JPH025918A - Device for stimulating cornea - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable an examined cornea to be stimulated quantitavely with non-contact by providing a device with a means aligning a device main body against the examined cornea, with a means flowing air off against the examined cornea, and thereby actually flowing air off against the examined cornea. CONSTITUTION:After a device main body has been aligned against an examined cornea C, a trigger signal is outputted from a photo-detector 23 to a control circuit 25. The control circuit 25 has a function to control a valve device 49, and control information to a switching-on time controller 99 is inputted in the control circuit 25. This permits the control circuit 25 to set up a switching-on time to a coil 91. When the coil 91 is energized, a movable magnetic core 93 is moved to the direction indicated by an arrow head while the energizing force of a spring 97 is being overcome so as to let a valve body 50 open a communication port 48 so that air is thereby blown off against the examined cornea C from a nozzle 18. In this place, a flow-rate of air blow against the examined cornea C can be set up with the controller 99 appropriately controlled, the examined cornea C can thereby be quantitavely stimulated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a corneal stimulation device that can stimulate the cornea of an eye to be examined in a non-contact manner.

(Prior art) Conventionally, in order to diagnose herpetic diseases, paralytic keratitis, corneal hyperplasia, vitamin B1 deficiency, etc., stimulation is applied to the cornea of the subject's eye, and the degree of corneal sensitivity is assessed based on the subject's reaction. As a corneal stimulator for measurement, use a nylon thread or
One known device consists of a tool for moving thin cotton fibers in and out of a tube.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, this conventional corneal stimulation device is configured to stimulate the cornea by manually moving a nylon thread or thin cotton fiber in and out of a tube by operating a knob. It is difficult to quantitatively stimulate the cornea of the subject's eye.

Furthermore, since the nylon thread or cotton fiber is brought into direct contact with the cornea of the eye to be examined, there is a risk of damaging the cornea of the eye to be examined, which is not preferable from a hygienic standpoint.

Furthermore, since the structure is such that the cornea of the eye to be examined is stimulated by manual operation, skill is required for measurement.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a corneal stimulation device that can quantitatively stimulate the cornea of an eye to be examined in a non-contact manner.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The corneal stimulation device according to the present invention is characterized by an alignment means for aligning the main body of the device with respect to the cornea of the eye to be examined, and an airflow blowing means for blowing airflow toward the cornea of the eye to be examined. and the airflow is blown onto the cornea of the eye to be examined to stimulate the cornea of the eye to be examined.

(Function) According to the corneal stimulation device according to the present invention, by aligning the main body of the device with respect to the cornea of the eye to be examined and blowing airflow to the desired region of the cornea of the eye to be examined, the desired region can be accurately stimulated. and quantitatively stimulated.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of a corneal stimulation device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an optical system including alignment means of a corneal stimulation device according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 show airflow blowing means. In FIG. 1, an optical system 1 includes an alignment optical system 2 that performs alignment adjustment of the main body of the apparatus with respect to the eye E to be examined, and an anterior segment observation optical system 3 that observes the anterior segment of the eye E to be examined.

The anterior segment observation optical system 3 includes a visible light source 4 for illuminating the anterior segment. A pair of visible light beams 21i4 are provided along the axis of the nozzle, which will be described later. Alignment optical system 2
are the alignment image receiving optical system 2a and the fixation target projection optical system 2b.
, alignment projection optical system 2C, reticle projection optical system 2
The outline is from d.

The alignment image receiving optical system 2a has its optical axis aligned with the nozzle 18.
It is placed coaxially with the axis of the This alignment image receiving optical system 2a includes, in order from the side closest to the eye E to be examined, an objective lens 5, a window glass 6, a half mirror 7, a dichroic mirror 8, a telephoto lens 9, and a dichroic mirror 10.11.
has.

The dichroic mirror 8 has the function of reflecting visible light and transmitting infrared light, the dichroic mirror 10 reflects visible light and acts as a half mirror for infrared light, and the dichroic mirror 11 has the function of reflecting visible light and transmitting infrared light. It has the function of transmitting infrared light and reflecting visible light.

A part of the front axis of the target projection optical system 2b is arranged coaxially with the optical axis of the alignment image receiving optical system 2a. The fixation target projection optical system 2b includes a visible light source 12, a condenser lens 13, a fixation target plate 14, a fixation target 15, a dichroic mirror 16, and a collimating lens 17. here,
The dichroic mirror 16 has a function of reflecting visible light and transmitting infrared light.

