JP6912230B2 - Ophthalmic equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an ophthalmic apparatus that optically inspects an eye to be inspected.

As an ophthalmic apparatus for observing an eye to be inspected, a slit lamp microscope is known in which the eye to be inspected is irradiated with slit light and the eye to be inspected is observed with the slit light.

In recent slit lamp microscopes, an ophthalmologist or other examiner can directly observe the eye to be inspected through a binocular eyepiece, and the eye to be inspected can be imaged by an imaging element and displayed on a display unit such as a liquid crystal monitor. (See, for example, Patent Document 1). Further, there is also known a laser treatment apparatus in which a slit lamp microscope is equipped with a laser oscillation means and treatment is performed by irradiating the affected portion of the eye to be inspected with a laser beam (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-188339 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-46247

As described above, in the slit lamp microscope described in Patent Document 1 and the laser treatment device described in Patent Document 2, the gantry is moved back and forth, left and right, up and down by operating the control lever to align the eye to be inspected and to perform the alignment. Focusing (also called alignment) is performed.

By the way, focusing on the eye to be inspected is manual. For example, when there are a plurality of parts requiring observation of the eye to be inspected or the eye to be inspected moves, it is necessary to realign and focus on the eye to be inspected. The work becomes complicated.

In addition, if the eye to be inspected is not accurately focused when laser treatment is performed, effective treatment cannot be obtained for the affected area, which may impose an unnecessarily burden on the patient.

The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to put a burden on the examiner by automatically and easily focusing on the observed portion of the eye to be inspected. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ophthalmic apparatus capable of alleviating and accurately and efficiently observing an eye to be inspected.

In order to achieve the above object, the ophthalmic apparatus according to the present invention is an ophthalmic apparatus capable of observing the eye to be inspected with binoculars, and images the observed portion of the eye to be inspected and outputs a right image and a left image. Based on the binocular imaging unit, the driving unit that drives the entire or part of the optical system including the imaging unit in at least the working distance direction, and the right and left images output from the imaging unit, the observed portion A focusing control unit that drives the drive unit so as to automatically focus the image is provided .
The focusing control unit performs focusing by driving the driving unit so that the positions of the same feature points on the right image and the left image captured by the imaging unit are the focusing positions .

Further, the ophthalmic apparatus according to the present invention further includes a slit light irradiation unit that irradiates the observed portion with slit light, and the focusing control unit is on the right image and left image captured by the imaging unit. Focusing may be performed using the slit image reflecting the slit light on the image as the feature point.

Alternatively, in the ophthalmic apparatus according to the present invention, further, a laser light irradiating unit capable of irradiating the observed portion with a laser beam and an aiming light irradiating unit irradiating an aiming light indicating a position where the laser light is irradiated. The focusing control unit may perform focusing using the aiming light on the right image and the left image captured by the imaging unit as the feature point.

According to the present invention using the above means, it is possible to reduce the burden on the examiner by automatically and easily focusing on the observed portion of the eye to be inspected, and accurate and efficient observation of the eye to be inspected. It can be performed.

It is a schematic side view of the slit lamp microscope which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. Similarly, it is a schematic side view which shows typically the optical system of the slit lamp microscope. Similarly, it is a schematic top view which schematically shows the optical system of a slit lamp microscope. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of the trajectory of the light from the observed part to the imaging part according to the working distance. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of the slit image of the right image and the left image.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, FIG. 1 shows a schematic side view of a slit lamp microscope according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the slit lamp microscope 1 according to the present embodiment has a base 4 supported on a table 2 via a moving mechanism 3. The base 4 can be displaced in the left-right direction (X direction) and the front-back direction (Z direction) with respect to the eye E0 to be inspected by the moving mechanism 3 in response to the tilting operation of the operation handle 5. The anteroposterior direction with respect to the eye to be inspected E0 is also referred to as an operating distance direction. Further, the base 4 can be displaced in the vertical vertical direction (Y direction) by the moving mechanism 3 according to the amount of rotation by rotating the operation handle 5 around the axis. For example, when the operation handle 5 is rotated clockwise, the base 4 is raised, and when it is rotated counterclockwise, the base 4 is lowered.

