JP2017023507A - Ophthalmologic apparatus and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce photographing failure due to an incorrect operation of an alignment operation member in photographing.SOLUTION: An ophthalmologic apparatus comprises: an eye examination part for acquiring information of an eye to be examined; an alignment operation member for receiving an instruction of alignment of the eye examination part with respect to the eye to be examined; a movable part for moving the eye examination part according to the instruction which the alignment operation member has received; limitation means for limiting movement of the eye examination part by the movable part; alignment finish detection means for detecting finish of alignment of the eye examination part relative to the eye to be examined for acquiring information; and control means for controlling the limitation means so as to limit movement of the eye examination part by the movable part, according to detected finish of alignment.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an ophthalmic apparatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to an ophthalmologic apparatus that irradiates a subject eye with measurement light and obtains information from the subject eye and a control method thereof.

  As an example of an ophthalmologic apparatus that scans measurement light on an eye to be examined, an optical coherence tomography (OCT) optical coherence tomography (OCT) using multiwavelength lightwave interference is known. This optical coherence tomographic imaging apparatus is now becoming an indispensable apparatus in specialized retina outpatients as a device for ophthalmic medical care.

  Optical coherence tomography device irradiates measurement light, which is low-coherent light, to the subject's eye, and obtains a tomographic image of the subject's eye by analyzing the backscattered light from the subject's eye using the interference system Device. By performing measurement while scanning the measurement light on the fundus of the subject's eye, it is possible to capture fundus tomographic images at high resolution, so this optical coherence tomography device is widely used in ophthalmic diagnosis of the retina, etc. Has been.

  Here, an ophthalmologic apparatus such as an optical coherence tomography apparatus needs to align an optometric unit including an optical system for measurement or imaging at a predetermined position with respect to an eye to be examined. Such an optometry part is mounted on the fixed part via the movable part, and the movable part moves for alignment. The movable part includes a horizontal movement mechanism that can be moved in the horizontal (front / rear / left / right) direction by manual operation of the joystick by the examiner, and a vertical movement mechanism that can be moved in the vertical (up / down) direction by rotation operation of the joystick. Things are common.

  The alignment operation can be divided into fine movement alignment that performs adjustment by slightly moving the optometry unit in the front-rear and left-right directions, and coarse movement alignment that performs coarse adjustment of the position by largely moving the optometry unit such as switching between the left and right eyes. In order to realize fine alignment in fine movement alignment, it is desired to provide a mechanical movable portion having a sliding mechanism that allows manual alignment operation instead of automatic operation.

  In the optical coherence tomography apparatus, an imaging method for obtaining a plurality of tomographic images by repeatedly scanning measurement light in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction on the surface of the fundus oculi to be measured is generally used. For example, a plurality of fundus tomographic images of the same part can be acquired by scanning the same location on the fundus multiple times, and a single high-quality fundus tomographic image can be obtained by averaging these. It is also possible to obtain a three-dimensional image of the fundus by scanning a plurality of times while moving the scanning position in parallel. At this time, when such a plurality of scans are performed, a certain amount of time is required to complete all photographing. For this reason, there is a possibility that the subject's eye will move due to the slight movement of the fixation during photographing, and photographing may fail.

  On the other hand, Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2 disclose a method of correcting the scanning position according to the movement of the eye to be examined (fundus tracking).

JP 2014-147503 A JP 2006-212153 A

  Here, the movement amount of the optometry unit that can be handled by the tracking function in the conventional apparatus is about 4 mm at the maximum. Therefore, although it can cope with the deviation due to fixation fine movement, it cannot cope with an erroneous operation of the movable part having a large deviation amount.

  Here, in the case of at least a movable part in which the fine alignment is movable by the examiner's manual operation, in order to make the alignment range the entire region of the fundus of the eye to be examined, the movement stroke in the left-right direction of the optometry part needs to be 10 mm or more. . For this reason, when the joystick is accidentally touched during photographing, the optometry part moves, resulting in a larger displacement than the fixation fine movement.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ophthalmologic apparatus that reduces shooting failures even if the joystick is accidentally touched during shooting.

