SI22179A - Portable slot lamp with integrated digital camera and exposure shutter - Google Patents

Abstract

The portable slot lamp with integrated digital camera and exposure shutter enables at the same time visual monitoring and quality recording of eye check-ups. During the monitoring, the doctor has the option to record the eye in the form of individual still shots or sequences of still images or in the form of moving recordings. A special exposure shutter projects an illumination slot of selected shape onto the eye, while apart from that it ensures an additional quantity of light during recording. The construction concept enables the integration of the exposure shutter inside portable or permanent versions of slot lamps. For monitoring the back of the eye there is a non-contact lens attached to the slot lamp, so that the focus of the non-contact lens matches the focus of the slot lamp or microscope objective and that the rays of light reaching the patient's eye are parallel.

Description

PORTABLE SPRING LAMP WITH DIGITAL CAMERA AND LIGHTING SCREEN

The field of technology

The invention belongs to the field of medical devices for the diagnosis of eye diseases, more specifically to the field of devices for illumination and recording of eyes when inspected.

A technical problem

A technical problem solved by a portable slit lamp with a built-in digital camera and an aperture is the construction of a slit diagnostic luminaire that provides sufficient light in the viewing area to allow a satisfactory recording of the inspected eye. The illumination aperture must ensure that the image is a clear image of a part of the eye illuminated by a narrow aperture that does not normally provide enough light for clear and distinct shots. The design solution must ensure the installation of the aperture according to the invention in portable and stationary versions of slit lamps, regardless of the type of light source.

Another technical problem solved by the portable slit lamp according to the invention is the solution of the installation of a non-contact lens for observing the eye background, which is not normally integrated into the slit lamp. For this purpose, a suitable holder must be constructed to which a non-contact lens can be attached so that the focal point of the non-contact lens on the holder coincides with that of the slit lamp.

The prior art

Slit lamps are used in eye examination to illuminate a selected part of the eye by means of an illuminating slit. It is of great help to the physician when he / she is able to record the observed parts of the eye on an ongoing basis, as he / she can examine the images in detail afterwards, and can build up a database of individual patients' eyes.

The amount of light projected through the slit lamp slot onto the observed eye is, except for very expensive digital camera designs, too small for quality shooting. The digital camera sensor, in low light, makes it difficult to integrate individual parts (dots) into the whole picture, and the integration speed is greatly reduced, so the ability to record sequential sequences or record video is reduced. The result is low-quality, unclear and often even useless shots for the doctor that do not show the actual visual image of the illuminated part of the eye. So far, several solutions have been proposed to improve the illumination of slit lamps or eye-observation devices. Known solutions can be broadly grouped into three groups. In the first group there are versions of slit lamps with additional light sources. Such embodiments are described, for example, in patents JP2004290461, JP2003299619, JP2002102173, US6072623 and US5196874. In the second group there are versions of slit lamps with a single light source and branched light paths. An example of this embodiment is given in US4102565. In the third group there are embodiments by varying the luminous intensity of the light source; an example of this embodiment is given in patent US6283596. The problem with the first two aforementioned solution groups is the additional light sources or additional structures for the light paths, which make the structure more cumbersome for portable slit lamp designs, and the handling of such slit lamp is more difficult and less reliable. In the third group of solutions, the main problem is that they do not allow simultaneous recording of eye structures located outside the area illuminated only by the projection of a narrow slit.

When observing the ocular background, the physician places a non-contact, high-diopter non-contact lens between the patient's eye and the exit lens of the slit lamp microscope, the focal point of which must coincide with the focus of the slit lamp microscope. To date, the slit lamps have to be held by the lens, which makes it difficult to inspect the eye, and in this way it is difficult to constantly ensure that the focal points of the non-contact lens and the slit lamp match.

Description of solution to a technical problem

An essential feature of a portable slit lamp with a built-in digital camera and an aperture according to the invention is that it allows simultaneous visual inspection and recording of the selected spot in the eye and provides sufficient illumination of the eye to produce high quality and distinctive images.

