JP2020156570A - Optical interference tomographic imaging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an optical interference tomographic imaging apparatus capable of adjusting a linear measurement light to an eye to be examined to a desired direction (orientation) without increasing a burden on a subject while avoiding an increase in the size of the apparatus.SOLUTION: An optical interference tomographic imaging apparatus includes: a coupler 120 for branching the light from a light source 110 into a measurement light and a reference light; a measurement optical system 130 for guiding the measurement light to an eye to be examined; a reference light optical system 140 for propagating the reference light; a beam splitter 150 for multiplexing a return light from the eye E to be examined of the measurement light that has propagated in the measurement optical system 130 and the reference light that has propagated in the reference optical system 140; and a line sensor 162 for detecting an interference light of the return light and the reference light obtained by the multiplexing by the beam splitter 150. The measurement optical system 130 includes an image rotator 135 for adjusting an orientation in a linear measurement light to the eye E to be examined when irradiating the linear measurement light onto the eye E to be examined.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to an optical interference tomographic imaging device that inspects an eye to be inspected.

In recent years, as an ophthalmic device, an optical coherence tomography (OCT) device that can observe / measure tomography of the fundus and anterior segment of the eye to be invaded has become widespread, and is widely used in medicine from research to clinical practice. It has been This OCT apparatus is roughly classified into two types, a time domain OCT apparatus and a Fourier domain OCT apparatus. Further, the Fourier domain OCT apparatus includes a spectral domain OCT (SD-OCT) apparatus and a Swept source OCT (SS-OCT) apparatus. These Fourier domain OCT devices use a light source having a wide wavelength band to disperse light to acquire a signal, and the SD-OCT device is temporally separated by a spectroscope. An SS-OCT device is a device that disperses in time using light sources that emit light of different wavelengths.

For example, Non-Patent Document 1 introduces a line scanning type SS-OCT device as an example of the SS-OCT device. Specifically, Non-Patent Document 1 describes an OCT device that splits the light emitted from a swept source light source (SS light source) into a measurement light and a reference light, and guides a line-shaped measurement light to the eye to be inspected in the measurement optical system. Are listed.

DJ Fechtig, B. Grajciar, T. Schmoll, C. Blatter, RM Werkmeister, W. Drexler, and R. a Leitgeb, "Line-field parallel swept source MHz OCT for structural and functional retinal imaging.," Biomed. Opt. Express, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 716-35, Mar. 2015.

However, in the line scanning type OCT apparatus described in Non-Patent Document 1, when scanning the line-shaped measurement light with respect to the eye to be inspected, the line-shaped measurement light in the eye to be inspected is adjusted in a desired direction (direction). In this case, it is necessary to tilt (rotate) the entire OCT device including the measurement optical system, or tilt (rotate) the eye to be inspected itself. In clinical practice, for example, a straight line connecting the center of the optic disc to the center of the macula of the eye to be inspected may be irradiated with a line-shaped measurement light to obtain a tomographic image from the optic disc to the macula, or in any direction (direction). ) May be irradiated with a line-shaped measurement light to obtain, for example, a tomographic image of a blood vessel.

That is, in the line scanning type OCT device described in Non-Patent Document 1, it is based on the necessity of tilting the entire OCT device when it is necessary to adjust the line-shaped measurement light with respect to the eye to be inspected in a desired direction (direction). There is a problem that the size of the device is increased or the burden on the subject is increased due to the necessity of tilting the eye to be inspected itself.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and the line-shaped measurement light for the eye to be examined is directed in a desired direction (without increasing the size of the apparatus and increasing the burden on the subject). It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical interference tomographic imaging apparatus that can be adjusted in orientation).

The optical interference tomographic imaging apparatus of the present invention includes an optical branching means for branching light from a light source into measurement light and reference light, a measurement optical system for guiding the measurement light to an eye to be inspected, and reference optics for propagating the reference light. A wave combining means for combining the system, the return light of the measurement light propagating in the measurement optical system from the eye to be inspected, and the reference light propagating in the reference optical system, and the wave combination obtained by the wave combination. The measurement optical system includes a detection means for detecting the interference light between the return light and the reference light as an interference signal, and the measurement optical system irradiates the test eye with the line-shaped measurement light. It is configured to include an image rotator that adjusts the direction of the line-shaped measurement light with respect to the light.

