Iris recognition and tracking for optical treatment

• US 20070055222A1
• Filed: 11/09/2006
• Published: 03/08/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gerhard Youssefi, Kristian Hohla, Roland Toennies, Thomas Neuhann
• Original Assignee: Gerhard Youssefi, Kristian Hohla, Roland Toennies, Thomas Neuhann
• Inventors: Youssefi, Gerhard, Hohla, Kristian, Neuhann, Thomas, Toennies, Roland
• Granted Patent: US 8,556,885 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 606/12
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/117 Identification of persons methods or arrangements for recognising patterns, e.g. fingerprints, G06F18/00, G06V40/00; identification of persons by analysing their voice or speech G10L17/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2009/00846 Eyetracking
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2009/00872 Cornea
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2009/00876 Iris
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2009/0088 based on wavefront
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2009/00882 based on topography
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 9/00804 Refractive treatments
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 9/00806 Correction of higher orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/18 Eye characteristics, e.g. of the iris

Abstract

A system and method are provided in which an iris or eye image is taken during a refractive diagnostic analysis. The image is employed for aligning data from the analysis with data from other refractive analysis instruments, as well as aligning a refractive surgical tool, such as a laser, with the eye for treatment. Further, the stored iris image is compared with the patient'"'"'s iris before treatment, verifying that the correct eye is to be treated with a developed treatment pattern. A variety of refractive instruments can be used, such as corneal topography systems and wavefront aberration systems.

Claims

1. A system for aligning a refractive correction instrument with a patient'"'"'s eye comprising:

a refractive diagnostic tool adapted to provide refractive data about the patient'"'"'s eye, wherein the refractive diagnostic tool comprises;

a first camera adapted to acquire a first pupil and/or iris image of the patient'"'"'s eye, wherein the refractive diagnostic tool is adapted to provide refractive characteristic data and corresponding spatially related iris data representing the first iris image; and

a laser system adapted to apply a course of refractive treatment to the patient'"'"'s eye, wherein the laser system comprises;

a second camera adapted to acquire a second iris image,

a laser adapted to apply the course of refractive treatment, and

a control system adapted to receive data derived from the refractive characteristic data and the iris data and to align the iris data to the second iris image before the control system initiates the course of treatment.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the control system is coupled to the second camera and the laser.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the refractive diagnostic tool comprises a wavefront sensor.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the refractive diagnostic tool comprises a corneal topography analyzer.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the refractive diagnostic tool is adapted to determine corneal thickness or other differential profiles using ultrasound.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the refractive diagnostic tool comprises a hand-held refractive diagnostic tool.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the laser system further comprises:

a display coupled to the second camera and the control system, and adapted to display the second iris image and the received iris data overlaid.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the control system is adapted to compare and to align the received iris data to the second iris image.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a second refractive diagnostic tool comprising;

a third camera adapted to acquire a third iris image, wherein the second refractive diagnostic tool is coupled to the laser system, and adapted to provide additional refractive data for the patient'"'"'s eye and additional refractive characteristic data and corresponding spatially related additional iris data representing the third iris image from the third camera.

10. The system of claim 9, further comprising:

a computational system coupled to the refractive diagnostic tool, the second refractive diagnostic tool, and the laser system, wherein the computational system is adapted to receive the refractive characteristic data, the additional refractive characteristic data, the received iris data, and the additional iris data, and is adapted to spatially normalize the refractive characteristic data to the second refractive characteristic data by aligning the received iris data with the additional iris data.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the computational system is adapted to develop the course of refractive treatment for the laser system based on the normalized data.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the laser system comprises the computational system.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the laser comprises an excimer laser.

14. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a computational system coupled to the refractive diagnostic tool and the laser system, and adapted to receive the refractive characteristic data and the iris data, to develop the course of refractive treatment, and to provide the course of refractive treatment spatially normalized to the iris data.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the laser system comprises the computational system.

16. A laser system for applying a course of refractive treatment to a patient'"'"'s eye, the laser system receiving the course of refractive treatment in association with spatially related iris data representing an iris image of a patient'"'"'s eye, the laser system comprising:

a camera adapted to acquire the iris image;

a laser adapted to apply the course of refractive treatment; and

a control system adapted to receive the course of refractive treatment and the iris data and to align the iris data to the iris image before the control system initiates the course of refractive treatment.

