KR101494535B1 - Apparatus to provide beam by using near infrared light source - Google Patents

Abstract

A beam irradiation apparatus using a near-infrared light source according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a light source for generating near-infrared light; An optical splitter connected to the light source by an optical fiber and distributing the light to a plurality of lights; And a plurality of irradiating units for receiving the light distributed from the optical distributor and irradiating a beam of near-infrared rays toward the measurement object, wherein the beam irradiated from the plurality of irradiation units to the measurement object can be reflected from the measurement object and directed toward the objective lens. According to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to dispose an apparatus for irradiating near-infrared light to the measurement target object, for example, the edge of the objective lens close to the eyeball, thereby simplifying the optical system of the near-infrared microscope, Thereby reducing the loss of returned light.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a near-infrared light source,

A beam irradiation apparatus using a near-infrared light source is disclosed. More specifically, it is possible to reduce the loss of light reflected or reflected by the irradiated light or the eyeball, which can be disposed at the measurement target object, for example, at the edge of the objective lens close to the eyeball, thereby simplifying the optical system of the near- A beam irradiation apparatus using a light source is disclosed.

Generally, in order to make a light source enter an ophthalmologic microscope, there is a method of arranging a beam splitter between a relay lens and an eyepiece inside a microscope, and a method of arranging a mirror at the center of both relay lenses.

Because of the optical systems that are placed in order to enter the light source in a general ophthalmologic microscope, the volume occupying the space becomes large and the optical loss also occurs. In addition, since the area of the irradiated light beam is fixed, more light than necessary is focused, giving fatigue to the eyeball, and there is a disadvantage that the recovery time after taking a microscope is prolonged.

An object of an embodiment of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for irradiating a near infrared ray light to an object to be measured, for example, an edge of an objective lens close to an eyeball, thereby simplifying an optical system of a near-infrared microscope, Which can reduce the loss of light reflected by the light source and returned to the light source.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a near-infrared microscope capable of controlling the irradiation angle of the beam in the main body of the apparatus and adjusting the amount of light and the irradiation area according to the microscope magnification, And to provide an irradiation device.

A beam irradiating apparatus using a near-infrared light source according to an embodiment of the present invention is a beam irradiating apparatus using a near-infrared light source mounted adjacent to an objective lens of a microscope for acquiring image information of a measurement object, comprising: a light source for generating near- An optical splitter connected to the light source by an optical fiber and distributing the light to a plurality of lights; And a plurality of irradiating units for receiving the light distributed from the optical distributor and irradiating a beam of near-infrared rays toward the measurement object, wherein the beam irradiated from the plurality of irradiation units to the measurement object is reflected from the measurement object It is possible to dispose an apparatus for irradiating near-infrared light to the measurement target object, for example, the edge of the objective lens close to the eyeball, thereby simplifying the optical system of the near-infrared microscope, The loss of light reflected from the light or the eyeball can be reduced.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the plurality of irradiation units are installed in a circumferential direction and further include a device body having a hollow cylindrical shape, and the objective lens may be disposed adjacent to an upper portion of the hollow portion of the device body.

According to one aspect, the irradiation unit includes a collimator; And a beam collimating lens for condensing the beam passing through the collimator, wherein the beam collimating lens is mounted on the angle adjusting element and is selectively adjustable in angle.

According to one aspect, the light source may be a superluminescent diode (SLD), a light emitting diode (LED), a laser diode (LD), a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA), a titanium sapphire laser (Ti: Saphire laser), and a supercontinuum source (near-infrared light source).

According to one aspect of the present invention, the optical splitter is a 1 × n optical splitter having one input and a plurality of outputs, and includes a fiber optic based optical coupler, an optical fiber based optical power splitter, a planar optical waveguide optical coupler, a planar optical waveguide power splitter, Or an optical splitter.

According to one aspect, the beam irradiating device may be an apparatus applied to an ocular near-infrared microscope for photographing an eyeball as the measurement object.

Meanwhile, a beam irradiation apparatus using a near-infrared light source according to an embodiment of the present invention is a beam irradiation apparatus using a near-infrared light source mounted adjacent to an objective lens of a microscope for acquiring image information of a measurement object, And a plurality of irradiation units mounted on the apparatus main body and irradiating a beam of near-infrared rays toward the measurement object, wherein the plurality of irradiation units can individually include a light source for providing a beam of near-infrared rays, It is possible to dispose an apparatus for irradiating near-infrared light to the edge of the objective lens close to the eyeball, thereby simplifying the optical system of the near-infrared microscope and reducing the loss of light to be irradiated or returning from the eyeball.

According to one aspect, the irradiating unit includes: a collimator for collimating light emitted from the light source; And a beam collimating lens for converging the beam passing through the collimator, wherein the beam collimating lens is mounted on the angle adjusting element and can be selectively angularly adjusted.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to dispose an apparatus for irradiating near-infrared light to the measurement target object, for example, the edge of the objective lens close to the eyeball, thereby simplifying the optical system of the near-infrared microscope, Thereby reducing the loss of returned light.