In order to solve the above problems, an ophthalmologic apparatus according to the present invention includes:
An optometry unit that obtains information about the eye to be examined;
An alignment operation member that receives an instruction of alignment of the optometry part with respect to the eye to be examined;
A movable unit that moves the optometry unit in response to an instruction received by the alignment operation member;
Limiting means for limiting movement of the optometry unit by the movable unit;
An alignment end detection means for detecting the end of alignment of the optometry unit with respect to the eye to be examined for acquiring the information;
Control means for controlling the restricting means so as to restrict movement of the optometric part by the movable part in accordance with the end of the detected alignment.

  According to the present invention, even if the alignment operation member is accidentally touched during imaging, the movement of the movable part is limited, so that the deviation between the eye to be examined and the optometry part is reduced. Thereby, the photography failure can be reduced.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an optical coherence tomography apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is an electric block diagram regarding the main structures of the optical coherence tomography apparatus which concerns on one Example of this invention. 3 is a flowchart regarding control for fixing a movable part in the optical coherence tomography apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The following embodiments do not limit the present invention related to the scope of claims, and all combinations of features described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the solution means of the present invention. Absent.

[Device configuration]
The details of an optical coherence tomographic imaging apparatus to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration of an optical coherence tomography apparatus for explaining an embodiment of the present invention. Here, as in the coordinate system shown in FIG. 1, the optical axis of the optometry unit that performs observation and imaging is the Z axis, the vertical direction is the Y axis, and the left and right direction (front-back direction in the drawing) is the X axis as viewed from the subject. Define.

  The optical coherence tomography apparatus shown in FIG. 1 mainly includes a fixed unit 1, an optometry unit 3, a movable unit 4, an alignment operation member 5, an imaging switch 6, and a movable unit fixing means 7. The fixed portion 1 is a base of the present optical coherence tomography apparatus, and a chin rest 2 that supports the subject's chin is placed thereon. The optometry unit 3 has an OCT optical system and is placed on the movable unit 4. The movable part 4 is supported by the fixed part 1, and supports the optometry part 3 so as to be movable in the three-axis directions of XYZ described above in order to align the optometry part 3 with the eye E to be examined.

  The alignment operation member 5 is disposed on the movable portion 4 and is manually operated by the examiner during the alignment operation. In the movable part 4, the movement in the XZ direction (horizontal direction) is performed by a sliding mechanism in which linear motion type cross roller guides (not shown) are connected so as to be orthogonal to each other. As a result, when the examiner tilts the alignment operation member 5, it becomes possible to perform fine fine alignment. More specifically, when the alignment operation member 5 is tilted, the spherical member arranged at the lower end moves the sliding plate receiving it by friction, and this movement promotes the above-described sliding. Further, regarding the movement in the Y direction (vertical direction), a driving mechanism (not shown) is used, and when the examiner rotates the alignment operation member 5, the optometry unit 3 moves in the vertical direction. That is, the alignment operation member 5 operates the movable portion 4 to align the optometry portion 3 with respect to the eye E.

  In this embodiment, the cross roller guide is described as a sliding mechanism, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a sliding mechanism that can move in the horizontal direction, such as a combination of a guide shaft and a linear bush, may be used. In this embodiment, the vertical movement mechanism is described as an electric vertical movement mechanism. However, the mechanism may be a mechanical vertical movement mechanism using a pulley gear and a pulley belt, for example. As described above, the movable unit 4 supports the optometry unit 3 and performs relative movement that changes the relative position of the optometry unit 3 with respect to the eye E.

  The photographing switch 6 is a two-stage electric switch in this embodiment, and is connected to a system control unit 100 (see FIG. 2) described later. When the examiner presses the second stage of the imaging switch 6, OCT imaging (optical tomographic imaging) is started.