According to the present invention, it is possible to adjust the line-shaped measurement light with respect to the eye to be inspected in a desired direction (direction) without avoiding an increase in size of the apparatus and increasing the burden on the subject.

It is a figure which shows an example of the schematic structure of the line scanning type OCT optical system included in the optical coherence tomography apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the schematic structure of the optical interference tomographic imaging apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the driving state of the image rotator shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the adjustment of the direction in the line-shaped measurement light with respect to the eye to be examined performed by the image rotator shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the schematic structure of the line scanning type OCT optical system included in the optical coherence tomography apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments (embodiments) for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the embodiment of the present invention described below, an example in which a line scanning type Michelson SS-OCT apparatus is applied as the optical interference tomographic imaging apparatus (OCT apparatus) according to the present invention will be described. The invention is not limited to this device. In the present invention, for example, if it is an optical coherence tomography apparatus (OCT apparatus) that irradiates the eye to be inspected with line-shaped measurement light, other than the above-mentioned line scanning type Michelson SS-OCT apparatus An optical coherence tomography apparatus (OCT apparatus) is also applicable.

(First Embodiment)
First, the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a line scanning OCT optical system 100 included in the optical coherence tomography imaging device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Here, the line scanning OCT optical system 100 according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is described as "line scanning OCT optical system 100-1". Further, FIG. 1 describes an XYZ coordinate system in which the depth direction of the eye E to be inspected from the anterior eye portion of the eye E to be inspected toward the fundus Ef is the Z direction, and the two directions orthogonal to the Z direction are the X direction and the Y direction. are doing.

As shown in FIG. 1, the line scanning OCT optical system 100-1 includes a swept source light source (hereinafter referred to as “SS light source”) 110, a coupler 120, a measurement optical system 130, a reference optical system 140, and a beam splitter 150. The camera includes a photographing optical system 160, a focus drive unit 171, a galvano drive unit 172, an image rotator drive unit 173, a reflector drive unit 174, and a polarization adjustment drive unit 175.

The SS light source 110 is a wavelength sweep light source that emits light having wavelengths different in time.

The coupler 120 is an optical branching means that splits the light from the SS light source 110 into the measurement light and the reference light at a desired branching ratio.

Next, the measurement optical system 130 will be described in detail below.
The measurement optical system 130 is an optical system that guides the measurement light branched by the coupler 120 to the eye E to be inspected. As shown in FIG. 1, the measurement optical system 130 includes a line image forming optical system 131, a lens 132, a focus lens 133, a galvanometric mirror 134, an image rotator 135, a lens 136, and an objective lens 137. There is.

The line image forming optical system 131 is an optical system that forms a line image which is a line-shaped measurement light. The line image forming optical system 131 includes a collimator lens 1311, a cylindrical lens 1312, and a lens 1313. In this line image forming optical system 131, the measurement light emitted from the coupler 120 is collimated by the collimator lens 1311, and then coupled to the fundus Ef of the eye to be inspected E having a predetermined diopter (for example, 0 diopter) by the cylindrical lens 1312 and the lens 1313. A line image is formed at various positions. For example, the line image forming optical system 131 forms a line image on the plane 1314.

The line-shaped measurement light, which is a line image formed by the line image forming optical system 131, passes through the beam splitter 150 and enters the lens 132, and then the focus lens 133, the galvanometric mirror 134, the image rotator 135, and the like. It is guided to the fundus Ef of the eye E to be inspected via the lens 136 and the objective lens 137. As a result, a line image, which is a line-shaped measurement light, is irradiated on the fundus Ef of the eye E to be inspected.

Here, in the present embodiment, the focus lens 133 is moved on the optical axis of the measurement optical system 130 by the focus drive unit 171 so that the plane 1314 and the fundus Ef of the eye E to be inspected are optically coupled. For example, it moves in the X direction. Further, the galvanometric mirror 134 scans the line-shaped measurement light with respect to the fundus Ef of the eye E to be inspected by the galvano driving unit 172. The galvanometric mirror 134 is, for example, a mirror arranged at a position substantially conjugated with the anterior segment of the eye E to be inspected and having a variable orientation (angle).

