KR20120012367A - Portable ocular light therapy device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A portable ocular light therapy apparatus is provided to enhance total efficiency of collecting and utilizing lights. CONSTITUTION: A portable ocular light therapy apparatus comprises: a base board(11); arrays of LEDs(12) mounted on a surface of the base board; arrays of Fresnel lens(13) located on the array of LEDs; and housings which have openings. Each of the LEDs attached to the surface of the base board has light emitting angle from 60degree to 130degree. The base board is a printed circuit board. The wavelength of emitted light from LEDs is from 400nm to 800nm.

Description

PORTABLE OCULAR LIGHT THERAPY DEVICE

The present invention relates to a light therapy device, and more particularly to a portable ophthalmic light therapy device for the treatment of light deficient disorders.

It is estimated that up to 30% of Western Europeans and North Americans suffer from seasonal depression (SAD) (a form of major depression) or mild winter blues during the winter months; The proportion of these patients is thought to be low in China, but still stands out. On the other hand, millions of people in China and around the world suffer from the destruction of their internal circadian rhythms ("internal clocks"), not only due to shifts, jet lags, but also various sleep disorders. In addition, myopia as well as cognitive and learning skills ("only visible") are important health issues for hundreds of millions of children and adolescents in China and around the world, while millions of adults have chemotherapy-related chemotherapy. various types including -related fatigue, postpartum and postpartum depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety disorder, and obesity Gets sick. The researchers note that these health problems and medical disorders, as well as other health conditions not listed here, are induced, in whole or in part, due to our modern lifestyles not being properly exposed to bright sunlight every day, and consequently I think it will interfere with our internal clock.

The researchers found that effective methods for the treatment of the aforementioned disorders and health conditions, as well as other health conditions not listed herein, extend the daily exposure time to exposure to bright light, and / or to bright light at specific times. Appropriate exposure has been revealed, which has led to the development of corresponding phototherapy devices. For example, US Pat. No. 6,875,225 discloses a light therapy device for treating light deficiency disorders, which is small in size and light in weight and therefore portable, especially ocular light therapy, i.e. treatment with bright light entering the eye (which Having biological, physical and / or psychological therapeutic advantages. In US Pat. No. 6,875,225, the light therapy device uses a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) as a light source. Indeed, most LED eye light therapy devices provide a uniform and more comfortable (less shiny) light source, including an array of Fresnel lenses and a diffuser, wherein the light emitted from the LEDs is After collimating through an array of Fresnel lenses located above, it is diffused by a diffuser located above the array of Fresnel lenses.

One of the disadvantages of the phototherapy device is that even if the thickness of the device can be controlled to less than 40 mm, it still cannot meet the growth requirements of smaller and thinner thickness for such a device. Generally speaking, patients suffering from emotional or mental disorders are often reluctant to know others about their condition, which induces shame in the open use of phototherapy devices. Thus, the device can be made more portable, i.e., smaller and thinner, and designed to be essentially like a 'medical device' so as not to draw attention from others even when the device is in operation. Only, patients may not mind. Thus, there is a need for smaller phototherapy devices; In particular, it is expected that the overall thickness of the device will not exceed 20 mm.

Another disadvantage of existing phototherapy devices is that in addition to the array of LEDs as light sources and the array of Fresnel lenses used to collimate the light, the device further comprises an additional optical component, namely a diffuser. The diffuser serves to adjust the size of the light patch on the user's face (also called the "subject window") and to improve the uniformity of the LED lighting. However, this configuration causes additional loss of light due to the incorporation of additional optical elements and leads to insufficient overall efficiency of the phototherapy device.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a portable ophthalmic light therapy device having a smaller size, in particular having a thickness of less than 20 mm.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a portable ocular light therapy device having a higher overall efficiency in light collection and utilization.

In order to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages in existing phototherapy devices and to achieve the above objects of the present invention, the inventors have conducted extensive research, the following methods:

a) using an array of low-profile surface mount LEDs as a light source;

b) increasing the light emitting angle of the LEDs, thereby reducing the distance between the LEDs and Fresnel lenses;

c) by appropriately selecting the LED emitting area and Fresnel lens focal length to optimize the subject window, omitting additional optical elements such as diffusers;

It has been found that the thickness of the light treatment device can be minimized.

Therefore, in one embodiment of the present invention, a portable ocular light therapy apparatus is provided, the apparatus comprising: a base board; An array of LEDs surface mounted to the substrate, each of the LEDs having an emission angle of 60 to 130 °, preferably 100 to 130 °; An array of Fresnel lenses positioned above the array of LEDs, wherein the array of Fresnel lenses and the array of LEDs are spatially aligned; And a housing having an opening, through which the light can be emitted from the array of LEDs.

Although the diffuser may be omitted to reduce the thickness, the optical therapy device of the present invention may include other optical components, such as a diffuser or a low lens, to further improve optical performance. Thus, in one embodiment of the invention, the portable ophthalmic light therapy device may include a diffuser located over an array of Fresnel lenses. In another embodiment of the present invention, the portable ophthalmic light therapy device may comprise a weak power lens positioned over the array of Fresnel lenses.