  The movable part fixing means 7 fixes the movable part 4 to the fixed part 1. Thereby, the movement with respect to the fixing | fixed part 1 or the to-be-tested eye E of the optometry part 3 is restrict | limited. In the present embodiment, the movable portion fixing means 7 has a motor (not shown), and the fixed portion of the movable portion 4 is switched ON / OFF based on a signal from the system control portion 100 to instruct fixation.

[Control system]
FIG. 2 is an electrical block diagram of the main part related to the present invention in the optical coherence tomography apparatus shown in FIG. The system control unit 100 controls the optical coherence tomography apparatus shown in FIG. The system control unit 100 is connected to the first-stage sensor 6 a and second-stage sensor 6 b of the photographing switch 6, the movable part fixing switch 8, the movable part fixing means detection sensor S 1, and the power switch 101. The system control unit 100 receives signals from these and outputs various instructions to the movable unit fixing means 7.

  That is, the following operations are controlled by the system control unit 100. The power switch 101 is a switch for selecting the power state of the optical coherence tomography apparatus, and ON / OFF control of the optical coherence tomography apparatus is performed in accordance with an input from the power switch 101. The movable part fixing means detection sensor S <b> 1 detects the operation of the movable part fixing means 7 and outputs to the system control unit 100 whether or not the movable part 4 is fixed to the fixed part 1. The movable portion fixing means detection sensor S1 is not specifically limited as long as the state of the movable portion fixing means 7 can be detected. For example, a detection sensor using a photo interrupter can be used.

  The movable part fixing means 7 is controlled by the system control part 100 based on the output of the photographing switch first-stage sensor 6a, the output of the movable part fixing means detection sensor S1, and the output of the movable part fixing switch 8. Specifically, the fixed ON / OFF of the movable part 4 with respect to the fixed part 1 by the movable part fixing means 7 is switched according to these outputs. In this embodiment, the movement of the movable portion 4 is urged by the movement of the sliding plate by the alignment operation member 5. Therefore, the movable part fixing means 7 fixes the movable part 4 by pressing the friction member against the slip plate so that no slip occurs. Arrangement | positioning of a friction member is not specifically limited, It can arrange | position in arbitrary positions. Further, since the movement of the sliding plate is fixed, the interlocking operation member 5 such as a joystick to be interlocked is also fixed. In addition, the specific aspect of the movable part fixing means 7 is not limited to such a friction member, but is an aspect that restricts the movement of the movable part 4 by a pin or the like protruding from the fixed part 1 to the movable part 4. Also good. Moreover, when the alignment operation member 5 is comprised, for example with an electric joystick, it is good also as an aspect which the operation | movement of this electric joystick is invalidated by the movable part fixing means 7 programmatically.

[flowchart]
FIG. 3 is a flowchart regarding control for fixing the movable portion 4 of the optical coherence tomography apparatus shown in FIG. First, the control of the movable part fixing means 7 in the imaging sequence of the optical coherence tomography apparatus shown in FIG.

(S000) The control flow is started.
(S001) The system control unit 100 determines whether preparation for fixing the movable unit 4 is completed. The examiner manually operates the alignment operation member 5 and presses the first stage of the photographing switch 6 after the alignment is completed. When the first-stage sensor 6a detects this and outputs it to the system control unit 100, it is detected that the preparation for photographing has been completed. In other words, in this embodiment, the end of alignment is detected by an external instruction such as an operation of the photographing switch 6 that is an external switch. Thereby, the system control unit 100 determines that preparation for operating the movable unit fixing means 7 is completed, and advances the flow to (S002). The system control unit 100 stands by as being in alignment until the photographing switch 6 is pressed down to the first stage, and more specifically, until a signal is received from the first stage sensor 6a.

  (S002) The system control unit 100 turns the movable part fixing means 7 on. Thereby, even if the alignment operation member 5 is manually operated, the movable portion 4 does not move.

