JPH05176897A - Cornea microscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the difficult focusing and centering to the cornea by performing focusing and centering to the iris. CONSTITUTION:Low and high magnification light paths are provided in a microscope optical system so as to have a common object optical axis and the focusing surface 14 of the high magnification light path is set on this side of the focusing surface 13 of the low magnification light path by the distance (d) between the iris and the cornea and light sources 25,25 are symmetrically provided so as to surround the object optical axis.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a microscope for observing and photographing a cornea, particularly endothelial cells thereof, at high magnification.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The image of corneal endothelial cells has a very weak contrast, and if the reflection of illumination light from the corneal surface and the like overlaps, it becomes impossible to observe or photograph. In order to prevent the reflected light rays from being superimposed on the image light rays in this way, it is performed to illuminate the test object linearly using a slit and to extract the image light rays from a direction different from this illumination. Since the microscope image thus obtained has a narrow band-like shape, it is possible to move the slit to scan and illuminate the object to be inspected, and to take out the image beam through the slit that moves in synchronization with the slit.
By implementing this, it becomes possible to clearly observe or photograph an object to be examined over the entire field of view of the microscope.

[0003]

However, since the cornea is curved into a spherical shape, even if the invention described in the above publication is carried out, the microscope optical axis should be aligned with the center of the cornea for good observation and the like. If this is not the case, strong specular reflection of the corneal surface will mix with the image beam, or the image beam from the endothelial cells will escape, making observation impossible. For good observation, it is necessary to perform both centering and focusing to align the optical axis of the microscope with the center of the cornea, but the eyeball constantly moves back and forth (distance variation), vertical movement, and horizontal movement. Since the cell image cannot be observed unless centering and focusing are almost completed,
These adjustment operations were extremely difficult. Particularly in the conventional method of illuminating with a light beam that has passed through a fixed slit, the centering and focusing are more difficult because the observation field of view is narrow. Therefore, the present invention aims to provide an apparatus that can easily achieve both centering and focusing when observing the cornea.

[0004]

In the microscope according to the present invention, a high-magnification optical path and a low-magnification optical path are provided on a common objective optical axis. As a specific structure for this, (1) a configuration in which the image light beam is divided into two parts by a semitransparent mirror or the like, and each is used as a low-magnification centering and focusing optical path and a high-magnification observation optical path. (2) A configuration in which an image light beam is extracted from the middle of the objective lens for one optical path and is supplied to the other optical path. (3) A configuration in which an image light beam that has passed through a common objective lens is divided into two, one is supplied to a high-magnification optical path and the other is supplied to a low-magnification optical path. (4) A configuration in which an objective lens whose magnification can be switched is used, and the same microscope system is used for centering and focusing at low magnification and for observation at high magnification. (5) A configuration in which the low-magnification objective lens and the high-magnification objective lens can be interchanged within the optical axis of the microscope. Any of the above can be adopted.

The high-magnification optical path is set so as to focus on the front side when viewed from the microscope side by a distance substantially equivalent to the distance between the iris and the cornea, as compared with the low-magnification optical path. Also, symmetrically around the objective optical axis,
A light source that illuminates the surface to be observed is arranged.

[0006]

In use, first, while observing a low-magnification image, the iris is focused and centered so that the image of the light source appears at a position symmetrical to the center of the pupil.

Then, the focus of the high-magnification image almost coincides with the cornea. Therefore, if necessary, fine adjustment of focus and centering is performed, and the observation or photographing is performed under full-scale high magnification. Therefore, focusing and centering operations are extremely easy.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIG. 1, 1 is an eyeball, 2 is a cornea, 3 is an iris, and 4 is a lens. In front of the eyeball 1, a lens 5
The objective lens structure 11 having the low-magnification objective lens system 6 (for example, equal magnification) and the high-magnification objective lens system 10 (for example, 20 times) including the lenses 7, 8, and 9 is movable in the arrow 12 direction. is set up. The objective lens system 6 has a surface 13
The objective lens system 10 is d
It is adjusted in advance so as to focus on the front surface 14 by (2.5 to 3 mm).

Light rays emitted from the light source 15 are lenses 16, 17
Is focused on the slit plate 18 by the reflecting mirror 19 and reflected by the reflecting mirror 19 in the right angle direction, collimated by the lens 20, and reflected by the reflecting mirror 21 in the right angle direction from one half of the microscope optical axis 22 to the objective lens system 6 or It is incident on 10.

The slit plate 18 has a large number of slits 23, 2
.., and moves in the direction of arrow 24. The image of the slits 23, 23 ...
Images are formed on the focus planes 13 and 14 by 0, so that these focus planes are linearly illuminated by the slit image and are scanned by the slit plate 18 in the direction of the arrow. Around the objective lens system 6, there are four light sources 2
5, 25 ... Are symmetrically installed in the center.