The image rotator 135 faces the galvanometric mirror 134 that scans the line-shaped measurement light with respect to the eye E (more specifically, in the example of the present embodiment, the fundus Ef of the eye E) and the eye E. It is provided between the objective lens 137 arranged at the position. Then, the image rotator 135 adjusts the direction (direction) of the line-shaped measurement light with respect to the eye E to be examined when irradiating the eye E (the fundus Ef of the eye E to be examined) with the line-shaped measurement light. Specifically, the image rotator 135 is rotated by the image rotator drive unit 173 around the direction of the optical axis of the measurement optical system 130 (Z direction in the example shown in FIG. 1) with respect to the eye E to be inspected. Adjust the direction of the line-shaped measurement light.

Then, the line-shaped measurement light reflected / scattered by the fundus Ef of the eye E to be inspected becomes return light, passes through the lens 132 from the objective lens 137 of the measurement optical system 130, is reflected by the beam splitter 150, and is photographed. It is guided by the optical system 160. The return light of the line-shaped measurement light from the eye E to be inspected forms a line image related to the measurement light on the plane 163 of the photographing optical system 160.

Next, the reference optical system 140 will be described in detail below.
The reference optical system 140 is an optical system that propagates the reference light branched by the coupler 120. As shown in FIG. 1, the reference optical system 140 includes a polarization adjusting paddle 141, a collimator lens 142, an ND filter 143, a mirror 144, a mirror 145, a retroreflector 146, a mirror 147, a mirror 148, and a line image forming optical system. It is configured to include 149.

The reference light guided to the reference optical system 140 is collimated by the collimator lens 142, passes through the ND filter 143, is attenuated to a predetermined amount of light, and then is reflected in a predetermined direction by the mirror 144 and the mirror 145 to be reflected in a predetermined direction, and the direction of the optical axis. It is movable in the (Z direction in the example shown in FIG. 1) and is folded back by the retroreflector 146 for correcting the difference in optical path length from the optical path of the measurement light of the measurement optical system 130. Here, in the present embodiment, the retroreflector 146 corrects the optical path length difference between the reference light propagating in the reference optical system 140 and the measurement light propagating in the measurement optical system 130 by the reflector drive unit 174 (for example, referencing). The optical path length of the light and the optical path length of the measured light are corrected so as to be equal to each other). The reference light folded back by the retroreflector 146 is reflected in a predetermined direction by the mirror 145, the mirror 144, the mirror 147, and the mirror 148, and is incident on the line image forming optical system 149 including the cylindrical lens 1491 and the lens 1492. To do. The line image forming optical system 149 forms a line image which is a line-shaped reference light. The line-shaped reference light formed by the line image forming optical system 149 passes through the beam splitter 150 and forms a line image related to the reference light on the plane 163 of the photographing optical system 160.

Further, in the example shown in FIG. 1, in the reference optical system 140, the polarization adjusting paddle 141 is configured by bundling optical fibers in a plurality of annular rings. In the polarization adjusting paddle 141, the polarization state of the reference light with respect to the polarization state of the measurement light can be adjusted by the polarization adjustment drive unit 175 so that the interference state between the measurement light and the reference light is improved. By providing the polarization adjusting paddle 141 and the polarization adjusting driving unit 175, it is possible to adjust the polarization state, so that a good tomographic image of the eye E to be inspected can be acquired with a simple configuration.

The beam splitter 150 is a wave combining means for combining the return light of the line-shaped measurement light propagating through the measurement optical system 130 from the eye E to be inspected with the line-shaped reference light propagating through the reference optical system 140. Due to the wave splitting by the beam splitter 150, the line image related to the measurement light and the line image related to the reference light interfere with each other on the plane 163 of the photographing optical system 160.

The photographing optical system 160 is an optical system that captures a tomographic image of the eye E (more specifically, in the example of the present embodiment, the fundus Ef of the eye E). The photographing optical system 160 includes a lens group 161 and a line sensor 162. The line sensor 162 is an interference light between the return light (line image related to the measurement light) and the line-shaped reference light (line image related to the reference light) in the line-shaped measurement light obtained by the combined wave of the beam splitter 150. Is a detection means for detecting as an interference signal. In the photographing optical system 160, the plane 163 is, for example, a plane optically conjugate with the fundus Ef and the plane 1314 of the eye E to be inspected. Further, since the plane 163 is also conjugated with the light receiving surface of the line sensor 162 via the lens group 161, the line-shaped measurement light reflected / scattered from the fundus Rf of the eye E to be inspected reaches the line sensor 162. It will be.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of the optical interference tomographic imaging apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, the line scanning OCT optical system 100-1 shown in FIG. 1 is described as “line scanning OCT optical system 100”.