The beam travels from the light source first through the condenser optics, then through one of the slots on the illumination aperture, ensuring that the illumination gaps on the eye are uniformly illuminated, for example by Koehler illumination, and through the back lens and through prisms or mirrors to the examined eye. When shooting with a digital camera, the image in the image is the area of the eye that is illuminated by the projection of a narrow illumination slot, as this image of the doctor is most interested in examination. A sufficient amount of light for the digital camera sensor is provided by an additional opening along the sides of the illumination slot, which also ensures that the eye area is illuminated by the illumination gap, which is also helpful to the physician when observing.

The portable slit lamp with a built-in digital camera and an aperture according to the invention is described in more detail below by means of the following figures:

Figure 1 - Schematic illustration of a portable slit lamp with integrated digital camera and illumination aperture.

Figure 2 - Schematic representation of an aperture containing a slot (in Figure 2a) or an aperture (in Figure 2b) for capturing an eye with a digital camera and conventional slots for observing the eye.

Figure 3 - Schematic illustration of magnifying elements for viewing and recording

- view from above.

Figure 4 - Schematic view of magnifying elements for viewing and recording

- side view.

Figure 5 - Schematic illustration of the placement of a non-contact lens for observing the eye background on a slit lamp.

The eye is illuminated by a slit lamp (Figure 1) with the illumination slit, which is created as a picture of the selected slot. In the optical tower 35, the light source of the light source 1, which may be one or more white light emitting diodes or lamps, is projected through the condenser optic 3 onto the rear lens 12, which maps the selected slot through the prism 13 to the eye, where an evenly illuminated image of the selected slot is formed. . Optional swivel plate 20 includes various light filters, such as an attenuation filter, a blue filter, a green filter, and a bore without a filter that transmits white light to a light source.

1. By rotating the turntable 20, the physician can filter light from light source 1 by positioning the selected filter or hole on the rotating plate 20 above the light source from light source 1.

The slots that can be used to create illumination gaps of various shapes and sizes are engraved in the illumination aperture 11 shown in Figure 2. The illumination aperture 11 comprises a specially designed recording slot with a digital camera 2 consisting of three openings, and otherwise, the slot opening 22 and the two side openings 23 and 24. The slot opening 22 is in the form of a conventional slot, such as that used in slit lamps (Figure 2a), or has the shape of a square or rectangle that allows illumination of details in the eye (Figure 2b). The lateral apertures 23 and 24, which are preferably semicircular in shape, are arranged symmetrically with respect to the longitudinal axis of the slot aperture 22. The lateral openings 23 and 24 allow the digital camera sensor 30 to receive enough light to capture, and also provide illumination parts of the eye that are not illuminated by the projection of the narrow slot or opening 22. The openings 22, 23 and 24 are not interconnected. Illumination aperture 11 also contains other slit shapes intended for eye observation, such as slots 21,36 and 37 (Figure 2). The rectangular slots 21 and 36 are intended to observe the narrow part of the eye. The slot 37 is round in shape and allows for a large area of the eye to be illuminated. In addition, the slot 37 allows the entire field of view of the digital camera to be illuminated. 2. By rotating the aperture 11 around its center axis, the physician can adjust the desired slot shape above the light source 1 to achieve differently illuminated areas of the observed eye. The illumination aperture 11 can be installed in both portable and stationary slit lamp designs.

The control circuit 14. The control circuit 14, which has a rotary knob or a series of buttons, can be adjusted manually to adjust the intensity of light source 1 and maintain the correct voltage-to-current ratio through light source 1. The optical tower 35 and the holder 6 with associated optics are rotatable about a vertical axis 31 which passes through the focus 25 of the slit lamp.