Further, a drive unit 6 that drives in the working distance direction (Z direction) for focusing is provided on the base 4. The drive unit 6 has an actuator that generates a drive force and a transmission mechanism that transmits the drive force so that the drive unit 6 is automatically driven independently of the movement of the base 4 regardless of the operation of the operation handle 5. There is. The actuator is composed of, for example, a stepping motor (pulse motor). The transmission mechanism is composed of, for example, a combination of gears and a rack and pinion.

The drive unit 6 supports the observation system 7 and the illumination system 8 at the front portion, respectively, and the optical system 9 is composed of the observation system 7 and the illumination system 8. Specifically, the front portion of the drive unit 6 is provided with a first support arm 10 for supporting the observation system 7 and a second support arm 11 for supporting the illumination system 8. Each of the support arms 10 and 11 has a coaxial rotation axis A at the front portion thereof, and can independently rotate in the left-right direction (X direction).

Therefore, the observation system 7 can manually rotate the first support arm 10, and the illumination system 8 can manually rotate the second support arm 11. The moving mechanism 3 and the support arms 10 and 11 may be driven by an electric mechanism. In that case, similarly to the drive unit 6, an actuator for generating a driving force for driving the moving mechanism 3 and the support arms 10 and 11 and a transmission mechanism for transmitting the driving force are provided.

The observation system 7 includes a lens barrel main body 12 that houses an optical component such as an objective lens. A pair of left and right eyepieces 13R and 13L are provided at the rear end of the lens barrel body 12, and the examiner looks into the eyepieces 13R and 13L to visually view the eye E0 to be inspected through the observation system 7. It is observable. Further, a rotation shaft for changing the observation magnification is projected on the side surface of the lens barrel main body 12, and an operation knob 14 capable of changing the observation magnification by rotation is mounted on the rotation shaft.

Further, a chin receiving portion 15a for the subject and a chin cradle 15 having a forehead pad 15b are provided at positions facing the lens barrel main body 12, and the subject puts his chin on the chin receiving portion 15a. The position of the eye to be inspected E0 when the forehead is applied to the forehead pad 15b is indicated by a circle.

The illumination system 8 irradiates the eye E0 to be inspected with illumination light. As described above, the illumination system 8 swings in the left-right direction about the rotation axis A to change the irradiation direction of the illumination light with respect to the eye E0 to be inspected. The illumination system 8 may be configured to swing in the vertical direction so that the elevation angle and the depression angle of the illumination light can be changed.

Subsequently, FIG. 2 shows a schematic side view schematically showing the optical system 9 of the slit lamp microscope 1 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 3 shows a schematic top view of the optical system 9 as well. The structure of the optical system 9 will be described below based on these figures.

As shown in FIG. 2, the eye E0 of the subject is located ahead of the optical axis O1 of the observation system 7 in the optical system 9. The optical axis O2 of the downward-facing illumination system 8 is configured to intersect the optical axis O1 in the side view between the lens barrel main body 12 and the eye E0 to be inspected, and the first mirror 20 is at the intersection. Are arranged.

The illumination system 8 is oblique to the slit light irradiation system 21 (slit light irradiation unit) that irradiates the eye to be inspected E0 with slit light from the optical axis O2 via the first mirror 20 and the first mirror 20. It is provided with a background illumination system 22 that irradiates background illumination light from above.

The slit light irradiation system 21 includes a light source 30 such as a halogen lamp or an LED sequentially arranged on the optical axis O2, a relay lens 31, an illumination aperture 32, and a condensing lens 33 that collects light from the light source 30. It includes a slit 34 that allows only a part of the light that has passed through the condensing lens 33 to pass through, and an imaging lens 35.

The slit 34 and the surface to be observed of the eye E0 to be inspected are arranged so as to be conjugate with respect to the imaging lens 35. As a result, the corneal surface image of the eye E0 to be inspected can be observed by irradiating, for example, the cornea of the eye E0 to be inspected with slit light (local illumination light) through the first mirror 20. It is also possible to observe the fundus by attaching a dedicated contact lens to the eye E0 to be inspected.