As shown in FIG. 2, the optical coherence tomography apparatus 10 includes a line scanning OCT optical system 100, a control unit 200, a sampling unit 300, a memory 400, a signal processing unit 500, an operation input unit 600, and a display unit 700. It is configured to have. Here, in the line scanning OCT optical system 100 shown in FIG. 2, the SS light source 110, the line sensor 162, the focus drive unit 171 and the galvano drive unit 172, the image rotator drive unit 173, the reflector drive unit 174, and the polarized light shown in FIG. Only the adjustment drive unit 175 is shown, and the description of other configurations is omitted.

The focus drive unit 171 drives the focus lens 133 based on the control of the control unit 200. The galvano drive unit 172 drives the galvanometric mirror 134 under the control of the control unit 200. The image rotator drive unit 173 drives the image rotator 135 based on the control of the control unit 200. The reflector drive unit 174 drives the retroreflector 146 under the control of the control unit 200. The polarization adjustment drive unit 175 drives the polarization adjustment paddle 141 based on the control of the control unit 200 to adjust the polarization state of the reference light.

The control unit 200 controls each component of the optical interference tomographic imaging apparatus 10 based on the information input from the operation input unit 600, for example, and performs various processes.

The sampling unit 300 is a component unit that samples the interference signal from the line sensor 162. Specifically, the sampling unit 300 samples one interference signal for each pixel at the drive position of the galvanometric mirror 134 by the galvano drive unit 172 in response to one wavelength sweep by the SS light source 110. Next, the sampling unit 300 samples the next interference signal corresponding to the next wavelength sweep by the SS light source 110 for each pixel at the next drive position of the galvanometric mirror 134 by the galvano drive unit 172. After that, the sampling unit 300 samples the interference signals from the line sensor 162 one after another by repeating this process. The interference signal sampled by the sampling unit 300 is stored in the memory 400 together with the information on the drive position of the galvanometric mirror 134 at that time by the processing of the control unit 200. The signal processing unit 500 performs signal processing including frequency analysis on the interference signal stored in the memory 400 to generate a tomographic image of the fundus Ef of the eye E to be inspected. Then, the control unit 200 controls to display the tomographic image generated by the signal processing unit 500 on the display unit 700 and controls to store the tomographic image in the memory 400. In the present embodiment, for example, the signal processing unit 500 generates a three-dimensional fundus volume image using the information on the drive position of the galvanometric mirror 134, and the control unit 200 displays the three-dimensional fundus volume image. Control or the like displayed on the unit 700 may be performed.

Next, the image rotator 135 shown in FIG. 1 will be described in detail.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a driving state of the image rotator 135 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the image rotator 135 is provided between the galvanometric mirror 134 and the objective lens 137 (more specifically, the lens 136), and can be driven by the image rotator drive unit 173. Has been done.

As described above, the image rotator 135 is rotated by the image rotator drive unit 173 around the direction of the optical axis of the measurement optical system 130 (Z direction in the example shown in FIG. 1), so that the eye to be inspected E The direction of the line-shaped measurement light is adjusted. This situation will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 (a), 3 (b-1), and 3 (b-2).

FIG. 3A illustrates the image rotator 135 in the state 1 before adjustment as “image rotator 135-1”. FIG. 3A illustrates a line-shaped measurement light 310 that enters and exits the image rotator 135-1.

In FIG. 3B-1, the image rotator drive unit 173 rotates the image rotator 135-1 shown in FIG. 3A about the optical axis 311 of the measurement optical system 130 to rotate 312 with respect to the eye E to be inspected. It shows how to adjust the direction of the line-shaped measurement light. In FIG. 3 (b-1), the image rotator 135 in the adjusted state 2 is illustrated as an “image rotator 135-2”. In FIG. 3 (b-2), the image rotator 135-2 shown in FIG. 3 (b-1) is arranged in the direction of the image rotator 135-1 shown in FIG. 3 (a), and in the state 2, the image rotator 135- The line-shaped measurement light 320 incident on and emitted from No. 2 is shown in the figure. That is, the line-shaped measurement light 320 indicates the line-shaped measurement light after adjusting the direction with respect to the eye E to be inspected. For example, the line image rotation angle of the state 1 shown in FIG. 3 (a) is set to 0 °, and the image rotator 135 is rotated by 45 ° in the state 2 shown in FIGS. 3 (b-1) and 3 (b-2). In this case, the rotation angle of the line image is 90 °.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the adjustment of the orientation of the line-shaped measurement light with respect to the eye E to be inspected, which is performed by the image rotator 135 shown in FIG. FIG. 4 shows a fundus plane region 40 in the fundus Ef of the eye E to be inspected, and also shows an example of the XYZ coordinate system corresponding to the XYZ coordinate system shown in FIG.