17. The system of claim 16, further comprising a computational system adapted to develop the course of refractive treatment from refractive characteristic data from a refractive diagnostic tool, and to provide the course of refractive treatment in spatial association with additional iris data representing an additional iris image from an additional camera in the refractive diagnostic tool.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the control system and the computational system are comprised in the same computer system.

28. The system of claim 17, wherein the first and second alignment data are both one of the following:

iris data;

astigmatism data;

or

iris outline plus rotational marker data.

19. A method of providing a course of refractive treatment to a patient'"'"'s eye, the method comprising:

determining refractive characteristics of a patient'"'"'s eye;

acquiring an image of a surface of the patient'"'"'s eye while determining the refractive characteristics;

developing a course of refractive treatment using the determined refractive characteristics; and

aligning a refractive correction instrument with the patient'"'"'s eye by aligning the acquired image of the surface with another image of the patient'"'"'s eye received by the refractive correction instrument.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising applying the course of refractive treatment.

21. A system for aligning a refractive correction instrument with a patient'"'"'s eye, comprising:

means for determining refractive characteristics of the patient'"'"'s eye;

means for acquiring an image of a surface of the patient'"'"'s eye while determining the refractive characteristics;

means for developing a course of refractive treatment using the determined refractive characteristics; and

means for aligning a refractive correction instrument with the patient'"'"'s eye by aligning the acquired image of the surface of the patient'"'"'s eye with another image of the patient'"'"'s eye received by the refractive correction instrument.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising means for applying the course of refractive treatment.

23. A method of aligning a refractive correction instrument with a patient'"'"'s eye, the method comprising:

determining refractive characteristics of the patient'"'"'s eye;

from an iris of the patient'"'"'s eye, acquiring a first image used for defining a spatial relationship between the iris and the determined refractive characteristics;

storing a representation of the first image;

from the iris of the patient'"'"'s eye, acquiring a second image in preparation for performing a course of refractive treatment; and

aligning the second iris image and the stored representation for normalizing the course of refractive treatment to the second iris image.

24. A method of aligning refractive tools, the method comprising:

capturing first iris image data from a patient'"'"'s eye with the first refractive tool;

capturing second iris image data from the patient'"'"'s eye with a second refractive tool; and

aligning the second iris image data with the first iris image data.

25. The method of claim 24 further comprising:

capturing first alternative alignment data of the eye with the first refractive or diagnostic tool;

capturing second alternative alignment data of the eye with a third refractive or diagnostic tool; and

aligning the first alternative alignment data with the second alternative alignment data.

26. A system for aligning refractive diagnostic and treatment data, comprising:

a first ophthalmic diagnostic or refractive tool, employing first refractive data, the first ophthalmic diagnostic or refractive tool adapted to capture first ophthalmic alignment data and maintain that data as a reference for the first refractive data;

a second ophthalmic diagnostic or refractive tool employing second refractive data, the second ophthalmic diagnostic or refractive tool adapted to capture second ophthalmic alignment data as a reference for the second refractive data; and

means for associating the first refractive data with the second refractive data by aligning the first alignment data with the second alignment data.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the first and second ophthalmic diagnostic and refractive tools are chosen from the set of:

corneal topography tool;

a wavefront aberration tool; and

a laser adapted for refractive correction.

29. The system of claim 26, wherein the means for associating is a computational unit adapted to calculate a laser refractive treatment pattern.

30. The system of claim 26, wherein the means for associating is a unit in a laser adapted to align the laser'"'"'s aim.

31. A method of eye alignment and characterization, comprising:

providing a marker in a selected region of the eye;

acquiring a first image of the eye having an undilated pupil, including an iris image, wherein the marker forms part of the first image;

dilating the pupil of the eye;

acquiring a second image of the eye including the dilated pupil obtaining a diagnostic refractive measurement of the eye having the dilated pupil; and

developing a photorefractive treatment from the diagnostic measurement for a refractive correction of the eye.

32. The method of claim 31 wherein the diagnostic measurement is a wavefront measurement from the eye.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein said marker is a dye or a dye-based mark.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein said dye is visible in infrared light.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein said dye is visible for at least approximately 15 minutes up to an hour after application of the marker.

36. The method of claim 31, wherein said marker has a proximal portion that extends radially from a center region of the eye.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein a distal portion of the marker crosses a collarette region of the eye.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the distal portion of the marker is not collinear with the proximal portion of the marker.