The observation system 7 is mainly composed of a binocular direct observation unit 40 that directly observes the eye E0 to be inspected, and an automatic focusing unit 41 that automatically focuses on the observed portion of the eye E0 to be inspected.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, in the direct observation unit 40, the optical axis O1R for the right eye is formed in the right side region behind the objective lens 50 (on the examiner side), and the optical axis O1L for the left eye is formed in the left side region. It is formed. Then, the direct observation unit 40, in order from the objective side, has the objective lens 50, the variable magnification optical systems 51R and 51L, and the beam splitter 52R on the right eye optical axis O1R and the left eye optical axis O1L, respectively. , 52L, and imaging lenses 53R and 53L, and eyepiece lenses 54R and 54L are arranged.

A prism (not shown) for adjusting PD (pupillary distance) and inverting an image is arranged between the imaging lenses 53R and 53L and the eyepieces 54R and 54L.

The variable magnification optical systems 51R and 51L are composed of a plurality of variable magnification lenses 51aR, 51aL, 51bR and 51bL (in the present embodiment, two front and rear lenses respectively) and diaphragms 51cR and 51cL provided between them. The variable magnification optical systems 51R and 51L can change the magnification of the observed image or the captured image with the naked eye according to the operation of the operation knob 14. It should be noted that a sensor (for example, an encoder) for detecting the operation amount (rotation angle) of the operation knob 14 may be provided so that the magnification set by the operation knob 14 can be detected.

The beam splitters 52R and 52L pass a part of the light incident along the optical axis O1 and direct the light to the eyepieces 54R and 54L via the imaging lenses 53R and 53L, and reflect a part of the light to automatically combine. Direct to the focus 41 side.

By looking into the eyepieces 13R and 13L with both eyes E1R and E1L, the examiner can observe the image of the eye to be inspected E0 imaged on the observation surface by the imaging lenses 53R and 53L through the eyepieces 54R and 54L. Is.

The automatic focusing unit 41 is composed of second mirrors 60R and 60L consisting of a pair of left and right mirrors, imaging lenses 61R and 61L, imaging units 62R and 62L, and focusing control unit 63 in order from the objective side. There is. The second mirrors 60R and 60L further reflect the light reflected by the beam splitters 52R and 52L toward the imaging lenses 61R and 61L, respectively.

The image pickup units 62R and 62L are configured to include an image pickup element. The image sensor is a photoelectric conversion element that detects light and outputs an electric signal (image signal), and is, for example, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) image sensor, a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) image sensor, or the like. When the imaging units 62R and 62L receive the light imaged by the imaging lenses 61R and 61L, the image sensor on the right side is imaged with the right image of the eye E0 to be inspected from the right side, and the image sensor on the left side is covered. A left image of the optometry E0 viewed from the left side is imaged. Then, when the left and right images are imaged, the imaging units 62R and 62L output the information of the right image and the left image to the focusing control unit 63.

The focusing control unit 63 is electrically connected to the drive unit 6 and the display unit 64 described above. Based on the input image data, the focusing control unit 63 controls the driving unit 6 so that the observed portion of the eye E0 to be inspected is automatically focused (focused). Specifically, the drive unit 6 moves the optical system 9 in the working distance direction so that the positions of the same feature points on the right image and the left image are in focus positions. The focusing control unit 63 may always automatically perform focusing, or may perform focusing when, for example, a switch provided on the operation handle 5 or the like is operated. Further, the feature points may be manually specified.

Further, the focusing control unit 63 causes the display unit 64 to display, for example, the state of the eye to be inspected E0 based on the right image and the left image from the imaging units 62R and 62L. The display unit 64 may be provided by the slit lamp microscope 1, or may be a display unit provided by an external device (not shown) connected to the slit lamp microscope 1. The external device is, for example, a head-mounted display that can be attached to the face of a personal computer or an examiner, and preferably one that can be connected to the slit lamp microscope 1 by wire or wireless communication.