In the fundus plane region 40, a line 410 along the X direction and a line 420 along the Y direction are illustrated. For example, in the state 1 shown in FIG. 3A, it is assumed that the fundus Ef of the eye E to be inspected is irradiated with the line-shaped measurement light 310 along the line 410 via the image rotator 135. Then, in FIG. 4, in order to acquire a tomographic image from this state 1 to the optic disc 401 to the macula 402 of the eye E to be inspected, in the state 2 shown in FIGS. 3 (b-1) and 3 (b-2). , The image rotator 135 is rotated around the Z axis, which is the direction of the optical axis 311 of the measurement optical system 130, to show a line-shaped measurement light 320 whose orientation with respect to the eye E to be inspected is adjusted.

In the optical interference tomographic imaging apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment described above, the measurement optical system 130 is configured to be provided with an image rotator 135 for adjusting the direction of the line-shaped measurement light with respect to the eye E to be inspected.
According to this configuration, when the line-shaped measurement light with respect to the eye E to be inspected is adjusted in a desired direction, the adjustment can be performed by the image rotator 135 provided in the measurement optical system 130, and thus the optical interference tomographic imaging apparatus. It is possible to avoid tilting the whole or tilting the eye to be inspected itself. As a result, it is possible to adjust the line-shaped measurement light for the eye to be examined in a desired direction without increasing the size of the device due to the need to tilt the entire optical interference tomographic imaging device and without increasing the burden on the subject. Can be done. Further, for example, by avoiding the increase in size of the device, the complexity of the device can be avoided, and by avoiding tilting the eye to be inspected, the time required for adjusting the direction of the line-shaped measurement light with respect to the eye to be inspected can be shortened. It will also be possible to do.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the description of the second embodiment described below, the matters common to the above-mentioned first embodiment will be omitted, and the matters different from the above-mentioned first embodiment will be described. Specifically, in the second embodiment, the line scanning OCT optical system 100 included in the optical coherence tomography imaging device has a configuration different from that shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a line scanning OCT optical system 100 included in the optical coherence tomography imaging device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Here, the line scanning OCT optical system 100 in the second embodiment shown in FIG. 5 is described as "line scanning OCT optical system 100-2". In FIG. 5, the same reference numerals are given to the configurations similar to those shown in FIG. 1, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 5, the line scanning OCT optical system 100-2 includes an SS light source 110, a collimator lens 210, a beam splitter 220, a measurement optical system 230, a reference optical system 240, a beam splitter 150, a photographing optical system 160, and a focus. It includes a drive unit 171, a galvano drive unit 172, an image rotator drive unit 173, and a reflector drive unit 174.

The collimator lens 210 is an optical system that collimates the light from the SS light source 110. That is, the collimator lens 210 emits collimator light.

The beam splitter 220 is an optical branching means that splits the light from the SS light source 110 incident through the collimator lens 210 into the measurement light and the reference light at a desired branching ratio.

Next, the measurement optical system 230 will be described in detail below.
The measurement optical system 230 is an optical system that guides the measurement light branched by the beam splitter 220 to the eye E to be inspected. As shown in FIG. 5, the measurement optical system 230 includes a line image forming optical system 231, a lens 132, a focus lens 133, a galvanometric mirror 134, an image rotator 135, a lens 136, and an objective lens 137. There is.

The line image forming optical system 231 is an optical system that forms a line image which is a line-shaped measurement light. The line image forming optical system 231 includes a cylindrical lens 1312 and a lens 1313. In this line image forming optical system 231, the cylindrical lens 1312 and the lens 1313 form a line image which is a line-shaped measurement light at a position conjugate with the fundus Ef of the eye E to be inspected having a predetermined diopter (for example, 0 diopter). For example, the line image forming optical system 231 forms a line image on the plane 1314.