  (S003) The system control unit 100 determines whether shooting can be performed. Specifically, the system control unit 100 determines whether or not the second stage of the photographing switch 6 has been pressed. The second-stage sensor 6 b detects the depression of the second-stage surface of the photographing switch 6 and outputs this to the system control unit 100. By detecting the output, the system control unit 100 determines that shooting is possible and advances the flow to (S004). The system control unit 100 stands by until the photographing switch 6 is pushed down to the second stage and, in detail, until a signal from the second stage sensor 6b is received, the state in which photographing can be performed is not obtained.

  (S004) The system control unit 100 executes an operation of taking a tomographic image by OCT. After the end of shooting, the flow proceeds to (S005).

(S005) After the photographing is completed, the system control unit 100 turns the movable part fixing means 7 to the OFF state. Thereby, the movable part 4 can be moved by manual operation of the alignment operation member 5.
(S998) The photographing sequence is completed.

  By arranging the above-described configuration, even if the alignment operation member is accidentally touched during imaging, the movement of the movable portion is limited, so that the shift between the eye to be examined and the optometry portion is reduced. Thereby, the photography failure can be reduced.

  In the present embodiment, the movable portion fixing means 7 is turned on in response to obtaining a state where photographing can be performed. Here, the state in which imaging can be performed and the movement of the optometry unit 3 should be restricted can be considered as the end of alignment. That is, the system control unit 100 as a control unit causes the movable unit fixing unit 7 to fix the movable unit 4 in accordance with the end of alignment for preparation for photographing. In addition, the system control unit 100 includes a module area that detects that the alignment has been completed and photography can be performed as an alignment end detection unit. Regarding the end of alignment, for example, when the pupil center of the anterior segment coincides with the image center, when the bright spot image is used, the bright spot is aligned at a predetermined position, or when a split index is used. This may be detected when the indicators are aligned.

  Here, the movable part 4 is fixed to the fixed part 1 by various means, for example, during transportation of the apparatus. The movable part fixing means 7 described above can also be used as a fixing means used in such a case.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 3B, an operation for fixing the movable portion 4 of the optical coherence tomography apparatus according to the present embodiment to the fixing portion 1 at a time other than photographing will be described. That is, the control of the movable portion fixing switch 8 at the reference position of the movable portion 4 will be described instead of the control according to the depression of the photographing switch 6 described above. The movable part reference position described here is a reference position used when the movable part 4 is fixed, for example, when the apparatus is transported.

(S000) The control flow is started.
(S101) The system control unit 100 determines whether or not the movable part fixed switch 8 has been pressed. When the system control unit 100 detects that the movable unit fixed switch 8 is pressed, the flow proceeds to (S102). The system control unit 100 stands by until the movable unit fixed switch 8 is pressed.

  (S102) The system control unit 100 determines the state of the movable unit fixing means 7. If the movable part fixing means 7 is in an ON state, the flow proceeds to (S103), and if it is in an OFF state, the process proceeds to (S104).

  (S103) The system control unit 100 turns the movable part fixing means 7 to the OFF state, and the flow proceeds to (S999).

  (S104) The system control unit 100 turns on the movable unit fixing means 7, and the flow proceeds to (S999).

  (S999) The switching sequence of the ON / OFF state of the movable part fixing means 7 is completed.

  By making the above flow executable in the system control unit 100, the movable part fixing means 7 can be fixed when the apparatus is stopped or transported, for example. That is, the configuration for fixing the movable portion 4 can be simplified. As described above, the movable part fixing means 7 fixes the movable part 4 in accordance with an instruction from the outside exemplified by the movable part fixed switch 8 regardless of the completion of the photographing preparation operation, that is, the alignment for photographing. It may also serve as a fixing mechanism for fixing to the portion 1.