Here, referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, FIG. 4 shows an explanatory view showing an example of the trajectory of light from the observed portion to the imaging portion according to the operating distance, and FIG. 5 shows slit images of the right image and the left image. Explanatory drawings showing examples of the above are shown respectively, and focusing control will be described below based on these figures. In FIG. 4, the beam splitters 52R and 52L, the imaging lenses 53R and 53L, the eyepieces 54R and 54L, and the second mirrors 60R and 60L shown in FIGS. There is. Further, in FIGS. 4 and 5, a reflected image of the slit light projected on the observed portion of the eye E0 to be inspected (hereinafter referred to as a slit image) will be described as a feature point for focusing.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the distance between the observed portion and the objective lens 50 is the working distance (distance D1 from the tip of the objective lens to the object surface when the object surface is focused). As shown in FIG. 5, the slit images S1R and S1L on the right image and the left image match at the center position in the width direction (horizontal direction) of the image, respectively.

On the other hand, when the distance between the observed portion and the objective lens 50 is shorter than the operating distance D2, the slit image S2R on the right image is to the right in the width direction, and the slit image S2L on the left image is to the left in the width direction. It becomes. In such a case, the focusing control unit 63 controls the drive unit 6 so as to move the slit images S2R and S2L on both images toward the center position. That is, by moving the optical system 9 backward from the observed portion by the drive unit 6, the slit images S2R and S2L of both images move toward the center, and the slit images S2R and S2L are at the center position. When they match, the focusing control unit 63 stops the driving unit 6 and ends the focusing control.

When the distance between the observed portion and the objective lens 50 is longer than the operating distance D3, the slit image S3R on the right image is to the left in the width direction, and the slit image S3L on the left image is to the right in the width direction. It becomes. In such a case, the focusing control unit 63 controls the drive unit 6 so as to move the slit images S3R and S3L on both images toward the center position. That is, by moving the optical system 9 forward so as to bring the optical system 9 closer to the observed portion by the driving unit 6, the slit images S3R and S3L of both images are moved closer to the center, and the slit images S3R and S3L are at the center position. When substantially matching, the focusing control unit 63 stops the driving unit 6 and ends the focusing control. Approximately matching is a range in which a sufficient focusing state necessary for observing can be obtained, and is set according to the observation magnification, the depth of focus, the observation target, and the like. This may be set automatically or may be set arbitrarily by the examiner.

Since the amount of movement of the slit image on the image changes depending on the observation magnification, for example, the focusing control unit 63 sets the variable magnification optical systems 51R and 51L based on the operation amount (rotation angle) of the operation knob 14. Magnification) is detected, and the drive unit 6 is controlled according to the detected magnification.

In this way, the focusing control unit 63 recognizes the distance between the observed portion and the imaging units 62R and 62L from the positions of the feature points of the right image and the left image captured by the imaging units 62R and 62L, and this feature. Focusing is performed by driving the drive unit 6 so that the position of the point becomes the focusing position.

That is, according to the slit lamp microscope 1 in the present embodiment, it is easy to take a right image and a left image for observing the eye to be inspected without adding another device for focusing. You can focus. Then, since the focusing control unit 63 automatically focuses based on the right image and the left image, the manual focusing work by an ophthalmologist or the like is not required, and the work load of the examiner is reduced. It can be reduced. In addition, this makes it possible to reduce human error and perform accurate and efficient observation of the eye to be inspected.

In particular, in the slit lamp microscope 1, since the slit image projected on the observed portion of the eye to be inspected becomes a clear feature point, focusing can be performed more easily.

Although the description of the embodiment of the present invention is completed above, the aspect of the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

The drive unit 6 in the above embodiment has a configuration in which the optical system 9 is moved in the working distance direction (Z direction) to focus, separately from the movement of the base 4 by the moving mechanism 3. The configuration is not limited to this. For example, the drive unit may also serve as the movement mechanism unit of the above embodiment, and may have a configuration in which the base is manually moved and can be automatically moved for focusing.