The fixation target plate 14 is illuminated by a visible light source 12, and the illumination light is reflected by a dichroic mirror 16, guided to a mirror 18, converted into a parallel light beam by a collimating lens 17, and guided to a half mirror 7. −7, is reflected in the direction of the nozzle 18, passes through the nozzle 18, and is projected onto the fundus of the eye E to be examined. Note that when the eye E to be examined is nearsighted or farsighted, a diopter correction lens 1 is provided in the optical path of the fixation target projection optical system 2b.
9 is inserted.

The alignment projection optical system 2c has an infrared light emitting diode 20 as an alignment index light source, and other optical elements are also used as the optical elements of the fixation target projection optical system 2b. The alignment index light passes through the dichroic mirror 16, is reflected by the mirror 18, is made into a parallel light beam by the collimator lens 17, and is projected onto the cornea C of the eye E through the objective lens 5. The alignment indicator light is reflected by the cornea C.

In this embodiment, when the alignment is proper, the alignment index light is directed to the center of curvature of the cornea C by the objective lens 5.
The optical system is designed to converge to 1,
A virtual image i as an index image is formed on the eye E to be examined at its center of curvature 01. The alignment index light reflected by the corner 1151C enters the objective lens 5 as if it were emitted from the virtual image i, and is converted into a parallel light beam by the objective lens 5. The reflected light, which is made into a parallel light beam, is transmitted to the window glass 6, the half mirror 7, the dichroic mirror 8, the telephoto lens 9, and the dichroic mirrors 10 and 1.
1 and are imaged on the imaging surface 21a of the television camera 21, and the index image i' formed on the imaging surface 21a is displayed on the monitor 22. Note that a part of the infrared reflected light that is converted into a parallel beam when transmitted through the dichroic mirror 10 is reflected.

A photodetector 23 is provided in front of the dichroic mirror 10 in the reflection direction, and a diaphragm 24 is provided in front of the photodetector 23. Photodetector 23
When the alignment is completed, a trigger signal is generated to a control circuit 25 of the airflow blowing means, which will be described later.

The reticle projection optical system 2d is configured such that a portion of its front axis coincides with the optical axis of the alignment image receiving optical system 2a. This reticle projection optical system 2d has a visible light source 26, a reticle plate 27, and an imaging lens 28.

The reticle plate 27 has circular reticle indicators 27a, 27.
b, the reticle plate 27 is illuminated by a visible light source 26, and the illumination light is guided to the dichroic mirror 11 as imaging light by the imaging lens 28, reflected by the dichroic mirror 11, and reflected onto the imaging surface 21a. An image is formed and a reticle image 29 is displayed on the monitor 22.

The alignment operation is performed by moving the main body of the apparatus in vertical and horizontal directions so that the alignment index image i' is located at the center of each day of the reticle image 29 on the monitor 22, and also by moving the main body of the apparatus back and forth in the optical axis direction. When the alignment is set to a proper state, the alignment index image i
- becomes sharp.

The anterior segment observation optical system 3 has a part of its optical axis coaxial with the axis of the nozzle 18, and includes a reduction projection optical system 30. This reduction projection optical system 30 is composed of mirrors 31.32 and a reduction lens 33 arranged between the mirrors 31.32. This reduction projection optical system 30 functions to reduce and image the pupillary of the eye E to be examined on the imaging surface 21a, and the anterior segment image AP is displayed on the monitor 22.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are diagrams showing the main structure of the airflow blowing means of the corneal stimulation device according to the present invention. In FIGS. 2 and 3, 40 is a cylinder, 41 is a cylinder, and 42 is a cylinder.
is the cylinder mounting case, 43 is the nozzle head part,
Cylinder 40 has a cylinder wall 44 . The inside of this cylinder wall 44 is an airtight chamber 45. A connecting cylindrical portion 46 is formed at the top of the cylinder wall 44, and a connecting cylindrical portion 47 is formed at the bottom of the cylinder wall 44. The connecting cylinder portion 46 has a communication port 48 that communicates with the airtight chamber 45 . The communication port 4B is the valve device i! Opened and closed by 49, 50
is the valve body. The structure and operation of this valve device 49 will be described later.

