communication with each other via the drive chamber 32 a, and the air in the air compression chamber 34 flows into the atmosphere release chamber 35. When the gas passage 50 is opened by the inertial force as described above, the inertial force is F1 ′, the urging force (elastic force) of the compression spring is K ₁ x (K: spring constant, x is the amount of contraction), and the cylinder 1 When the frictional force between the piston 2 and the piston 2 is μ′F1 ′, the mechanical relationship is F1 ′ = K ₁ x + μ′F1 ′. Therefore, since K ₁ x = F1′−μ′F1 ′ (Equation 1) holds, the spring constant K ₁ that can compress the compression spring 60 by a predetermined amount Δx by the inertial force F1 ′ using (Equation 1). Select a spring with

Further, when the rod 5 is returned to the initial position side, a load in the direction in which the spring is contracted from the drive valve 31 to the compression spring 60 is applied via the drive chamber presser 33, and the urging force of the compression spring 60 is applied. When the compression spring 60 is contracted against this, the through hole 50 a is opened, and the air in the air compression chamber 34 flows into the gas release chamber 35. That is, when the drive valve 31 is moved in the return direction of the piston 2 after the compression of the compression chamber 34 by the drive of the solenoid 3, the compression spring 60 is compressed via the drive valve retainer 33, and the bearing 41 and the drive valve are compressed. A space through which air passes is generated between the gas passage 50 and the gas passage 50 is opened. When the gas passage 50 is opened by the biasing force of the coil spring provided in the solenoid 3 as described above, the biasing force of the coil spring is F2 ′, and the biasing force (elastic force) of the compression spring is K ₂ x (K: spring Constant, x is the amount of contraction), and the frictional force between the cylinder 1 and the piston 2 is μ′F2 ′, the mechanical relationship is F2 ′ = K ₂ x + μ′F2 ′. Therefore, since K ₂ x = F2′−μ′F2 ′ (Equation 1) holds, the spring constant K ₂ that can compress the compression spring 60 by the predetermined contraction amount Δx by the inertial force F2 ′ using (Equation 1). Select a spring with

  Thereby, the inflow of air from the nozzle 6 is suppressed, and suction of tears, dust, eyelashes and the like is suppressed. Further, by using the compression spring 60 as described above, it is possible to suppress the contact noise between the open chamber 35 side hemispherical surface of the drive valve 31 and the open chamber side inner wall (bearing portion 40) of the drive chamber 32a. Thereafter, when the piston 2 is returned to the initial position and the urging force by the coil spring disappears, the driving valve 31 returns to the state where the through hole 50a is closed by the urging force of the compression spring 60.

  As described above, when the piston rod 5 is driven in the initial position and in the direction of compressing the gas, the gas passage 50 is closed by the drive valve 31, and when the piston rod 5 returns to the initial position. If the configuration is such that the gas passage 50 is opened, suction of tears and the like from the nozzle 6 can be suppressed by opening the gas passage 50, and the relative relationship between the piston 2 and the rod 5 in the axial direction can be suppressed. Touch noise associated with general movement can be suppressed. Therefore, since the measurement sound due to the driving of the device at the time of measuring intraocular pressure can be reduced, the measurement can be performed without giving anxiety to the subject.

  In addition, once the supply of the drive current to the solenoid 3 is stopped, a weak current is applied to the solenoid 3 when the piston 2 returns to the initial position, whereby the return speed of the piston is reduced and the measurement sound is reduced. A method for reducing suction is proposed by the present applicant (for details, see JP-A-9-31448, etc.), but by combining this method with the configuration of this embodiment, the measurement sound can be further reduced. Can do. In this case, the weak current may be increased in time series.

  In the above configuration, the compression spring 60 is disposed between the inner wall 37 on the open chamber 35 side of the drive chamber 32a and the drive valve presser 33. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the compression of the drive chamber 32a is not limited thereto. A configuration in which a tension spring is disposed between the chamber-side inner wall 38 and the drive valve presser 33 may be adopted. In this case, both ends of the tension spring may be fixed to the inner wall 38 on the compression chamber 34 side of the drive chamber 32a and the drive valve presser 33, respectively.