39. The method of claim 31 wherein said marker is a laser mark.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein said laser mark is made by a Holmium laser.

41. The method of claim 31, wherein said treatment comprises LASIK, and further wherein said marker is detectable after a corneal flap is laid away from the cornea.

42. The method of claim 31, further comprising aligning the second image with the first image by comparing at least the markers in the respective images.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein developing the photorefractive treatment includes aligning the diagnostic measurement to the marker.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein said aligning includes iris pattern recognition from said first image.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein said iris pattern recognition includes a gray scale analysis of the iris for generating a gray scale profile of the iris.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein said marker traverses said gray scale profile.

47. The method of claim 31, further comprising obtaining a diagnostic refractive measurement at the time the first image is acquired.

48. The method of claim 31, further comprising implementing said photorefractive treatment without a planned time delay after the wavefront measurement and the treatment development.

49. The method of claim 48, including aligning the photorefractive treatment by aligning the markers from the first and second images.

50. The method of claim 31, further comprising implementing said photorefractive treatment after a planned time delay subsequent to the wavefront measurement and the treatment development.

51. The method of claim 50, including obtaining an iris image at treatment time and aligning said iris image with the iris image in the first image.

52. The method of claim 31, further comprising verifying an alignment of the developed treatment with the first image prior to implementing the developed treatment.

53. The method of claim 31, further comprising providing a display of the alignment of the developed treatment with the eye prior to implementing the developed treatment.

54. The method of claim 52, further comprising at least one of adjusting the position of the eye and adjusting the developed treatment if the alignment is not confirmed such that the developed treatment is ultimately aligned with the eye.

55. The method of claim 52, further comprising verifying the alignment at selected times during the photorefractive treatment.

56. The method of claim 52, further comprising verifying the alignment in real time during the photorefractive treatment.

57. The method of claim 47, wherein said refractive diagnostic measurement includes at least one of corneal topography and pachymetry.

58. The method of claim 31, wherein said marker provides information about translation and rotation of the eye.

59. A system for alignment and photorefractive treatment of an eye, comprising:

a first camera used to acquire a first image including an iris image of the eye;

a refractive diagnostic instrument providing at least one of wavefront, topography and pachymetry measurements, linked to the first camera;

a laser system capable of providing the photorefractive treatment including a second camera used to acquire another image of the eye;

a computer system used for developing and aligning the photorefractive treatment linked to the laser system, the first camera and the diagnostic instrument; and

a control system used to implement the photorefractive treatment linked to the computer system and the laser system.

60. The system of claim 59, wherein the first image includes an image of a marker in a selected region of the eye.

61. The system of claim 60, wherein the other image includes an image of the marker.

62. The system of claim 59, wherein at least one of the first and second cameras are infra-red cameras and their respective images include an image of a marker in a selected region of the eye.

63. The system of claim 62, wherein said marker provides information for alignment of the first image and the other image.

64. The system of claim 63, wherein said marker is visible in infra-red light for at least 15 minutes after the marker is applied.

65. The system of claim 63, wherein said marker is a laser mark.

66. The system of claim 65, wherein said laser mark is a thermal mark made by an appropriate laser.

67. The system of claim 59, wherein the refractive diagnostic instrument is a wavefront sensor, and further comprising a second refractive diagnostic instrument including a third camera used to acquire a further image of the eye including an iris image and an image of a marker in a selected region of the eye.

68. The system of claim 67, wherein the control system is adapted to correlate and normalize the developed refractive treatment and the acquired images.

69. The system of claim 59, further comprising a display that allows an operator to see an alignment of the developed treatment and the acquired images.

70. The system of claim 67, further comprising a display that allows an operator to see an alignment of the developed treatment and the acquired images.

71. The system of claim 61, wherein the refractive treatment includes a LASIK procedure and the marker is visible when a corneal flap is laid back.

72. The system of claim 61, wherein the marker traverses a gray scale profile of an iris recognition pattern of the eye.

73. The system of claim 63, wherein the marker comprises an indicia having a proximal segment and a distal segment, said proximal segment extending radially from an alignment center.

74. The system of claim 73, wherein said distal segment is not collinear with said proximal segment.

75. The system of claim 74, wherein said distal segment traverses a gray scale profile of an iris recognition pattern of the eye.