The nozzle head section 43 has a support body 51 . Support body 51
has a chamber 52 and a connecting cylinder portion 53. Support body 51
A tube 54 is attached to the nozzle receiver. In this nozzle receiver, one lens 5A of the objective lens 5 is fixed to the tube 54, and the other lens 5B of the objective lens 5 is attached to the support body 51 facing the lens 5A. Nozzle 18
A hook is passed between the lens 5A and the lens 5B.

The connecting cylinder part 53 and the connecting cylinder part 46 are connected via a tube 55. Note that 56 is a set screw for fixing the lens 5B to the support body 51. Further, the window glass 6 constitutes a part of the chamber 52, and the light beam of the optical system 1 is guided to the cornea C of the eye to be examined via the window glass 6, the lens 5B, and the lens 5A. Corneal C
The light beam reflected by the window glass 6 and lens 5A
-58 to the optical system 1.

The cylinder mounting case 42 functions as a pressure maintaining means located between the cylinder 41 and the airtight chamber 45, and is composed of a main body case 56 and a presser cover member 57. has a flange 58. A diaphragm 59 is provided between the presser cover member 57 and the main body case 56. This diaphragm 59
The peripheral portion thereof is held between flanges 58, and the cylinder mounting case 42 is divided into two units A and E. Chamber A communicates with the atmosphere through a communication port 57a. Note that 60 is a set screw for fixing the presser lid member 57 to the main body case 56, and 61 is a sealing member.

The main body case 56 includes a cylinder mounting cylinder 62 and a connecting cylinder part 6.
3 is provided. The connecting cylinder part 63 is connected to the connecting cylinder part 47 via a tube 64.

At both ends of the tube 64, there are tube holding member portions 66.
is provided. This tube holding member part 66 is fixed to both ends of the tube 64 by holding screws a and 68. The tube 64 is fixed to the connecting tube part 47,63 by its tube holding member part, 66, and set screw, 70. Note that 71 and 72 are seal members.

The cylinder mounting cylinder 62 has a flange portion 73. The cylinder mounting cylinder B2 is defined into a cylinder part 74 and a cylinder part 75 with this flange part 73 as a boundary. A threaded portion 78 is formed on the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion 74 . A threaded portion 77 is formed on the inner periphery of the cylindrical portion 75 . The threaded portion 76 is screwed into a threaded portion 79 formed on a wall portion 78 of the main body case 5'6. The cylinder mounting cylinder 62 is assembled by screwing together the threaded parts 76 and 79 until the flange part 73 comes into contact with the wall part 78.
It is fixed to the main body case 56.

The cylindrical portion 74 has a wall portion 80 . The wall portion 80 faces the diaphragm 59, and a spout 81 and a guide hole 82 are formed in the wall portion 80. A movable shaft 83 is inserted through the guide hole 82 . A joint portion 84 is provided at one end of the movable shaft 83, and a spring holder 85 is provided at the other end. The spring holder 85 is fixed to the other end of the movable shaft 83 after the movable shaft 83 is inserted into the guide hole 82 and the spring 86 is inserted into the movable shaft 83 .

The joint portion 84 is connected to the diaphragm 59 using an adhesive. The cylinder 41 has a valve stem 87 on its head and a threaded portion 88 on the outer periphery of its head. The cylinder 41 is screwed onto the cylinder mounting tube 62 by screwing its threaded portion 88 into the threaded portion 77 . Note that 89 is a sealing member.

At the beginning when the pressure in chamber B is low, the diaphragm 59
It is relaxed as shown in Figure 2. When the cylinder 41 is attached to the cylinder mounting cylinder 62, the valve $4187 comes into contact with the spring holder 85 and is pushed into the cylinder. As a result, compressed air is blown out from the cylinder 41. This ejection of compressed air causes the pressure in chamber B to rise, causing diaphragm 59 to swell as shown in FIG. 3, and movable shaft 83 to move in the direction of the arrow against the biasing force of spring 86. At the same time, compressed gas flows into the airtight chamber 45 via the tube 64. The gas in chamber A is then exhausted to the atmosphere. This expansion of the diaphragm 59 causes the valve rod 87 and the spring holder 85 to separate. As a result, the valve rod 87 closes the mouth of the cylinder 41, and discharge of compressed air from the cylinder 41 is stopped. Note that the spring 86 is loaded with a return biasing force due to the expansion of the diaphragm 59.

Here, the support body 51 is provided with a heater 51A. This heater 51A is connected to a power source 90 by a cord (not shown). This heater 51A functions as a heating means for heating the compressed gas retained in the chamber 52. When the temperature of the compressed gas is lower than the outside temperature, the heater 51A is energized to heat the compressed gas. do. Instead of providing the heater 51A in the chamber 52,
It is also possible to provide a configuration in which a heater is provided in the airtight chamber 45.