Also, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the irradiation angle of the beam can be adjusted within the apparatus main body, and a near-infrared microscope capable of adjusting the light amount and the irradiation area according to the microscope magnification can be realized.

Further, according to the embodiment of the present invention, it can be variously used as an apparatus for providing light in an optical microscope using different wavelengths as well as an ophthalmic near-infrared microscope.

FIG. 1 is a view schematically showing a configuration of a beam irradiation apparatus using a near-infrared light source according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a side view of Fig. 1. Fig.
FIG. 3 is a view showing a state in which the beam generated by the beam irradiation device of FIG. 1 is directed to the center. FIG.
Fig. 4 is a view showing a state in which a beam generated by the beam irradiation device of Fig. 1 is provided in parallel to the eyeball. Fig.
FIG. 5 is a view showing a schematic configuration of a microscope to which a beam irradiation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.
6 is a view schematically showing a configuration of a beam irradiation apparatus using a near-infrared light source according to another embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 7 is a side view of Fig. 6. Fig.

Hereinafter, configurations and applications according to embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The following description is one of many aspects of the claimed invention and the following description forms part of a detailed description of the present invention.

In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail for the sake of clarity and conciseness.

FIG. 1 is a view schematically showing a configuration of a beam irradiation apparatus using a near-infrared light source according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a cross- FIG. 4 is a view showing a state in which a beam generated by the beam irradiation device of FIG. 1 is provided in parallel to the eyeball. FIG.

As shown in these drawings, the beam irradiating apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a light source 110 for generating light having a near-infrared wavelength, a light source 110 for distributing near- An optical distributor 130 and a plurality of irradiating units 160 for irradiating the light distributed from the optical distributor 130 toward the eyeball 101.

Here, the apparatus main body 150, in which a plurality of irradiating units 160 are installed apart from each other in the circumferential direction, has a hollow cylindrical shape as a whole. The objective lens 210 provided in the microscope 200 (see FIG. 5) can be positioned directly above the apparatus main body 150. By this configuration, the beam irradiated from the irradiation unit 160 in the direction of the eye 101 (See FIG. 2) is reflected by the eyeball 101. At this time, a beam reflected and returned to the eyeball 101 can reach the objective lens through the hollow portion 150S of the apparatus main body 150. FIG.

First, the apparatus main body 150 of this embodiment can be disposed at a position closest to the objective lens 210. [ Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a separate space for the optical system arrangement, so that the volume of the microscope 200 to which the beam irradiation apparatus 100 of the present embodiment is applied can be reduced.

The beam irradiating apparatus 100 using the near-infrared light source according to the present embodiment includes a single light source 110. The light emitted from the light source 110 is distributed through the optical distributor 130, 160 < / RTI >

The light source 110 of this embodiment may be a superluminescent diode (SLD), a light emitting diode (LED), a laser diode (LD), a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) Various near-infrared light sources such as a sapphire laser (Ti: Saphire laser), a supercontinuum source, and the like can be used. However, the type of the light source 110 is not limited thereto.

The light source 110 and the optical distributor 130 are connected to each other by the optical fiber 120 and the near-infrared light generated from the light source 110 may be provided to the optical distributor 130 through the optical fiber 120. The optical splitter 130 of the present embodiment can be applied to a 1 x n optical splitter having one input and a plurality of outputs.

Various optical distributors such as optical fiber based optical couplers, optical fiber based optical power distributors, flat plate type optical waveguide optical couplers, flat plate type optical waveguide power dividers, and optical waveguide dividers can be applied to the optical distributor 130 of the present embodiment. However, the type of the optical distributor 130 is not limited thereto.

Meanwhile, since the optical splitter 130 of the present embodiment is based on an optical fiber or a planar type optical waveguide, it can be provided in a small size and can be misaligned according to an impact like a general optical system.

Accordingly, the plurality of irradiation units 160 of the present embodiment may include the collimator 161 and the beam collimating lens 163. Here, the beam adjusting lens 163 is coupled to the angle adjusting element 165 so that the angle of the beam adjusting lens 163 can be adjusted, whereby the angle of the beam with respect to the eyeball 101 can be selectively Can be adjusted.

The beam adjusting lens 163 can be angularly adjusted in the direction of the center of the objective lens 210 or the orthogonal direction of the eyeball 101 to be measured by using the angle adjusting element 165. [

Here, when the beam adjusting lens 163 is aligned with the center of the objective lens 210, as shown in FIG. 3, the beam 103 is irradiated onto the narrower area S1, So that a higher light amount can be irradiated.

On the other hand, when the beam adjusting lens 163 is aligned in a direction orthogonal to the eyeball 101, as shown in Fig. 4, the beam 103 is irradiated to a wider area S2, It is possible to irradiate a lower amount of light.

In general, when a high magnification is photographed using the microscope 200, a sharp light microscope image can be obtained by irradiating a small amount of light to a narrow area. Therefore, the beam can be irradiated to the center of the objective lens 210 using the angle adjusting element 165 The beam adjusting lens 163 is adjusted. In order to irradiate a beam in a direction orthogonal to the eye 101 by using an angle adjusting element 165 so that a sharp microscopic image can be captured by dispersing the light amount in a wide area when photographing a low magnification, 165 can be adjusted.

