Apparatus and method for measuring scleral curvature and velocity of tissues of the eye
First Claim
1. A method of determining the velocity and resonant frequency of tissues of the eye comprising:
- a. Stimulating eye tissue to vibrate;
b. Dividing a beam of laser light into a reference beam and a measurement beam;
c. Directing said reference beam to a detector;
d. Directing said measurement beam to said stimulated eye tissue;
e. Capturing light of said measurement beam reflected from said tissue;
f. Directing said captured light to a detector;
g. Comparing in the detector output the phase and frequency shift of said reference beam and said measurement beam;
h. Calculating said velocity and said resonant frequency of said tissue;
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Abstract
An apparatus and method for measuring the scieral curvature, velocity and resonant frequency of the tissues of the eye is disclosed. The device preferably comprises a laser with a narrow frequency that is directed at selected tissue of the eye to determine the displacement, phase and frequency shift of the detected light in order to quantify the curvature, and/or velocity and resonant frequency of the selected eye tissue. The curvature of the sclera is used to measure intraocular pressure and the velocity of the surfaces of the eye in response to a vibratory stimulus can also be used to quantify intraocular pressure and stress on different parts of the eye to detect disease such as glaucoma, keratoconus, corneal ectasia, scleral malacia, decline in accommodative amplitude, nuclear sclerosis, macular degeneration and retinopathy.
86 Citations
50 Claims
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1. A method of determining the velocity and resonant frequency of tissues of the eye comprising:
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a. Stimulating eye tissue to vibrate;
b. Dividing a beam of laser light into a reference beam and a measurement beam;
c. Directing said reference beam to a detector;
d. Directing said measurement beam to said stimulated eye tissue;
e. Capturing light of said measurement beam reflected from said tissue;
f. Directing said captured light to a detector;
g. Comparing in the detector output the phase and frequency shift of said reference beam and said measurement beam;
h. Calculating said velocity and said resonant frequency of said tissue;
- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. An apparatus for measuring the velocity and resonant frequencies of the tissues of the eye comprising,
a. A stimulus generator to stimulate said tissue; -
b. A laser generating a beam of light, said beam of light divided into a reference beam and a measurement beam;
c. Said measurement beam directed to said stimulated tissue and light reflected from said stimulated tissue directed to a detector;
d. said reference beam directed to a detector; and
e. an apparatus to calculate said velocity and said resonant frequency of said stimulated tissue from the output of said reference beam detector and said measurement beam detector;
- View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A method of measuring the material properties of tissue comprising:
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a. Stimulating said tissue to vibrate;
b. Dividing a beam of laser light into a reference beam and a measurement beam;
c. Directing said reference beam to a detector;
d. Directing said measurement beam to said stimulated tissue;
e. Capturing light of said measurement beam reflected from said tissue;
f. Directing said captured light to a detector;
g. Comparing in the detector output the phase and frequency shift of said reference beam and said measurement beam;
h. Calculating the amplitude, frequency and velocity of the response of said tissue to said vibratory stimulus;
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48. A method of determining the intraocular pressure of the eye comprising:
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a. Stimulating scleral tissue of the eye to vibrate;
b. Dividing a beam of laser light into a reference beam and a plurality of measurement beams;
c. Directing said reference beam to a detector;
d. Directing said measurement beams to a plurality of position points on said stimulated scleral tissue;
e. Capturing light of said measurement beams reflected from said position points on said scieral tissue;
f. Directing said captured light from said position point to a detector;
g. Comparing in the detector output the phase and frequency shift of said reference beam and said measurement beams to calculate scleral curvature;
h. Correlating said scleral curvature to intraocular pressure;
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49. A method of disease diagnosis of the eye comprising:
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a. Stimulating eye tissue to vibrate;
b. Directing a laser beam to divide into a reference beam and a measurement beam;
c. Directing said reference beam to a detector;
d. Directing said measurement beam to said stimulated tissue;
e. Capturing light of said measurement beam reflected from said stimulated tissue;
f. Directing said captured light to a detector;
g. Comparing the phase and frequency shift of said reference beam and said measurement beam;
h. Calculating velocity and resonant frequency of said tissue;
i. Comparing said velocity and said resident frequency to values for healthy tissue and unhealthy tissue to diagnose disease;
- View Dependent Claims (50)
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Specification