The valve device 49 includes a coil 91, a coil holder 92, a movable iron core 93, a coil lid 94, and a shaft member 95. Valve body 50
is attached to the tip of the shaft member 95. Shaft member 95
The rear end is a movable core 93. Yuko's movable core 9
3 has entered the coil holder 92. The coil holder 92 is supported by a support portion (not shown). A spring holder 96 is fixed to the shaft member 95, and a spring 97 is interposed between the spring holder 96 and the coil holder 92. The valve body 50 is connected to the communication port 48 by this spring 92.
is biased in the direction of closing.

Note that 98 is a sealing member, which is attached to the cylinder wall 44.

The main body of the apparatus is aligned with respect to the cornea C of the eye to be examined, and when the alignment is completed, a trigger signal is output from the photodetector 23 to the control circuit 25. The control circuit 25 is a valve device! Control information for the general time controller 99 is input to the control circuit 25. The control circuit 25 thereby sets the transient time to the coil 91. When the coil 91 is energized, the movable core 93 is moved in the direction of the arrow against the biasing force of the spring 97, and the valve body 50 opens the communication port 48, whereby airflow is blown from the nozzle 1B onto the cornea C of the eye to be examined. It will be done. Here, by appropriately adjusting the controller 99, the flow rate of the airflow blown onto the cornea C of the eye to be examined can be set, and therefore the cornea C of the eye to be examined can be stimulated quantitatively.

In this embodiment, chamber 52 is heated, so that
When the airflow is released, fogging of the optical components constituting the chamber 52 and discomfort to the subject due to being blown with the cold airflow are prevented. Furthermore, since the cornea is stimulated using compressed gas stored in a cylinder, fresh gas is blown onto the cornea C of the eye to be examined, which is favorable from a sanitary standpoint.

When the energization to the coil 91 is stopped, the valve body 50 is moved in the direction opposite to the arrow direction by the return biasing force of the spring 97.
The communication port 48 is closed again. Due to the release of this airflow,
The pressure in the airtight chamber 45 decreases, and accordingly, the pressure in the chamber B also gradually decreases. Therefore, the force that moves the movable shaft 83 in the direction opposite to the arrow direction due to the return urging force of the spring 86 gradually becomes larger than the force that moves the movable shaft 83 in the direction of the arrow based on the pressure in the chamber B, and the spring holder 85 comes into contact with the valve stem 87, thereby pushing the valve stem 87 into the cylinder again. Therefore, when the mouth of the cylinder 41 is opened again, the compressed air in the cylinder 41 flows into the chamber B. In this embodiment, when the amount of compressed gas in the cylinder 41 becomes extremely small, the airtight chamber A pressure sensor 10Q is provided on the cylinder wall 44 to detect when the amount of compressed gas in the pump 41 has become extremely small, although the pressure in the cylinder 45 cannot be maintained constant. Therefore, if a warning means is used to notify the operator that the pressure in the airtight chamber 45 has fallen below a predetermined level, the operator can be prompted to replace the cylinder 41.

In this embodiment, a case has been described in which the airflow is blown toward the cornea C of the subject's eye when the alignment index image i' is located on the central reticle image 29. ′ is located,
It is also possible to blow airflow toward the cornea C of the eye to be examined.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, the present invention provides stimulation to the cornea by blowing airflow onto the cornea of the subject's eye, and therefore has the effect of providing stimulation non-contact and quantitatively.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an optical system including an alignment means of a corneal stimulation device according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are sectional views of essential parts showing an airflow blowing means of the corneal stimulation device according to the present invention. 2... Alignment optical system, 5... Objective lens, 1
8... Nozzle, 40... Cylinder, 45... Airtight chamber 41... Hon, E... Test eye, 52... Chamber C... Test eye cornea,

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) comprising an alignment means for aligning the cornea of the eye to be examined with respect to the main body of the apparatus, and an airflow blowing means for blowing an airflow toward the cornea of the eye to be examined; A corneal stimulation device that stimulates the cornea of the subject's eye. (2) The corneal stimulation device according to claim 1, wherein the airflow blowing means has a nozzle that emits an airflow toward the cornea of the eye to be examined. (3) The corneal stimulation device according to claim 1, wherein the airflow blowing means includes a cylinder.