The image on the focusing surface 13 or 14 returns within the objective lens system 6 or 10 and advances along the optical axis 22 to form an image on the slit plate 27 by the auxiliary lens 26, and further, a television image is picked up by the taking lens 28. An image is formed on the photosensitive surface 30 of the machine 29.

The slit plate 27 also has a large number of slits 31,3.
.., and has an arrow 32 in synchronization with the slit plate 18.
Move in the direction. Therefore, only the portion illuminated by the image of the slits 23, 23, ... On the focusing surface 13 or 14 is imaged through the slits 31, 31 ,. An image of the focused surface 13 or 14 is displayed.

First, using the objective lens system 6, the focusing surface 1
The image of No. 3 is displayed on the TV monitor screen, and the iris 3 is focused on the focusing surface 13. If the microscope magnification at this time is 1 × and the size of the photosensitive surface 30 of the image pickup device 29 is 10 mm, the diameter of the pupil is several mm. Therefore, as shown in FIG. The image 34 is displayed large, and the light sources 25, 25 ...
.. are displayed inside or outside the pupil image 36.

Therefore, focusing is performed on the monitor image so that the iris image 34 becomes clear, and centering is performed so that the light source reflection images 35, 35, ... Are displayed symmetrically with respect to the center of the pupil image 35. To do.

Next, when the objective lens structure 11 is moved in the direction of the arrow 12 to bring the high-magnification objective lens system 10 onto the optical axis 22, the focus is brought forward by d.
The image of the corneal endothelial cells at that position is displayed on the monitor screen 33.
Displayed in. In that case, the focus and the centering are very slight even if they are out of order, so that the cell image can be easily and precisely adjusted without losing the image.

Here, if the magnification of the objective lens system 10 is set to 20 times, the range of 0.5 mm in height of the cornea 2 can be enlarged and displayed on the entire monitor image receiving screen 33.

Reference numeral 37 denotes a light source provided outside the high-magnification objective lens system 10, which emits light of a non-glare color such as red, and the tip of a light guide 38 extending from the light guide 38 is located on the lens optical axis 39. It is used as a fixation target for the examinee to gaze at during the examination.

FIG. 3 shows an objective lens structure 11 according to another embodiment of the present invention, which is switched to a high magnification by inserting an auxiliary lens system 43 into the optical axis 42 of the low-magnification objective lens system 41 as shown by an arrow 44. It is a thing. In this case as well, by switching from the low magnification to the high magnification, the focus surface is moved forward by d as described in FIG. Reference numeral 45 denotes an annular light source provided around the low-magnification objective lens system 41, which is used for centering, and its reflected image appears in an annular shape on the TV monitor screen. Therefore, centering is performed so that this reflection image becomes concentric with the pupil image.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the low-magnification objective lens system 51 is composed of lenses 52 and 53 near the tip, and the high-magnification objective lens system 54 is lenses 52, 53, 55.
And 56. The light sources 25, 25, ... For centering are arranged around the low-magnification objective lens system 51.

The illumination light of the observation light source 15 is focused on the fixed slit 57 by the lenses 16 and 17, passes through the reflecting mirror 19, the lens 20 and the reflecting mirror 21, and enters the high magnification objective lens system 54 from behind. It enters and forms an image on the focusing surface 14 in a slit shape.

The image on the front focus surface 14 is formed on the photosensitive surface 30 in the television image pickup device 29 by the high-magnification objective lens system 54, the relay lens 26, and the image pickup lens 28.
Further, the image of the other focusing surface 13 obtained by the illumination of the light sources 25, 25 ...
And a small reflecting mirror 58 located behind it and the imaging lens 5
9 forms an image on the photosensitive surface 61 of another television image pickup device 60.

In this embodiment, the focus image and the centering error due to the movement of the eyeball 1 are constantly corrected by the monitor image obtained by the image pickup device 60, while the magnified image can be obtained by the monitor image obtained by the image pickup device 29. Therefore, it is not necessary to frequently perform the magnification switching operation each time an error occurs.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the contrast of the light rays of the image is weak and the interference of the reflected light is likely to occur, it is possible to quickly focus on the cornea which is extremely difficult to focus and center. In addition, focusing and centering can be easily performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an optical path diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a television monitor image in the above embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an objective lens structure according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an optical path diagram of still another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 eyeball 2 cornea 3 iris 6 low-magnification objective lens system 10 high-magnification objective lens system 11 objective lens structure 13 focus plane at low magnification 14 focus plane at high magnification 15 illumination light source 25 symmetrical light source 29 television imager 33 Monitor screen 34 Iris image 35 Circular light source reflection image

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A high-magnification optical path and a low-magnification optical path are provided with a common objective optical axis of a microscope, and a position of an observed focused surface of the high-magnification optical path is set to be greater than a position of an observed focused surface of the low-magnification optical path. It is characterized in that a light source for illuminating the surface to be observed is arranged such that a distance substantially equivalent to the distance between the iris and the cornea is set in front when viewed from the microscope side, and the objective optical axis is surrounded and symmetrically illuminates the observed surface. Corneal microscope.