JPS6224091B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to a corneal endothelial cell observation device.

On the back surface of the cornea of the human eye, there is a cell membrane made up of tortoiseshell-shaped cells of about 20 microns in size called corneal endothelial cells, and this cell membrane plays the most important role in maintaining the transparency of the cornea. The importance of observing and photographing the situation is being emphasized. For example, in corneal transplant surgery, it is important to observe corneal endothelial cells in order to know the condition of the endothelial cells in the cornea to be transplanted, and to monitor the progress of the surgery after the surgery to determine whether the surgery was successful or not. Furthermore, observation of corneal endothelial cells is necessary in order to understand the effects on cells when instruments are inserted into the eye or when an artificial crystalline lens is inserted during cataract surgery.
The endothelial cell membrane of the cornea, like the corneal stroma, is transparent;
Because the contrast with the surrounding area is weak, it is difficult to observe with a normal microscope, so a special lighting method is used. In other words, it is necessary to use a narrow slit light beam as the illumination light beam, and to place the illumination optical axis at an appropriate angle with respect to the observation/photography optical axis so that the reflected light from the corneal surface of the illumination light does not enter the imaging system. .

Conventionally, devices manufactured for this purpose can be roughly divided into those in which the illumination system and observation/photography system share an objective lens, and those in which both systems have separate objective lenses. However, to observe corneal endothelial cells, a magnification of about 100x or more is required, and to take a photograph, a magnification of about 20x or more is required, so corneal endothelial cell observation and photography equipment is Conventionally, they were manufactured as special-purpose machines, were expensive, and required advanced technology to operate.

Furthermore, in devices where the illumination system and observation system share an objective lens, the illumination light passes through the objective lens (reflection at the refractive surface of each lens in the optical system, causing flare and ghost images). (This may lead to deterioration of the observed image.) A format in which the illumination system and observation system each have separate objective lenses is possible if the cornea and objective lens are separated, and the corneal reflected light is It becomes stronger than the previous image and causes a ghost image to appear. Furthermore, due to the influence of the optical condition of the front surface of the cornea, there is a risk that true information about the state of cells on the back surface of the cornea may be distorted when photographing.

In order to eliminate these drawbacks, we have developed an immersion type objective lens in which a transparent member in the shape of a tapered cone is attached to the tip of the objective lens, and the tip of the member is brought into contact with the front surface of the subject's eye via a drug. system has been proposed. In this case, the cone angle of the transparent tip member is selected to be an angle that does not interfere with the projection of the illumination beam, so
In reality, the area of the tip surface becomes very small, and the entrance surface of the observation optical system becomes small. Therefore, a conical member with a thin tip and a clean edge is difficult to process, and causes diffuse reflection at the edge, resulting in harmful light entering the observation optical system. Also,
The illumination source needs to be relatively intense.

The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned problems in a corneal endothelial cell observation device having an objective lens system having a transparent tip member. It is characterized by having a shape. This notch is used to make the illumination light beam enter the subject's eye through it.Since the illumination system is generally mounted rotatably around an axis perpendicular to the optical axis of the observation system, the tip of the transparent member is placed at the notch position. It is preferable that the objective lens barrel be rotatably attached to the objective lens barrel so that it can be aligned with the incident direction of the illumination light. The transparent tip member may be formed by diagonally notching one side of a cylindrical or truncated conical body tapered at an appropriate cone angle. It is preferable that half or more be left.

According to the present invention, since the area of the tip surface of the tip transparent member can be made sufficiently large, the entrance pupil to the observation optical system is also large, and edge processing is relatively easy. Ghosts do not appear, and there is no need to make the illumination light source more powerful. Therefore, a large-sized light source device is not required.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be explained with reference to the figures. Figures 1 and 2 show an apparatus that can be used both as a slit lamp and as a corneal endothelial cell observation device by replacing the objective lens. These are a plan view and a side view showing an optical system when used as a slit lamp, in which an illumination system 1 includes an observation light source 3 placed in a conjugate position with a lens 2 in between.
Light from the light sources 3 and 4 passes through a lens 5, a slit diaphragm 6, and is projected onto the eye E by an objective lens 7.

The observation and photographing optical system 8 includes a binocular stereoscopic microscope system 9 and a photographing system 10. The binocular stereoscopic microscope system 9 includes a common objective lens 11 and a variable magnification lens 12a provided behind the common objective lens 11 and forming a pair of parallel optical paths. , 12b
The light beams passing through the variable magnification lenses 12a and 12b pass through lenses 13a and 13b and erecting porroprisms 14a and 14b, form images on imaging surfaces 15a and 15b, and are observed by eyepieces 16a and 16b. Ru. The photographing system 10 has half mirrors 17a and 17b provided between lenses 12a and 12b and lenses 13a and 13b.
7a and 17b reflect downward a part of the light beam that has passed through the variable magnification lenses 12a and 12b, and this reflected light beam is further reflected backward by a mirror 18 and forms an image on the photographic film surface 19.

FIG. 3 shows a specific configuration of the binocular stereoscopic microscope system 9, in which the variable magnification lenses 12a and 12b are mounted on the lens barrel 2 so as to be rotatable around an axis perpendicular to the optical axis.
The variable magnification lens 12 is mounted on a rotating member 21 attached to the
a, 12b, and the transparent hole 2 provided in the member 21.
2a and 22b are alternately inserted into the observation and photographing optical path. The objective lens 11 includes a lens frame 2 that is removably attached to the lens barrel 20 by a ring nut 23 that engages with a male threaded portion 20a at the tip of the lens barrel 20.
It is installed on 4.