According to embodiments of the portable ophthalmic light therapy device of the present invention, the light emitting area of each surface-mounted LED is 1 to 3 mm in diameter, and the focal length of each Fresnel lens is 4 to 8 mm, respectively Fresnel lens of has a diameter of 10 to 30 mm. In one embodiment, each element of the Fresnel lens array is hexagonal in shape.

The portable ophthalmic light therapy device according to the invention is much thinner and therefore overall smaller in size. In addition, because each Fresnel lens images the emission area of each corresponding LED directly on the user's face, light utilization efficiency can be maximized. In addition, manufacturing costs can be reduced and any additional optical elements, such as diffusers, can be omitted so that the weight of the device can be reduced.

1 is a schematic diagram of an optical assembly of a conventional portable ophthalmic optical therapy device;
2 is a schematic view of an optical assembly of a portable ophthalmic light therapy device according to one embodiment of the present invention;
3 is a schematic diagram of an optical path of a portable ophthalmic light therapy device according to an embodiment of the invention as shown in FIG. 2;
4 is a schematic diagram of an array pattern of an array of Fresnel lenses and an array of LEDs of a portable ophthalmic light therapy apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention; And
5 is a schematic diagram of a configuration of a portable ophthalmic light therapy device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The invention will be explained in more detail below in connection with the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings should be considered as illustrative rather than restrictive.

1 is a schematic diagram of an optical assembly of a conventional portable ophthalmic light therapy device. As shown in FIG. 1, the optical assembly comprises a substrate 11, an array of LEDs 12 mounted to the substrate 11, an array of Fresnel lenses 13 positioned over the array of LEDs 12, And a diffuser 14 located above the array of Fresnel lenses. The array of LEDs 12 may consist of 24 arrays (only two of them are shown in FIG. 1), each having an emission angle of about 50 °. An NSPW510BS type LED available from Nichia Corporation (Japan) can be used. Corresponding to the array of LEDs 12, the array of Fresnel lenses 13 consists of 24 Fresnel lenses. The array of Fresnel lenses 13 receives and collimates the light emitted from the array of LEDs 12, the collimated light is transferred through the diffuser 14 and only onto a user's face, i.e. a specific area of the subject window. Evenly illuminated.

The optical assembly constructed as shown in FIG. 1 has a thickness of about 25 mm, which means the distance between the bottom of the substrate 11 and the top of the diffuser 14. Considering the required housing, the overall thickness of the device will be 30 to 40 mm.

2 is a schematic diagram of an optical assembly of a portable ophthalmic light therapy device according to one embodiment of the invention. In the embodiment as shown in FIG. 2, an array 22 of surface mount LEDs (only two LEDs are shown) is used as the light source. Surface mounted LEDs have an essentially lower height and can also be mounted directly on the substrate 21, contributing to some reduction in the thickness of the device.

In addition, the distance between the array of LEDs 22 and the array of Fresnel lenses 23 can be greatly shortened, which is required between the LED and the Fresnel lens at a wider LED emission angle while maintaining consistency within the illumination area. The distance will be narrower.

Light emitted from the array of LEDs 22 and collimated through the array of Fresnel lenses 23 is projected directly onto the user's face without the need to provide a diffuser over the array of Fresnel lenses 23. Through proper selection of the Fresnel lens focal length and the LED light emitting area, most of the total light emitted by the array of LEDs is efficiently relayed into a well-defined subject window.

3 is a schematic diagram of an optical path of a portable ocular light therapy device according to an embodiment of the invention as shown in FIG. 2. For simplicity, only one surface mount LED is shown in FIG. 3, while the subject window is a composite image of all LED light emitting regions. In FIG. 3, the subject window 34 is formed by light emitted from the surface mounted LED 32 on the substrate 31 and collimated by the Fresnel lens 33.

In this embodiment, the LED used is an NSSW0664 type LED manufactured by Nichia Corporation (Japan), which has a light emitting angle of 120 ° and a light emitting area of 2.4 mm in diameter; The Fresnel lens used has a diameter of 24 mm and a focal length of 6 mm. The distance between the light therapy device and the user's face is 600 mm, leading to a well-defined subject window about 240 mm in diameter.

According to this embodiment, when the user's eye is inside the subject window, each element of the Fresnel lens array 23 appears to be filled with a virtual image of the corresponding LED emitting area, and appears bright enough, It works efficiently like a large secondary light source. As the user's eyes move out of the subject window, the user notices that the brightness of the Fresnel lens elements quickly drops to low levels due to the efficient light concentration in the defined subject window.

According to this embodiment, the portable ophthalmic light therapy device of the present invention has several advantages. First, the distance from the substrate 21 to the top surface of the Fresnel lens array 23 can be about 10 mm, thereby enabling a very thin phototherapy device. Secondly, because the light collection efficiency is high and almost all of the collected lights are projected into a well-defined subject window, the required LED output power is minimized and the overall efficiency of the device is high. Third, by doing surface mount LEDs and corresponding Fresnel lenses without other optical elements, it helps to reduce manufacturing costs and reduce the weight of the device. Finally, because the Fresnel lens element appears to be filled with light, the glare is minimized and is not harmful to the eye when directed and used.