The line-shaped measurement light, which is a line image formed by the line image forming optical system 231, passes through the beam splitter 150 and is incident on the lens 132, and then, as in the first embodiment, the focus lens 133, It is guided to the fundus Ef of the eye E to be inspected via the galvanometric mirror 134, the image rotator 135, the lens 136, and the objective lens 137. As a result, a line image, which is a line-shaped measurement light, is irradiated on the fundus Ef of the eye E to be inspected.

Similar to the first embodiment, the image rotator 135 includes a galvanometric mirror 134 that scans a line-shaped measurement light with respect to the eye E (more specifically, the fundus Ef of the eye E), and the eye E. It is provided between the objective lens 137 and the objective lens 137 arranged at a position facing the lens. Then, the image rotator 135 adjusts the direction (direction) of the line-shaped measurement light with respect to the eye E to be examined when irradiating the eye E (the fundus Ef of the eye E to be examined) with the line-shaped measurement light. Specifically, the image rotator 135 is rotated by the image rotator drive unit 173 around the direction of the optical axis of the measurement optical system 130 (Z direction in the example shown in FIG. 5) with respect to the eye E to be inspected. Adjust the direction of the line-shaped measurement light.

Then, the line-shaped measurement light reflected / scattered by the fundus Ef of the eye E to be inspected becomes return light, passes through the lens 132 from the objective lens 137 of the measurement optical system 230, is reflected by the beam splitter 150, and is photographed. It is guided by the optical system 160. The return light of the line-shaped measurement light from the eye E to be inspected forms a line image related to the measurement light on the plane 163 of the photographing optical system 160.

Next, the reference optical system 240 will be described in detail below.
The reference optical system 240 is an optical system that propagates the reference light branched by the beam splitter 220. As shown in FIG. 5, the reference optical system 240 includes a mirror 241, a collimator lens 242, a mirror 243, an ND filter 143, a mirror 144, a mirror 145, a retroreflector 146, a mirror 147, a mirror 148, and a line image forming optical system. It is configured to include 149.

The reference light guided to the reference optical system 240 is reflected by the mirror 241 in a predetermined direction, then reflected by the mirror 243 through the collimator lens 242 in a predetermined direction, passes through the ND filter 143, and is attenuated to a predetermined amount of light. To. After that, the reference light is reflected by the mirror 144 and the mirror 145 in a predetermined direction, is movable in the direction of the optical axis (Z direction in the example shown in FIG. 5), and is connected to the optical path of the measurement light of the measurement optical system 230. It is folded back by a retroreflector 146 for correcting the optical path length difference. Here, in the present embodiment, the retroreflector 146 corrects the optical path length difference between the reference light propagating in the reference optical system 240 and the measurement light propagating in the measurement optical system 230 by the reflector drive unit 174 (see, for example). The optical path length of the light and the optical path length of the measured light are corrected so as to be equal to each other). The reference light folded back by the retroreflector 146 is reflected in a predetermined direction by the mirror 145, the mirror 144, the mirror 147, and the mirror 148, respectively, and is incident on the line image forming optical system 149 including the cylindrical lens 1491 and the lens 1492. To do. The line image forming optical system 149 forms a line image which is a line-shaped reference light. The line-shaped reference light formed by the line image forming optical system 149 passes through the beam splitter 150 and forms a line image related to the reference light on the plane 163 of the photographing optical system 160.

The beam splitter 150 is a wave combining means for combining the return light of the line-shaped measurement light propagating in the measurement optical system 230 from the eye E to be inspected with the line-shaped reference light propagating in the reference optical system 240. Due to the wave splitting by the beam splitter 150, the line image related to the measurement light and the line image related to the reference light interfere with each other on the plane 163 of the photographing optical system 160.

The photographing optical system 160 is an optical system that captures a tomographic image of the eye E (more specifically, in the example of the present embodiment, the fundus Ef of the eye E). The photographing optical system 160 includes a lens group 161 and a line sensor 162. The line sensor 162 is an interference light between the return light (line image related to the measurement light) and the line-shaped reference light (line image related to the reference light) in the line-shaped measurement light obtained by the combined wave of the beam splitter 150. Is a detection means for detecting as an interference signal. In the photographing optical system 160, the plane 163 is, for example, a plane optically conjugate with the fundus Ef and the plane 1314 of the eye E to be inspected. Further, since the plane 163 is also conjugated with the light receiving surface of the line sensor 162 via the lens group 161, the line-shaped measurement light reflected / scattered from the fundus Rf of the eye E to be inspected reaches the line sensor 162. It will be.

