JPH0795958A - Eyeball microscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an eyeball microscope which enables the observing and photographing of parts to be observed and photographed such as the front of a lens, the surface of an artificial lens. a cornea endothelial cell and the like which exist at positions different from one another in the direction of the optical axis of an eye to be inspected simply with one unit. CONSTITUTION:This eyeball microscope has a lighting optical system 29 to irradiate an eye E to be inspected askew with illumination light, an observation/ photographing optical system 29 which receives the reflected image from a part to be observed and photographed of the eye E to be inspected askew to observe and photograph and an anterior ocular segment observation optical system 1 to observe the anterior ocular segment of the eye E to be inspected. The observation photographing optical system 9 is provided with a optical path length altering means 40 which is put into or out of the observation photographing optical system 29 when the part to be observed and photographed which exist at positions different from one another in the direction of the optical path of the eye E to be inspected is altered.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is an eyeball capable of observing / photographing an observation / imaging target site such as a lens front surface, an artificial lens surface, corneal endothelial cells, etc. existing at different positions in the optical axis direction of an eye to be examined. Regarding the microscope.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a slit lamp microscope has been known as an apparatus for observing and photographing a part of an eyeball as an observation and photographing target portion. This conventional slit lamp microscope generally has a low observation magnification. Therefore, in the conventional slit lamp microscope, when observing and photographing corneal endothelial cells that require high magnification, a dedicated attachment is provided for observing and photographing.

In order to observe and photograph not only the corneal endothelial cells but also the front surface of the crystalline lens existing at different positions in the optical axis direction relative to the corneal endothelial cells and the surface of the artificial crystalline lens, the corneal endothelial cells are used for observation. There is also known a device in which a cone lens is applied to the eye to be inspected during observation and photographing, and the cone lens is removed when observing and photographing the front surface of the crystalline lens.

[0004]

However, this conventional apparatus is capable of observing and observing a lens front surface, an artificial lens surface, corneal endothelial cells, etc. existing at different positions in the optical axis direction of the subject's eye. Since there is a problem in that observation and photographing are troublesome and the eye to be inspected may be damaged because it requires considerable preparation and skill when photographing.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to easily obtain a lens front surface and an artificial lens that are present at different positions in the optical axis direction of the eye to be examined with a single device. An object is to provide an eye microscope capable of observing and photographing a surface, a corneal endothelial cell, and other observation / imaging target sites.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an eye microscope according to the present invention includes an illumination optical system for irradiating illumination light obliquely toward an eye to be inspected, and an object to be observed and photographed by the eye to be inspected. An observation and photographing optical system for observing and photographing a reflected image from a region from an oblique direction, and an anterior segment observation optical system for observing the anterior segment of the eye to be examined, the observation and photographing optical system, When the observation / imaging target part existing at different positions in the optical axis direction of the eye to be inspected is changed, an optical path length changing means is provided for changing the optical path length of the observation / imaging optical system. Characterize.

[0007]

According to the eye microscope of the present invention, the examiner observes the anterior segment of the subject's eye using the anterior segment observation optical system. The anterior ocular segment observation optical system roughly aligns the eye to be inspected with the apparatus optical system. Next, the illumination optical system illuminates the illumination light toward the subject's eye obliquely. The observation / photographing optical system receives the reflection image from the observation / photographing target region of the eye to be examined from the diagonal direction by the illumination from the diagonal direction.

In the observation / photographing optical system, an optical path length changing means for changing the optical path length when the observation / photographing target portion existing at different positions in the optical axis direction of the eye to be examined is changed in and out of the observation / photographing optical system. To be done.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of an eyeball microscope according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is an anterior segment observation optical system. The anterior segment observation optical system 1 includes a half mirror 2, an objective lens 3, a half mirror 4, an optical path switching mirror 5, and C.
It is composed almost of CD6, and O1 is its optical axis. Further, reference numeral E is an eye to be inspected, and the eye E to be inspected is illuminated by the light source 7 for illuminating the anterior segment. The half mirror 2 constitutes a part of the alignment optical system 8. Optical path switching mirror 5
Has a light-shielding surface 5a on one side and a total reflection surface 5b on the other side.
Is. The optical path switching mirror 5 is normally retracted from the optical path of the anterior segment observation optical system 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, the alignment optical system 8 has a light source 9 for alignment, a pinhole plate 10, a projection lens 11, a diaphragm 12, and a half mirror 13. The pinhole plate 10 is arranged at the focal point of the projection lens 11. The pinhole plate 10 is illuminated by the illumination light of the light source 9. The illumination light transmitted through the pinhole plate 10 is guided to the projection lens 11 as index light for alignment, and is converted into a parallel light flux K by the projection lens 11. The parallel light flux K passes through the half mirror 13, is reflected by the half mirror 2, and is guided to the cornea C of the eye E to be examined.