  Further, as described above, the driving chamber 32a is provided to hold the connecting portion 31 (in the above description, the driving valve) formed at the tip of the rod 5 and connected to the piston 2 so as to be movable in the axial direction of the cylinder 1. A biasing force that biases the connecting portion 31 and the piston 2 in a direction in which a space formed between the piston and the inner wall (bearing 40) formed on the gas compression chamber 34 side of the driving chamber 32a and the connecting portion 31 is closed. By providing the member 60, it is possible to simultaneously stabilize the air pressure injected to the eye to be examined and to mute the sound. In this case, when the rod 5 is moved by driving the solenoid 3 with respect to the urging member 60, the rod 5 is smoothly rotated with respect to the piston 2, and the connecting portion 32 between the tip of the rod 5 and the piston 2. What is necessary is just to select suitably the member which has the urging | biasing force of the grade with which a fitting state is maintained.

  In this way, when the rod 5 is moved by the drive of the solenoid 3, the frictional force between the drive valve 31 of the rod 5 and the bearing portions 40, 41 of the piston 2 is appropriately maintained. In contrast, the rod 5 is smoothly rotated, and the injection pressure is stabilized. Further, at that time, since the drive valve 31 and the bearing portions 40 and 41 are fitted (contacted) by the biasing member 60, generation of unnecessary contact noise can be suppressed.

  In the above description, the cylinder 1 is arranged parallel to the horizontal line of the tonometer body. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the cylinder 1 is inclined with respect to the horizontal line of the tonometer body. The present invention can be applied even with a configuration provided as described above.

It is a figure which shows the side schematic structure and control system of the air compression mechanism which create a fluid pressure in the non-contact type tonometer of this embodiment. It is the figure which looked at the optical system near a nozzle from the upper part. It is a schematic sectional drawing explaining the specific structure of a piston with a gas passage. (A) is the figure which showed the change of the detection pressure Pn by a pressure sensor, and the light reception amount Qn of a photodetector in time series, (b) is the time change of the voltage V which supplies an electric current to a rotary solenoid. It is the figure shown in series.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cylinder part 2 Piston 3 Rotary solenoid 5 Piston rod 12 Pressure sensor 14 Infrared LED
18 Photodetector 20 Control circuit 50 Gas passage 31 Drive valve 32a Drive chamber 33 Drive valve retainer 34 Air compression chamber 35 Gas release chamber 60 Compression spring

Claims (4)

In a non-contact tonometer that measures the intraocular pressure by compressing the gas in the cylinder with a piston, blowing the compressed gas onto the eye cornea to be examined, and detecting the deformation state of the cornea,
A piston having therein a gas passage communicating with an air compression chamber and a gas release chamber formed in the cylinder;
A piston rod connected to the piston so as to be movable in the axial direction on the gas passage, and a piston rod having a drive valve for opening and closing the gas passage at its tip;
Biasing means for biasing the drive valve and the piston in a direction in which the gas passage is closed;
Driving means for moving the piston by driving the piston rod in a direction to compress the gas in the cylinder driven by supplying a driving current;
With
When the piston rod is driven in the initial position and in the direction of compressing the gas, the gas passage is blocked by the drive valve, and when the piston rod returns to the initial position, the gas passage is opened. A non-contact tonometer, characterized by: 2. The non-contact tonometer according to claim 1, wherein the piston has a drive chamber for holding the drive valve movably in the axial direction of the cylinder, and a hole through which the piston rod is inserted. A drive valve presser that presses the drive valve in a state of being disposed therein, and the urging means is provided between an inner wall formed in the drive chamber and the drive valve presser. Non-contact tonometer. The non-contact tonometer according to claim 2,
The non-contact tonometer is characterized in that the urging means is provided between an inner wall formed on the gas release chamber side of the drive chamber and the drive valve presser. In a non-contact tonometer that measures the intraocular pressure by compressing the gas in the cylinder with a piston, blowing the compressed gas onto the eye cornea to be examined, and detecting the deformation state of the cornea,
A piston rod for transmitting the driving force of the driving means to the piston, and a piston rod having a connecting portion connected to the piston formed at a tip thereof;
A piston having a drive chamber for holding the connecting portion movably in the axial direction of the cylinder;
Urging means for urging the connecting portion and the piston in a direction in which a space formed between a side wall formed on the gas compression chamber side of the driving chamber and the connecting portion is closed; Non-contact tonometer.

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