The schematic configuration of the optical interference tomographic imaging apparatus according to the second embodiment is basically the same as the schematic configuration of the optical interference tomographic imaging apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. However, in the line scanning OCT optical system 100-2 shown in FIG. 5, the polarization adjusting paddle 141 shown in FIG. 1 is not configured. Therefore, the schematic configuration of the optical coherence tomography apparatus 10 according to the second embodiment is shown in FIG. Of the schematic configurations shown in 2, the polarization adjusting drive unit 175 is not provided.

In the optical interference tomographic imaging apparatus 10 according to the second embodiment described above, the measurement optical system 230 is configured to be provided with an image rotator 135 for adjusting the direction of the line-shaped measurement light with respect to the eye E to be inspected.
According to this configuration, when the line-shaped measurement light with respect to the eye E to be inspected is adjusted in a desired direction, the adjustment can be performed by the image rotator 135 provided in the measurement optical system 230, and thus the optical interference tomographic imaging apparatus. It is possible to avoid tilting the whole or tilting the eye to be inspected itself. As a result, it is possible to adjust the line-shaped measurement light for the eye to be examined in a desired direction without increasing the size of the device due to the need to tilt the entire optical interference tomographic imaging device and without increasing the burden on the subject. Can be done. Further, for example, by avoiding the increase in size of the device, the complexity of the device can be avoided, and by avoiding tilting the eye to be inspected, the time required for adjusting the direction of the line-shaped measurement light with respect to the eye to be inspected can be shortened. It will also be possible to do.

(Other embodiments)
In the above-described embodiment of the present invention, an example in which the fundus Ef of the eye to be inspected E is applied as a site to be inspected has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, for example, the anterior segment of the eye to be inspected E. May be applied as the site to be inspected.

It should be noted that the above-described embodiments of the present invention merely show examples of implementation of the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed in a limited manner by these. Is. That is, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the technical idea or its main features.

10: Optical interference tomographic imaging device, 100: Line scanning OCT optical system, 110: SS light source, 120: Coupler, 130: Measurement optical system, 131: Line image formation optical system, 132: Lens, 133: Focus lens, 134 : Galvanometric mirror, 135: Image rotator, 136: Lens, 137: Objective lens, 140: Reference optical system, 141: Polarity adjustment paddle, 142: Collimeter lens, 143: ND filter, 144: Mirror, 145: Mirror, 146: Retroreflector, 147: Mirror, 148: Mirror, 149: Line image forming optical system, 150: Beam splitter, 160 photographing optical system, 171: Focus drive unit, 172: Galvano drive unit, 173: Image rotator drive unit, 174: Reflector drive unit, 175: Polarization adjustment drive unit, 200: Control unit, 300: Sampling unit, 400: Memory, 500: Signal processing unit, 600: Operation input unit, 700: Display unit

Claims (5)

An optical branching means that splits the light from the light source into measurement light and reference light,
A measurement optical system that guides the measurement light to the eye to be inspected,
The reference optical system that propagates the reference light and
A wave combining means for combining the return light of the measurement light propagating in the measurement optical system from the eye to be inspected and the reference light propagating in the reference optical system.
A detection means for detecting the interference light between the return light and the reference light obtained by the combined wave as an interference signal.
Have,
The measurement optical system is characterized by including an image rotator that adjusts the direction of the line-shaped measurement light with respect to the eye to be inspected when irradiating the eye to be inspected with the line-shaped measurement light. Optical interference tomographic imaging device. The measurement optical system further includes a galvanometric mirror that scans the line-shaped measurement light with respect to the eye to be inspected, and an objective lens arranged at a position facing the eye to be inspected.
The optical interference tomographic imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image rotator is provided between the galvanometric mirror and the objective lens. The optical interference tomographic imaging apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the image rotator performs the adjustment by rotating about the optical axis of the measurement optical system. The measurement optical system is an optical system that irradiates the eye to be inspected with the line-shaped measurement light.
The reference optical system is an optical system that propagates the reference light in a line shape.
The wave combining means combines the return light of the line-shaped measurement light propagating in the measurement optical system from the eye to be inspected with the line-shaped reference light propagating in the reference optical system.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the detection means detects the interference light between the return light and the line-shaped reference light obtained by the combined wave as the interference signal. Optical interference tomography imaging device. The optical interference tomographic imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a signal processing means for processing the interference signal to generate a tomographic image of the eye to be inspected.