The half mirror 13 is a fixation target projection optical system 14
Form part of the. The fixation target projection optical system 14 is composed of a fixation target light source 17, a pinhole plate 18, and a projection lens 20, and fixation target light from the fixation target light source 17 is received via a half mirror 13 and a half mirror 2. The eye is guided to the eye E and the fixation target is presented to the eye E.

The alignment light flux is reflected by the surface T of the cornea C and forms a bright spot image R at an intermediate position between the corneal vertex P and the corneal curvature center O3. The alignment reflected light flux reflected from the cornea C passes through the half mirror 2 and the objective lens 3
Is guided by the half mirror 4 while being converged by. Part of the alignment reflected light flux passes through the half mirror 4,
A part is reflected by the half mirror 4. The alignment-reflected light flux reflected by the half mirror 4 is guided to an alignment detection sensor 100 as a light receiving means.
A position sensor (PSD) is used for the alignment detection sensor 100, and the function thereof will be described later. On the other hand, the alignment reflected light flux that has passed through the half mirror 4 is guided to the CCD 6 to form an image, and a bright spot image R ′ is formed on the CCD 6. The optical path switching mirror 5 is retracted from the optical path of the anterior segment observation optical system 1 during observation of the anterior segment.

The half mirror 4 also functions as a part of the alignment pattern projection system 21 shown in FIG. The alignment pattern projection system 21 is roughly composed of an alignment pattern light source 22, a pattern plate 23, and a projection lens 24. An annular pattern is formed on the pattern plate 23. The half mirror 4 reflects the projected light flux emitted from the light source 22 toward the CCD 6. This allows
A ring-shaped pattern image 27 is formed on the CCD 6 together with the bright spot image R ′ by the alignment reflected light flux.

The CCD 6 is connected to a monitor device (not shown), and an anterior ocular segment image 26 of the eye E is displayed on the screen 25 of the monitor device as shown in FIG. Further, the annular pattern image 27 is also projected in the same manner.

As shown in FIG. 3, the examiner moves up and down (Y direction) and left and right (X direction) the apparatus main body (not shown) so that the bright spot image R'formed by the alignment reflected light beam is located at the center of the pattern image 27. ) To perform alignment adjustment so that the optical axis O2 and the optical axis O1 of the eye E to be examined are aligned with each other. Further, the working distance is adjusted by moving the main body of the apparatus forward and backward with respect to the eye E (Z direction).

An illumination optical system 28 and an observation and photographing optical system 29 are provided on both sides of the anterior segment observation optical system 1. The illumination optical system 28 includes an illumination light source 30 for observation, a condenser lens 31,
It has a dichroic mirror 3 ′, an illumination light source 32 for photographing, a condenser lens 33, a slit plate 34, and a light projecting lens 35. The illumination optical system 28 plays a role of irradiating the cornea C of the subject's eye E with an illumination light beam from an oblique direction.

A halogen lamp is used as the illumination light source 30, and a xenon lamp is used as the illumination light source 32. The illumination light flux for observation emitted from the illumination light source 30 is condensed by the condenser lens 31 and guided to the dichroic mirror 37. The dichroic mirror 37 transmits visible light,
It plays a role of reflecting infrared light. Therefore, the illumination light flux for observation guided to the cornea C is an infrared illumination light flux. This infrared illumination light flux is guided to the slit plate 34. Slit plate 34
An elongated rectangular slit 36 is formed in the.
The illumination light flux for photography emitted from the illumination light source 32 is condensed by the condenser lens 33 and guided to the dichroic mirror 37. The dichroic mirror 37 transmits visible light and reflects infrared light, so that the illumination light flux for photography guided to the cornea C is a visible light flux.