Further, in the above-described system embodiment, although the observation system 7 has the direct observation unit 40, the present invention can be applied to an ophthalmic apparatus which does not have the eyepieces 13R, 13L, etc. and can be observed only by the display unit. Is.

Further, in the above embodiment, focusing is performed based on the slit image, but the reference for focusing may be the same feature point in the right image and the left image, and is not limited to the slit image. .. For example, a portion having a characteristic characteristic shape (pattern) as a reference, such as a lesion site, an iris pattern, a pupil, or a blood vessel in the fundus of the eye, may be focused as a feature point. Further, the feature points may be specified from the displayed image by using a mouse or the like.

Further, in the above embodiment, focusing is performed by matching the slit images, which are feature points, with the center position in the width direction of the right image and the left image as the focusing position, but the focusing position is that of the right image and the left image. It is not limited to the center position in the width direction.

Although the focusing method for moving the entire optical system has been described here, a configuration in which only a part of the optical system, for example, only the objective lens 50 is moved may be used. In the back-and-forth movement by manual operation (lever operation), the entire optical system may be moved as described above, and the objective lens may be moved by the driving unit only for a minute focusing.

Further, although the present invention is applied to a slit lamp microscope in the above embodiment, the present invention may be applied to other ophthalmic devices.

For example, the present invention may be applied to a laser treatment apparatus that irradiates an eye to be inspected with a laser beam for treatment. Specifically, the slit lamp microscope of the above embodiment is provided with a laser beam irradiation unit and an aiming light irradiation unit that irradiates an aiming light indicating a position where the laser light is irradiated. Then, the focusing control unit can achieve the same effect as that of the above embodiment by focusing on the aiming light on the right image and the left image captured by the left and right imaging units as feature points. ..

In particular, in the case of such a laser treatment device, by focusing based on the aiming light, it is possible to irradiate the affected area, which is the target of the laser treatment, with the laser light in an appropriate range and with an appropriate energy density. More appropriate laser treatment can be performed. Further, it may be applied to a stereomicroscope or the like regardless of other surgical microscopes and ophthalmic instruments observed with binoculars.

1 Slit lamp microscope (ophthalmic device)
3 Moving mechanism part 4 Base 5 Operation handle 6 Drive part 7 Observation system 8 Lighting system 9 Optical system 13R, 13L Eyepiece 20 First mirror 21 Slit light irradiation system (slit light irradiation part)
40 Direct observation unit 41 Automatic focusing unit 50R, 50L Objective lens 51R, 51L Variable magnification optical system 52R, 52L Beam splitter 53R, 53L Imaging lens 54R, 54L Eyepiece 60R, 60L Second mirror 61R, 61L Imaging lens 62R, 62L Imaging unit 63 Focus control unit 64 Display unit E0 Eye to be inspected E1R Right eye of examiner E1L Left eye of examiner

Claims (3)

An ophthalmic device that can observe the eye to be inspected with binoculars.
A binocular imaging unit that images the observed portion of the eye to be inspected and outputs a right image and a left image.
A drive unit that drives the entire or part of the optical system including the image pickup unit at least in the working distance direction.
A focusing control unit that drives the driving unit so as to automatically focus on the observed portion based on the right image and the left image output from the imaging unit.
Equipped with a,
The focusing control unit performs focusing by driving the driving unit so that the positions of the same feature points on the right image and the left image captured by the imaging unit are the focusing positions.
Ophthalmic equipment. Further, a slit light irradiation unit for irradiating the observed portion with slit light is provided.
The focusing control unit, ophthalmic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein for focusing the slit image reflected the slit beam on the captured right image and the left image by the imaging unit as the feature point. Further, a laser beam irradiation unit capable of irradiating the observed portion with a laser beam, and a laser beam irradiation unit.
An aiming light irradiation unit for irradiating an aiming light indicating a position where the laser light is irradiated is provided.
The focusing control unit, ophthalmic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein for focusing the aiming light in the imaging unit by the captured right image and the left image as the feature point.

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