4 and 5 show an optical system when the objective lens 11 in FIGS. 1 and 2 is replaced with an objective lens unit 30 and used as a corneal endothelial cell observation apparatus. 3
0 is an objective lens 3 placed close to the eye E to be examined.
4, and a reflecting mirror 3 for guiding the light beam passing through the objective lens 34 to the optical path of one variable magnification lens 12a.
5, 36, and a relay lens 37 placed between the reflecting mirror 36 and the variable magnification lens 12a. A transparent tip member 40 is arranged in front of the objective lens 34, and is pressed against the corneal surface of the eye to be examined through a drug during an examination.

FIG. 6 shows a concrete structure in which the objective lens 11 shown in FIG. 3 is removed from the lens barrel and an objective lens unit 30 for observing corneal endothelial cells is attached. 20
It has a case 32 that is removably attached to the tip of the lens barrel 32 with a ring nut 31, and a small-diameter lens barrel 33 that is fixed to the case 32 and projects forward.An objective lens 34 is attached to the tip of the lens barrel 33. ing. Inside the case 32 is a mirror 3 for guiding light incident along the optical axis of the objective lens 34 along one optical axis of the binocular stereoscopic microscope system.
5 and 36 are provided, and the case 32 is further provided with a relay lens 37 behind the mirror 36. The objective lens 34 has a focal length of 10 mm, for example.
The magnification is 5 times, and the light that has passed through the objective lens 34 is focused on the point 38, and then the relay lens 3
Lens 7 has a focal length of 50 mm, for example, and is arranged so that its focal position overlaps the imaging point 38, so that the light passing through the lens 37 becomes parallel light. Therefore, the subsequent optical system can be used as is for the slit lamp.

FIG. 7 shows a specific structure for attaching the transparent tip member 40. A tip support tube 41 is attached to the outside of the lens barrel 33 so as to be slidable in the axial direction and rotatable. A tip transparent member 40 is attached to the tip. A compression spring 42 is disposed between the support tube 41 and the lens barrel 33, and the support tube 41 is normally pushed forward. When the tip of the member 40 is pressed against the eye E during use,
The member 40 is pushed in together with the support cylinder 41 in the axial direction.

As shown in FIG. 8, the tip transparent member 40 has a shape in which one side of a truncated conical main body is notched diagonally toward the tip to form a cutout surface 40a, and the slit projection light beam is As shown at 43 in FIG. 7, from the side where this notch surface 40a is located,
projected on. Cutout surface 40a of transparent tip member 40
When forming the center 4 at the tip surface 40b,
It is preferable that 0c remain, that is, more than half of the tip surface 40b remains. Further, the tip transparent member is not limited to a conical shape, and the tip transparent member is not limited to a conical shape.
As shown in the figure, one side of the cylindrical main body 140 may be obliquely cut out to form a cutout surface 140a. Since the illumination system 1 can rotate around the optical axis of the objective lens of the microscope system 9, the transparent tip member 40 is rotatably supported so that its cutout surface 40a is aligned with the incident direction of the illumination light. .

Since the tip transparent member of the present invention can have a sufficiently large area of the tip surface that contacts the corneal surface of the eye to be examined, the entrance pupil of the observation and photographing optical system can be sufficiently large.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a plan view of the optical system when the device is used as a slit lamp, which can be used both as a slit lamp and as a corneal endothelial cell observation device by changing the objective lens, and Figure 2 is a side view of the device. Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the specific configuration of the binocular stereoscopic microscope section in the optical system shown in Figures 1 and 2, and Figure 4 is a sectional view showing the specific structure of the binocular stereoscopic microscope section in the optical system shown in Figures 1 and 2. A plan view showing a state in which it is used as an endothelial cell observation device, FIG. 5 is a side view thereof, FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing its specific structure, and FIG.
The figure is a cross-sectional view showing the support structure of the tip transparent member.
FIG. 9 and FIG. 9 are perspective views showing examples of the transparent tip member, respectively. 30... Objective lens unit, 40... Tip transparent member, 40a... Notch surface, 40c... Tip surface.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Includes a slit illumination system for projecting slit illumination light onto the eye to be examined, and an observation optical system for observing the slit illumination section, the observation optical system being in contact with the cornea of the eye to be examined. In a corneal endothelial cell observation device comprising an objective system having a transparent tip member,
The corneal endothelial cell observation device is characterized in that the tip transparent member has a shape in which one side is notched diagonally toward the tip. 2. The corneal endothelial cell observation device according to item 1, wherein the transparent tip member is notched so that more than half of the total area of the tip surface remains. 3. The corneal endothelial cell observation device according to item 1 or 2, wherein the transparent tip member has a shape in which one side of the truncated conical main body is tapered toward the tip and one side thereof is notched diagonally toward the tip. 4. The corneal endothelial cell observation device according to the above item 1 or 2, wherein the transparent tip member has a shape in which one side of the cylindrical body is notched diagonally toward the tip. 5. The corneal endothelial cell observation device according to any one of Items 1 to 4 above, wherein the transparent tip member is rotatably attached around its axis.