  In the present embodiment, the movable part 4 in the photographing sequence is fixed, and the movable part fixing mechanism that fixes the movable part 4 during transportation is also used. However, the present invention is not limited to this aspect. For example, a movable portion fixing mechanism may be provided separately from the movable portion fixing means 7, and the movable portion fixing mechanism may limit the movable portion position of the movable portion 4 and may be fixed by, for example, a knock type. Moreover, although the movable part fixing means 7 is made into the aspect which fixes the movable part 4, as this one aspect | mode of the restriction | limiting of the range of movement of a movable part, this restriction | limiting means which restrict | limits the movement of a movable part to this movable part fixing means 7 The movement of the movable part 4 may be limited during the photographing sequence. In this case, the limiting means limits the relative movement of the optometry unit 3 with respect to the eye E by limiting the movement of the movable unit 4 with respect to the fixed unit 1. As a manner of operating the movable portion 4, it is conceivable that the alignment operation member 5 is configured by, for example, an electric joystick and the above-described sliding mechanism is controlled by a step motor or the like controlled by the control portion. In this configuration, the movable unit 4 is driven by the step motor according to the tilt of the joystick. In this case, it is also included in one aspect of the present invention to limit the moving range of the movable portion 4 to be equal to or less than a predetermined allowable range by limiting the number of driving pulses.

  In addition, the imaging switch may be configured in one stage, and the movable part 4 may be fixed in accordance with the detection of the pressing of the imaging switch, and then the OCT imaging may be performed, and the fixed movable part may be released after the imaging is completed. That is, a mode in which the movable portion fixing means 7 restricts the movement of the movable portion 4 in response to detection of completion of photographing preparation related to alignment by an arbitrary detecting means, and the restriction is released in response to an instruction to end photographing. What should I do? Further, the photographing switch may be a two-stage system, and the first stage of the photographing switch may also serve as a switch for fixing the movable part.

(Other examples)
The present invention supplies a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or apparatus read and execute the program This process can be realized. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

  In the above-described embodiments, the case where the present invention is applied to the optical coherence tomography apparatus is described, but the application target is not limited to this. Specifically, an ophthalmologic apparatus that obtains diagnostic data from the subject eye after performing alignment between the subject eye and the optometry unit, such as a fundus camera, an SLO, an AO-SLO, a visual field measuring instrument, an intraocular pressure measuring device, etc. The present invention can also be applied to other ophthalmologic apparatuses or a combination thereof. Moreover, the apparatus which consists of a combination about each of these ophthalmic apparatuses may be sufficient.

  Therefore, the optometry unit should be grasped as a configuration for acquiring information about the eye to be examined. In this case, the imaging switch is grasped as a start switch for transmitting an instruction to start acquisition of the information to the system control unit 100. Further, the system control unit 100 executes the restriction on the movement of the movable unit 4 with respect to the eye to be examined in response to receiving the instruction from the start switch.

E: eye to be examined 1: fixed part 3: optometric part 4: movable part 5: alignment operation member 6: photographing switch 7: movable part fixing means 8: movable part fixing switch 100: system control part S1: movable part fixing means detection Sensor

Claims (19)