An optical path length changing optical member 35a is provided between the light projecting lens 35 and the slit plate 34. The optical path length changing optical member 35a is provided to the illumination optical system 28 when the observation / imaging target portion is changed on the corneal endothelial cells N and the front surface F of the lens L existing at different positions in the optical axis direction of the eye E to be inspected. It is played in and out to change the optical path length. In this embodiment, the optical path length changing optical member 35a is composed of a concave lens and is inserted into the optical path of the illumination optical system 28 when observing and photographing the front surface F of the lens L shown in FIGS. The optical path length changing optical member 35a is made up of a convex lens, which is retracted from the optical path of the illumination optical system 28 when observing and photographing.
The optical path length changing optical member 35a may be inserted into the optical path of the illumination optical system 28 when observing and photographing, and retracted from the optical path of the illumination optical system 28 when observing and photographing the front surface F of the lens L. The optical path length changing optical member 35 a may be provided between the cornea C and the light projecting lens 35.

When observing and photographing the corneal endothelial cells N,
When the alignment of the device main body with respect to the eye E to be examined in the optical axis direction is completed, the slit plate 34 and the cornea C become substantially conjugate with respect to the light projecting lens 35. The illumination light beam is its cornea C
Becomes a slit light beam in the vicinity of and crosses the cornea C from its surface toward the inside. When the surface F of the crystalline lens L is observed and photographed, the slit plate 34 and the surface F of the crystalline lens L project light when the alignment of the device body with respect to the eye E in the optical axis direction (Z direction) is completed. The lens 35 and the optical path length changing means 35a are substantially conjugated.

The observation / photographing optical system 29 includes an objective lens 40,
The half mirror 41, the mask 42, the mirror 44, the relay lens 45, and the optical path switching mirror 5 are roughly configured. The optical path switching mirror 5 is inserted into the optical path of the anterior segment observation optical system 1 based on the detection output of the alignment detection sensor 100. An optical path length changing means 40a is provided between the objective lens 40 and the half mirror 41. The optical path length changing means 40a has a role of changing the optical path length of the eye E by being moved in and out of the observation / imaging optical system 29 when the observation / imaging target portions existing at different positions in the optical axis direction of the eye E are changed. Fulfill In this embodiment, the optical path length changing means 40a is composed of a concave lens and is inserted into the optical path of the observation / photographing optical system 29 when observing and photographing the front face F of the lens L shown in FIGS. The optical path length changing optical member 40a is made of a convex lens and is retracted from the optical path of the observation / photographing optical system 29 when observing and photographing the optical path length changing optical member when observing and photographing the corneal endothelial cell N. 40a may be inserted into the optical path of the observing / photographing optical system 29 and retracted from the optical path of the observing / photographing optical system 29 when the front surface F of the lens L is observed and photographed. It should be noted that the optical path length changing optical member 40a is provided on the cornea C and the objective lens 4.
It may be provided between 0 and 0.

When photographing the corneal endothelial cells N, the corneal endothelial cells N and the mask 42 are almost conjugate with respect to the objective lens 40 when the alignment of the main body of the apparatus with respect to the eye E in the optical axis direction is completed. When the surface of the crystalline lens L is imaged, when the alignment of the device main body with respect to the eye E in the optical axis direction is completed, the front surface F of the crystalline lens L and the mask 42 are substantially in relation to the objective lens 40 and the optical path length changing means 40a. It is conjugate.

When photographing the corneal endothelial cells N,
As shown in FIG. 4, a part of the slit light flux S is first reflected on the corneal surface T which is the boundary surface between the air and the cornea C. The amount of light flux t reflected from the corneal surface T is the largest. The reflected light flux n from the corneal endothelial cells N is relatively small compared to this, and the light quantity of the reflected light flux m from the corneal stroma M is the smallest. Further, the slit light flux S transmitted through the cornea C is reflected by the front surface F of the iris or the lens L.

On the other hand, when photographing the front surface F of the crystalline lens L, as shown in FIG.
It is first reflected at the corneal surface T which is the interface between the air and the cornea C. The amount of light flux t reflected from the corneal surface T is the largest. The slit light flux S transmitted through the cornea C is the crystalline lens L
Of the lens L, the reflected light flux L'from the front surface F of the lens L is relatively smaller than this.

FIG. 6 will be described in more detail.