As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the beam irradiating apparatus 100 of this embodiment for irradiating the near-infrared ray light to the edge of the objective lens 210 close to the eyeball 101 can be disposed, It is possible to simplify the optical system of the eyeball 101 and reduce the loss of the light to be irradiated or the light reflected from the eyeball 101. [

Further, the angle of the beam adjusting lens 163 can be adjusted by the angle adjusting element 165 inside the apparatus main body 150, so that the irradiation angle of the beam can be adjusted. Accordingly, the amount of light corresponding to the magnification of the microscope and the irradiation area It is possible to realize a near-infrared microscope capable of adjusting the intensity of the light.

Meanwhile, the beam irradiation apparatus 100 of the embodiment described above can be applied to the near-infrared microscope 200 that acquires image information of the eye 101 as described above.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a schematic configuration of a microscope to which a beam irradiation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

As shown in the figure, the objective lens 210 closest to the eyeball 101 in the configuration of the microscope 200 and the beam irradiation apparatus 100 of this embodiment are attached.

With this configuration, the beam 103 irradiated from the beam irradiating apparatus 100 is reflected by the surface of the eyeball 101, and the reflected beam 103a is guided to the objective lens 210 at this time. The reflected near-infrared beam 103a is focused through the relay lenses 211 and 212 and the eyepiece 213 and reaches the CCD camera 220 to acquire image information. In addition, the image information acquired by the CCD camera 200 can be confirmed through a display (not shown).

Hereinafter, a beam irradiating apparatus using a near-infrared light source according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described, but a description of the same parts as those of the beam irradiating apparatus of the above embodiment will be omitted.

FIG. 6 is a view schematically showing a configuration of a beam irradiation apparatus using a near-infrared light source according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a side view of FIG.

As shown in these drawings, the beam irradiating apparatus 300 of this embodiment has a configuration similar to that of the beam irradiating apparatus 100 (see Fig. 1) of the above-described embodiment in that it is disposed adjacent to the objective lens 410, There is a difference in the light source 310.

In this embodiment, the light source 310 for generating the near-infrared ray light may be provided in a corresponding number of the plurality of irradiation units 360 and may be provided in each irradiation unit 360. 7, each irradiator 360 may include a light source 310, a collimator 361, and a beam collimating lens 363 coupled to the angle adjustor 365, Accordingly, the irradiation direction and the light amount of the beam can be selectively controlled.

In the embodiments described above, the case where the beam irradiating apparatus is applied to the ophthalmic microscope has been described above, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and it is obvious that the present invention is also applicable to optical microscopes using different wavelengths.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, such modifications or variations are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims.

100: Beam irradiation device using a near-infrared light source
101: eyeball
110: Light source
120: Optical fiber
130: optical distributor
150:
160:
161: Collimator
163: Lens for beam adjustment
165: Angle adjustment element
200: Microscope
210: Objective lens

Claims (8)

A beam irradiation apparatus using a near-infrared light source mounted adjacent to an objective lens of a microscope for acquiring image information of a measurement target,
A light source for generating near-infrared light;
An optical splitter connected to the light source by an optical fiber and distributing the light to a plurality of lights; And
And a plurality of irradiating units for receiving the light distributed from the optical distributor and irradiating a beam of near infrared rays toward the object to be measured,
Wherein the beam irradiated from the plurality of irradiation units to the measurement target object is reflected from the measurement target object and is directed to the objective lens,
The irradiation unit
Collimator; And
And a beam collimating lens for converging the beam passing through the collimator,
Wherein the beam adjusting lens is mounted on the angle adjusting element and is selectively adjustable in angle, using a near-infrared light source.
The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a device main body having a plurality of irradiation portions embedded in a circumferential direction and having a hollow cylindrical shape,
And the objective lens is disposed adjacent to an upper portion of the hollow portion of the apparatus main body.
delete The method according to claim 1,
The light source may be a superluminescent diode (SLD), a light emitting diode (LED), a laser diode (LD), a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA), a titanium sapphire laser (Ti: laser, and a supercontinuum source.
The method according to claim 1,
The optical splitter is a 1 × n optical splitter having one input and a plurality of outputs, and is a 1 × n optical splitter having any one of an optical fiber based optical coupler, an optical fiber based optical power splitter, a planar optical waveguide optical coupler, a planar optical waveguide power splitter, Which is an optical distributor of the beam splitter.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the beam irradiating device is a device applied to an ocular near-infrared microscope for photographing an eyeball as the measurement object.
A beam irradiation apparatus using a near-infrared light source mounted adjacent to an objective lens of a microscope for acquiring image information of a measurement target,
A device body; And
And a plurality of irradiation units mounted on the apparatus main body and irradiating a beam of near-infrared rays toward the measurement target body,
The plurality of irradiation units individually include a light source for providing a near-infrared beam,
The irradiation unit
A collimator for collimating light emitted from the light source; And
And a beam collimating lens for converging the beam passing through the collimator,
Wherein the beam adjusting lens is mounted on the angle adjusting element and is selectively adjustable in angle, using a near-infrared light source. delete

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