An optometry unit that obtains information about the eye to be examined;
An alignment operation member that receives an instruction of alignment of the optometry part with respect to the eye to be examined;
A movable unit that moves the optometry unit in response to an instruction received by the alignment operation member;
Limiting means for limiting movement of the optometry unit by the movable unit;
An alignment end detection means for detecting the end of alignment of the optometry unit with respect to the eye to be examined for acquiring the information;
Control means for controlling the restricting means so as to restrict movement of the optometry part by the movable part in response to completion of the detected alignment;
An ophthalmologic apparatus comprising: An optometry unit that obtains information about the eye to be examined;
An alignment operation member that receives an instruction of alignment of the optometry part with respect to the eye to be examined;
A movable unit that moves the optometry unit in response to an instruction received by the alignment operation member;
Limiting means for limiting movement of the optometry unit by the movable unit;
A start switch for instructing start of acquisition of the information;
Control means for controlling the restricting means to restrict movement of the optometry part by the movable part in response to an instruction by the start switch;
An ophthalmologic apparatus comprising: The start switch is a two-stage switch,
3. The control unit according to claim 2, wherein the control unit controls the limiting unit in response to a first-stage depression of the start switch, and starts acquisition of the information by a second-stage depression of the start switch. The ophthalmic device described. The start switch is a one-stage switch,
The ophthalmic apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit starts the acquisition of the information after performing the control of the limiting unit in response to a first-stage depression of the start switch. The information of the eye to be examined acquired by the optometry unit is an image of the eye to be examined,
The ophthalmologic apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the start switch is a photographing switch that photographs an image of the eye to be examined. The optometry unit has an OCT for obtaining a tomographic image of the eye to be examined;
The ophthalmologic apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the imaging switch is a switch that executes an operation of imaging a tomographic image of the eye to be examined by the OCT. A base of the ophthalmic apparatus that movably supports the movable part;
A sliding mechanism for moving the movable part relative to the base by the control means;
The said restriction | limiting means restrict | limits the range of the said movement with respect to the said base of the said movable part to an allowable range or less by restrict | limiting the operation | movement of the said sliding mechanism, The any one of Claim 1 thru | or 6 characterized by the above-mentioned. An ophthalmic device according to claim 1. Further comprising a base of the ophthalmic apparatus that movably supports the movable part;
The ophthalmologic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the restricting unit restricts the movement by fixing the movable portion with respect to the base.   The ophthalmic apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the restricting unit also serves as a fixing mechanism that fixes the movable portion to the base in response to an instruction from the outside when the ophthalmic apparatus is stopped. An optometry unit that obtains information about the eye to be examined;
An alignment operation member that receives an instruction of alignment of the optometry part with respect to the eye to be examined;
A method of controlling an ophthalmologic apparatus, comprising: a movable unit that moves the optometry unit in response to an instruction received by the alignment operation member;
Detecting the end of alignment of the optometry unit with respect to the eye to be examined for acquiring the information;
And a step of restricting movement of the optometry unit by the movable unit in accordance with the end of the detected alignment. An optometry unit that obtains information about the eye to be examined;
An alignment operation member that receives an instruction of alignment of the optometry part with respect to the eye to be examined;
A method of controlling an ophthalmologic apparatus, comprising: a movable unit that moves the optometry unit in response to an instruction received by the alignment operation member;
Receiving an instruction to start acquisition of the information by a start switch;
A method for controlling an ophthalmologic apparatus, wherein movement of the optometry unit by the movable unit is limited in accordance with the instruction of the start switch. The start switch is a two-stage switch,
12. The method of controlling an ophthalmologic apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the movement is limited in response to a first-stage press on the start switch, and acquisition of the information is started by a second-stage press on the start switch. . The start switch is a one-stage switch,
12. The method of controlling an ophthalmologic apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the acquisition of the information is started after the movement is limited in response to a first-stage depression of the start switch. The information of the eye to be examined acquired by the optometry unit is an image of the eye to be examined,
The method for controlling an ophthalmologic apparatus according to any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein the start switch is a photographing switch for photographing an image of the eye to be examined. The optometry unit has an OCT for obtaining a tomographic image of the eye to be examined;
15. The method of controlling an ophthalmologic apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the imaging switch is a switch that executes an operation of imaging a tomographic image of the eye to be examined by the OCT. A base of the ophthalmic apparatus that movably supports the movable part;
A sliding mechanism for moving the movable part relative to the base;
11. The movement restriction is performed by controlling an operation of the sliding mechanism to restrict the movement range of the movable part with respect to the base to an allowable range or less. The method for controlling an ophthalmologic apparatus according to any one of 15. Further comprising a base of the ophthalmic apparatus that movably supports the movable part;
The method of controlling an ophthalmologic apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the movement restriction is performed by fixing the movable portion with respect to the base.   The ophthalmic apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the movement restriction is performed using a fixing mechanism that fixes the movable part to the base in response to an instruction from the outside when the ophthalmic apparatus is stopped. Control method.   A program for causing a computer to execute each step of the method for controlling an ophthalmic apparatus according to any one of claims 10 to 18.

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