In FIG. 6, reference character G is the front surface F of the lens L.
A position where alignment is completed in the direction of the optical axis when taking an image, reference numeral O4 is the optical axis of the illumination optical system 28, reference numeral O5 is the optical axis of the observation / imaging optical system 29, reference numeral M1 is the intersection of the optical axis O4 and the corneal surface T. , The reference M2 is the intersection of the optical axis O5 and the corneal surface T, the reference G'is the alignment completion position in the optical axis direction when the endothelial cells of the cornea C are imaged, and the reference M3 is the optical axis O4 refracted by the cornea C. The intersection with the front surface F of the crystalline lens L is shown. When the optical path length changing means 35a is not inserted in the optical path of the illumination optical system 28, the alignment completion position G to the intersection point M
The conjugate image of the slit plate 34 at the point M4 on the optical axis O4 equal to the optical path length nd up to 1 (n is the average refractive index of the aqueous humor, d is the geometrical distance from the alignment completion position G to the intersection M1). However, when the optical path length changing means 35a is inserted in the optical path of the illumination optical system 28, the slit plate 3 is formed.
The conjugate image of 4 is formed at the position of the intersection point M3,
The front surface F including the vicinity of the intersection M3 of the crystalline lens L is illuminated by the slit illumination light. When the optical path length changing means 40a is not inserted in the optical path of the observation / photographing optical system 29, the objective lens 40 is focused at the point M5 on the optical axis O5 equal to the optical path length nd from the alignment completion position G to the intersection M2. Therefore, the front surface F of the crystalline lens L is out of focus and the image of the front surface F of the crystalline lens L is out of focus, but the optical path length changing means 40a serves as the optical path length nd 'from the intersection M3 to the intersection M2. From the alignment completion position G to the intersection point M2, the optical path length n (d
If the optical path length changing means 40a is inserted into the optical path of the observation / photographing optical system 29, the focus of the objective lens 40 is brought to the front surface F of the crystalline lens L at the alignment completion position G. Can be matched. In addition,
d'is a geometric distance from the intersection M3 to the intersection M2.

The reflected light beam is condensed by the objective lens 40 and guided to the half mirror 41. Part of the reflected light flux is
The light is reflected by the half mirror 41 and guided to the line sensor 47 as a focus state detection sensor. The remaining reflected light flux passes through the half mirror 41 and is guided to the mask 42. At the position of the mask 42, a magnified image including the corneal endothelial cell image N or the anterior image F of the lens L is once formed.
The mask 42 is a corneal endothelial cell image N or an anterior image F of the lens L.
Plays a role of cutting extra light flux other than contributing to the formation of

The light flux passing through the mask 42 is reflected by the mirror 4
4 is guided to the optical path switching mirror 5 through the relay lens 45, reflected by the optical path switching mirror 5, and then imaged on the CCD 6.

The line sensor 47 receives the reflected light flux having the intensity distribution shown in FIGS. 5A and 7A.

FIG. 5A shows the intensity distribution of the reflected light flux at the time of corneal endothelial cell imaging. In FIG. 5A, the symbol U represents the peak due to the reflected light flux t reflected on the surface T of the cornea C. Further, reference numeral V is a peak due to the reflected light flux n reflected by the endothelial cells N of the cornea C, and reference numeral W is a peak due to the reflected light flux L ′ reflected by the front surface F of the iris or the lens L. The part of the peak U corresponds to the optical image 49 on the line sensor 47 shown in FIG. 5B, the part of the peak V corresponds to the optical image 48, and the part of the peak W corresponds to the optical image 51. The light image 51 is out of focus because the focus is aligned with the corneal endothelial cells when the corneal endothelial cells are photographed. In addition, in FIG.
Reference numeral 50 is an optical image by the reflected light beam m from the corneal substance M.

FIG. 7A shows the intensity distribution of the reflected light flux when the front surface F of the lens L is photographed, and the peaks corresponding to FIG. At the time of photographing the front surface F of the lens L, since the front surface F of the lens L is focused, the peak V due to the reflected light flux n reflected by the endothelial cells N of the cornea C does not appear, and the endothelial cells N of the cornea C do not appear. The reflected light flux n reflected is buried in the reflected light flux t reflected on the surface T of the cornea C. Further, the peak U due to the reflected light flux t reflected on the surface T of the cornea C is out of focus.

The output of the element at each address of the line sensor 47 is input to the judgment circuit 101 shown in FIG. The output from the alignment detection sensor 100 is also input to the determination circuit 101. The determination circuit 101 is the memory 10
2. It has a peak discriminating means 103 and a focus discriminating means 104, and this memory 102 stores the output of the element at each address. The peak discriminating means 103 successively compares the outputs of the respective elements and obtains the address u of the maximum output value. The output value of the obtained address u corresponds to the peak U. Since the amount of light flux t reflected by the corneal surface T is the largest, the peak U can be easily obtained.