In general, the finished phototherapy device may incorporate an array of 10 to 15 or more light emitting elements, each of which provides a similar LED image to the entire subject window. The number of LEDs can be selected as required by those skilled in the art. The LED array can be arranged in various patterns, such as a hexagonal pattern. The Fresnel lens array can be spatially aligned with the LED array. 4 is a schematic diagram of an array pattern of an array of Fresnel lenses and an array of LEDs of a portable ophthalmic light therapy apparatus according to one embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the LED array includes 13 surface mount LEDs, each located within the center region of each hexagon. Correspondingly, the Fresnel lens array also includes 13 lenses, which are hexagonal in shape and spatially aligned with the 13 LEDs.

In another embodiment of the present invention, additional optical components may be included if required to further optimize the subject window, but this only results in an increase in overall thickness and a decrease in overall efficiency. Those skilled in the art will be able to weight various factors and make appropriate decisions depending on the specific requirements. For example, an additional weak power lens can be positioned directly in front of the Fresnel lens array to accommodate the rear layout of the individual array elements and to eliminate small displacements between the individual contributions to the subject window. Alternatively, the diffuser may be located directly in front of the Fresnel lens array to flatten any non-uniformity of the subject window.

5 is a schematic diagram of a configuration of a portable ophthalmic light therapy device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 5, the portable ocular phototherapy device includes a substrate 51, an array of LEDs 52, an array of Fresnel lenses (not shown), and a housing 53, 54. In this embodiment, the substrate 51, the array of LEDs and the array of Fresnel lenses (not shown) are configured in the same manner as shown in FIG. The housing comprises two parts, namely the front part 53 and the rear part 54, which can be made of plastic molding or metallized materials, for example. The front portion 53 has an opening 55 through which light can be emitted from the array of LEDs. The opening 55 may be covered with a transparent material such as transparent plastic or glass.

The array of LEDs 52 can emit any light color in the visible spectrum of 400-800 nm. However, since white light emitting LEDs comprising a dark blue component with a peak wavelength close to 460 nm have proven effective for treatment, LEDs that emit white light with a dark blue light component within a wavelength of 440 to 480 nm are more. desirable. In one embodiment, the LEDs emit light in the UV range, ie less than 400 nm.

In one embodiment, the portable ocular light therapy device 50 includes a docking station 58 that includes a support that supports the device 50 and adjusts the orientation of the device 50. The cradle 58 is connected to the housing by pin coupling, hinge coupling, screw mounting or other suitable connection schemes.

Actuation buttons 56 that can provide on / off actuation or other functional actuations may be mounted within the cradle or within the front, side or back of the device housing 50. The cradle may include a small LCD display to facilitate programming, timer functions, alarm clocks, dawn simulation and other functions. The substrate 51 may be a printed circuit board (PCB) including circuits capable of performing a predetermined function. In one embodiment, through the PCB and the corresponding actuation button, the LED elements are programmed to increase the light brightness from zero to a predefined value at a preset time to provide sunrise reproduction. The rear portion 54 is provided with a battery cover 57, which may be contained in an enclosure similar to a mobile phone. The device may also characterize integrated components to enable USB and Bluetooth® connectivity.

According to the embodiment of FIG. 5, the portable ophthalmic light therapy device 50 has a thickness of less than 13 mm, a length of less than 130 mm, and a width of less than 80 mm. Such a compact size phototherapy device may be used discreetly in various situations, such as at home, in an office or in a classroom, while traveling by airplane, bus, train, car, and the like.

The foregoing description of the embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, but is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Many modifications, variations and adaptations to these embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the claims.

Claims (14)

A portable ocular light therapy apparatus,
A base board;
An array of LEDs surface-mounted on the substrate, each of the LEDs having an emission angle of 60 to 130 °;
An array of Fresnel lenses located above the array of LEDs, wherein the array of Fresnel lenses and the array of LEDs are spatially aligned; And
And a housing having an opening, through which the light can be emitted from the array of LEDs. The method of claim 1,
And wherein each of the LEDs has a light emission angle of 100 to 130 °. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
And the substrate is a printed circuit board. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
And a wavelength of light emitted from the LEDs is 400 to 800 nm. The method of claim 4, wherein
And a wavelength of light emitted from the LEDs is 440 to 480 nm. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
And a wavelength of light emitted from the LEDs is less than 400 nm. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
Wherein each LED has a light emitting area having a diameter of 1 to 3 mm. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
Each Fresnel lens has a focal length of 4 to 8 mm. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
Each Fresnel lens is hexagonal in shape and has a diameter of 10 to 30 mm. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
And a diffuser positioned over the array of Fresnel lenses. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
And a weak lens positioned over the array of Fresnel lenses. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
And a docking station coupled to the housing. The method of claim 3, wherein
And the LEDs are programmed to increase light brightness from zero to a predefined value at a predetermined time. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13,
A portable ocular light therapy device having a thickness of less than 20 mm.

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