Surgical microscope

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9788718-B2
Application number	US-201615260108-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 8, 2016
Priority date	Sep 8, 2015
Publication date	Oct 17, 2017
Grant date	Oct 17, 2017

Abstract

A surgical microscope for imaging structures of an eye includes: a front optical unit, an illumination device which has an illumination-radiation-emitting illumination source and which illuminates the retina of the eye with an illumination spot via an illumination beam path which extends through the front optical unit, a camera and an adjustable camera optical unit disposed upstream thereof, an imaging beam path which extends through the front optical unit and the camera optical unit, and a control device which controls the camera optical unit and sets the latter in such a way that the retina of the eye in the region of the illumination spot is imaged on the camera. The control device varies a focusing state of the camera optical unit and, as a result thereof, records a plurality of images of the retina in the region of the illumination spot, the images being focused in different depth planes, and establishes a refractive value of the eye from these images.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A surgical microscope for imaging structures of an eye, the surgical microscope comprising:
a front optical unit;
an adjustable camera optical unit;
the surgical microscope defining an illumination beam path extending through said front optical unit and an imaging beam path extending through said front optical unit and said adjustable camera optical unit;
an illumination device having an illumination-radiation-emitting illumination source and being configured to illuminate the retina of the eye with an illumination spot via said illumination beam path;
a camera;
said adjustable camera optical unit being disposed upstream of said camera with respect to said imaging beam path;
a control device configured to control said adjustable camera optical unit and set said adjustable camera optical unit so as to cause the retina of the eye to be imaged on said camera in the region of said illumination spot;
said control device being further configured to vary a focusing state of said adjustable camera optical unit and to record a plurality of images of the retina of the eye in the region of the illumination spot via said camera, said images being focused in different depth planes; and,
said control device being further configured to establish a refractive value of the eye from said images.

2. The surgical microscope of claim 1 , wherein:
said illumination spot defines an outline shape; and,
said control device is further configured to evaluate said outline shape of said illumination spot in said images.

3. The surgical microscope of claim 1 , further comprising: a beam splitter disposed downstream of said front optical unit with respect to said imaging beam path; and, said beam splitter being configured to couple said imaging beam path into said illumination beam path.

4. The surgical microscope of claim 3 , wherein said imaging beam path is formed as a parallel beam path between said front optical unit and the eye.

5. The surgical microscope of claim 1 , wherein:
said illumination device being further configured to simultaneously illuminate a lens of the eye via a parallel illumination beam; and,
said control device being further configured to provide an additional mode of operation of the surgical microscope via setting said adjusting camera optical unit so as to cause at least one of the lens of the eye and an anterior chamber of the eye to be imaged on said camera.

6. The surgical microscope of claim 5 , further comprising: a beam splitter disposed downstream of said front optical unit with respect to said imaging beam path; said beam sputter being configured to couple said imaging beam path into said illumination beam path; an adjustable stop disposed upstream of said beam splitter with respect to said illumination beam path; said adjustable stop having dimensions which directly influence the dimension of said illumination spot and simultaneously a brightness of an illumination of the anterior chamber or of the lens of the eye; and, said control device being configured to set said adjustable stop to be smaller for establishing said refractive value of the eye than in the case of said additional mode of operation.

7. The surgical microscope of claim 1 , wherein said illumination-radiation-emitting illumination source is configured to simultaneously serve as a fixation light.

8. The surgical microscope of claim 1 , wherein said illumination-radiation-emitting illumination source emits green illumination light.

9. The surgical microscope of claim 1 , further comprising: an OCT unit; said control device is further configured to control said OCT unit and read out measurement values from said OCT unit; and, said control device being configured to establish said refractive value of said eye only if said measurement values indicate that said illumination spot lies within a predetermined perimeter around the fovea or on the fovea.

10. The surgical microscope of claim 1 , further comprising: a display device configured to display an image of the eye; and, said control device being configured to establish an astigmatism axis as refractive value and plots said astigmatism axis into said image of the eye displayed by said display device.

11. The surgical microscope of claim 1 , wherein the surgical microscope is configured as a stereo surgical microscope; and, said camera is a first camera, the surgical microscope further comprising:
a second camera;
said first and said second cameras being configured as two stereo channel cameras; and,
said control device being configured to at least intermittently switch the stereo operating microscope into a monocular mode of operation with respect to said stereo channel cameras by virtue of focusing said adjustable camera optical unit onto said illumination spot and focusing said second camera onto a different object plane.

12. A surgical microscope for imaging structures of an eye, the surgical microscope comprising:
a front optical unit including at least one lens;
an adjustable camera optical unit having at least one lens;
the surgical microscope defining an illumination beam path extending through said front optical unit and an imaging beam path extending through said front optical unit and said adjustable camera optical unit;
an illumination device having an illumination-radiation-emitting illumination source and being configured to illuminate the retina of the eye with an illumination spot via said illumination beam path;
a camera;
said adjustable camera optical unit being disposed upstream of said camera with respect to said imaging beam path;
a control device configured to control said adjustable camera optical unit and set adjustable said camera optical unit so as to cause the retina of the eye to be imaged on said camera in the region of said illumination spot;
said adjustable camera optical unit being further configured to define a plurality of focusing states of said adjustable camera optical unit;
said control device being further configured to vary said focusing state of said adjustable camera optical unit and to record a plurality of images of the retina in the region of the illumination spot via said camera;
said images being focused in different depth planes; and,
said control device being further configured to establish a refractive value of the eye from said images.

Assignees

• Zeiss Carl Meditec Ag

Inventors

• Hauger Christoph
• Hoegele Artur
• Reimer Peter
• Matz Holger
• Steffen Joachim

Classifications

• A61B3/0041

  characterised by display arrangements · CPC title

• A61B3/117

  for examining the anterior chamber or the anterior chamber angle, e.g. gonioscopes · CPC title

• A61B3/103 Primary

  for determining refraction, e.g. refractometers, skiascopes · CPC title

• A61B3/14

  Arrangements specially adapted for eye photography · CPC title

• A61B3/0025

  characterised by electronic signal processing, e.g. eye models · CPC title