Next, the peak discriminating means 103 identifies the address v corresponding to the peak V and the address w corresponding to the peak W. The peak discriminating means 103 identifies the peak V and the peak W by counting the number of addresses from the address of the peak U to the address of the next peak, and obtains the distance from the number of addresses from the peak U to the next peak. Thereby, the distance from the corneal surface T to the corneal endothelial cell N can be obtained, and if the distance is, for example, 1 mm or less, the peak discriminating means 103 causes the next peak due to the reflected light flux n from the corneal endothelial cell N. It is determined to be peak V.

Then, the peak discriminating means 103 outputs the address v of the peak V to the focusing discriminating means 104. The focus determination means 104 determines whether the address information output from the peak determination means 103 matches the center address Q information which is the address of the element located at the center of the line sensor 47. Focus determination means 104 is peak determination means 103.
When the address information output from the same matches the central address Q information, the matching information is output to one terminal of the AND circuit 105. The output from the alignment detection sensor 100 is input to the other terminal of the AND circuit 105, and the AND circuit 1
Reference numeral 05 outputs a signal for turning off the light sources 7, 9, 17, 22, 30 and a photographing signal when the output input to both terminals is "H". The issuance control circuit 106 based on this photographing signal
Is driven, and the light source 32 is driven. As a result, the image of the front surface F of the corneal endothelial cell or the lens L is automatically executed.

In this embodiment, the switching mirror 5
Has been described as being driven into the optical path of the anterior ocular segment observation optical system 1 by directly driving the mirror drive circuit 5 ′ based on the output of the alignment detection sensor 100, but the switching mirror 5 precedes the emission of light from the light source 32. It suffices that the mirror drive circuit 5'be inserted into the optical path of the partial observation optical system 1, and the mirror drive circuit 5'can be driven based on a signal from the AND circuit 105.

Although the embodiment has been described above with respect to photographing the front surface of the crystalline lens of the human eye, the present invention can also be applied to photographing the front surface of the artificial crystalline lens. Further, the state of the tear film can be photographed by appropriately selecting the optical path length changing means 35a and 40a and appropriately adjusting the light emission amount of the light source 32.

In the embodiment, the illumination optical system 28
Although the optical path length changing unit 35a is provided in the above, the optical path length changing unit 35a is not necessary when the eye E to be inspected is illuminated with a thin parallel light beam.

[0038]

Since the eye microscope according to the present invention is configured as described above, the front surface of the lens, the surface of the artificial lens, and the corneal endothelium existing at different positions in the optical axis direction of the eye to be examined can be easily obtained by one device. This has the effect of observing / photographing the site of observation / imaging of cells and the like.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an optical system of an eyeball microscope according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an alignment optical system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a relationship between an anterior segment image displayed on a monitor and alignment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a reflection state of illumination light at the time of photographing a corneal endothelial cell.

FIG. 5 (a) is a diagram showing an intensity distribution of a reflected light flux when photographing a corneal endothelial cell, and FIG. 5 (b) is a correspondence between the intensity distribution of the reflected light flux and an optical image formed on the line sensor. It is a figure which shows a relationship.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a reflection state of illumination light when a front surface of a crystalline lens is photographed.

FIG. 7 (a) is a diagram showing the intensity distribution of the reflected light flux when the front surface of the lens is photographed, and FIG. 7 (b) is the correspondence between the intensity distribution of the reflected light flux and the optical image formed on the line sensor. It is a figure which shows a relationship.

FIG. 8 is a block circuit diagram for performing corneal endothelial cell imaging and automatic imaging of the front surface of the lens.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Anterior ocular segment observation optical system 28 ... Illumination optical system 29 ... Observation / photographing optical system 40a ... Optical path length changing means E ... Eye to be examined

Front page continued (72) Inventor Masaru Sato 75-1 Hasunuma-cho, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo Topcon Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Takeshi Haraguchi 75-1 Hasunuma-cho, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo Topcon Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An illumination optical system for irradiating illumination light to an eye to be examined obliquely, and an observation and photographing optical system for receiving and observing and photographing a reflection image of the observation / photographing target site of the subject's eye from an oblique direction. And an anterior ocular segment observation optical system for observing the anterior ocular segment of the subject's eye, and the observation and imaging optical system, the observation and imaging target site existing at different positions in the optical axis direction of the subject's eye was changed. Sometimes, an optical path length changing means for changing the optical path length of the observation / photographing optical system is provided.