The digital camera 2 is mounted in a housing, such as a holder 6, and is powered by a main battery 10 or an external power supply. The image of the eye is projected onto the digital camera 2 through a lens that can be formed by the following optical elements: microscope lens 15, magnifier 8, and camera lens 19, as shown in Figure 1. A mirror 7 placed between the magnifier 8 and the camera lens 19 directs light aimed at digital camera 2 from horizontal to vertical (Figure 3). If the longitudinal (vertical) axis of the digital camera 2 and the axis of the sensor 30 are not parallel (Figure 4), an additional mirror 38 may be placed between the lens of the camera and the sensor 30, allowing light from the vertical plane to fall on the sensor 30. Magnifying the lens 19 cameras can be the same as the magnification of the eyepiece 16. This allows the eye to be recorded at the same magnification as the doctor uses to visually inspect the patient's eye. In addition, the light from the examined eye to the digital camera passes through the lens of the microscope 15, which also serves for visual observation of the eye via the eyepiece 16. Therefore, the directions of visual observation and the recording of the eye are the same. Zoom can also be changed by replacing the camera lens 19. A slightly larger magnification of shooting compared to magnification of visual observation is often desirable because this results in a better depth of field of digital camera footage 2.

The microscope lens 15 and the eyepiece 16, or the microscope lens 15 and the camera lens 19, define the mean magnification of the slit lamp. Magnifier 8 allows the total magnification of observation and recording to be reduced or increased. The effect of the magnifier 8 as a magnifier or a magnifier depends on its position - this can be realized as an afocal Galileo system, as shown in the pictures, using pairs of lenses mounted in a rotating drum, or as a zoom system where the magnifying position is changed lenses.

The digital camera 2 and the interaction between the digital camera 2 and the doctor are controlled by screen 9, buttons 5 for controlling the digital camera 2, a standard output 4 for connecting the digital camera 2 to a computer, and an output 17 for connecting an optional foot switch 33 to activate the digital camera 2. Digital camera 2 can operate in photo mode, in which it shoots single shots or sequences of single shots, or in video mode, to record motion pictures. Digital Camera 2 may have built-in memory for storing recordings.

Figure 5 shows the attachment of an additional non-contact lens 26 for observing the eye background. A special rod 27 is inserted into the spot on the slit lamp, where the slit lamp calibration rod is usually inserted, which allows the non-contact lens 26 to be placed between the lens of the slit lamp microscope 15 and the eye of 28 patients so that the focal point of the non-contact lens 26 is exactly in the focus of the 25 slit lamp or lens 15 of the microscope. As a result, the light rays 29 passing from the non-contact lens 26 to the patient's eye 28 are parallel. Due to the cornea and lens 32 in the patient's eye 28, the parallel light beams 29 are focused to a point on the retina 34, which can be accurately observed and recorded by the physician. The solution of mounting a non-contact lens 26 in this way relieves the doctor, since he does not have to hold the lens 26 by his hand, while at the same time ensuring the optimum distance of the lens 26 from the focal point 25 of the slit lamp during observation.

Claims (4)

PATENT APPLICATIONS 1. Portable slit lamp with integrated digital camera and illumination aperture, characterized in that the light source (1) sends the light beam through the condenser optics (3), a rotating panel (20) with filters, an aperture (11), a rear lens (12) and through the prism (13) to the eye where the slot image is formed; that the illumination aperture (11) contains, in addition to the slots (21), (36) and (37) of various shapes, of which the physician can easily select the slit of the desired shape that forms the illumination gap in the observed eye, as well as a recording slit containing the slit (22 ) with a rectangular shape and two side openings (23) and (24) with a circular section, so that the aperture (11) provides sufficient illumination for shooting with a digital camera (2) integrated into the holder (6) of the slit lamp, in ongoing eye observations. An illumination aperture according to claim 1, wherein the slot (22) is in the form of a square or rectangle. Illumination aperture (11) according to claim 1, characterized in that it can be incorporated into portable or stationary versions of slit lamps. 4. Attaching an additional non-contact lens for observing the eye background to the slit lamp, characterized in that the non-contact lens (26) is attached to a detachable bar (27) on the slit lamp so that the focal point of the non-contact lens (26) coincides with the focal point (25) ) slit lamps or lenses (15) of the microscope; that the light rays (29) passing from the non-contact lens (26) to the patient's eye (28) are parallel.