FUNDUS PHOTOGRAPHING APPARATUS

• US 20100277692A1
• Filed: 04/30/2010
• Published: 11/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nidek Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Nidek Company Limited
• Inventors: Yamada, Yoshihiko, MUKAI, Hideo, Hanebuchi, Masaaki
• Granted Patent: US 8,235,528 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 351/208
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/0025 characterised by electronic signal processing, e.g. eye models

Abstract

A fundus photographing apparatus includes a first photographing unit arranged to obtain a first fundus image and including a first illumination optical system including a first light source and a scanning unit, a first photographing optical system and a wavefront compensating unit including a wavefront sensor and a wavefront compensating device, a second photographing unit arranged to obtain a second fundus image of a wide area including a scanning area by the scanning unit and including a second illumination optical system and a second photographing optical system arranged to obtain the second fundus image with a wider view angle under lower magnification than the first fundus image, a monitor, and a control unit arranged to display on the monitor the first and second fundus images, and display an indicator on the second fundus image displayed on the monitor, the indicator indicating a photographed portion of the first fundus image.

Claims

1. A fundus photographing apparatus for photographing a fundus of an examinee'"'"'s eye, the apparatus comprising:

a first photographing unit arranged to obtain a first fundus image, the first photographing unit comprising;

a first illumination optical system arranged to project illumination light to the fundus, the first illumination optical system comprising;

a first light source arranged to emit the illumination light; and

a scanning unit arranged to two-dimensionally scan the illumination light on the fundus;

a first photographing optical system comprising a first photo-receiving element arranged to photo-receive the illumination light reflected from the fundus and obtain the first fundus image; and

a wavefront compensating unit comprising;

a wavefront sensor arranged to photo-receive light reflected from the eye and detect wavefront aberration of the eye; and

a wave front compensating device disposed on an optical path of the first photographing optical system and arranged to compensate the wavefront aberration based on a detection result by the wavefront sensor;

a second photographing unit arranged to obtain a second fundus image of a wide area that includes a scanning area by the scanning unit of the first illumination optical system, the second photographing unit comprising;

a second illumination optical system comprising a second light source arranged to emit illumination light, and arranged to project the illumination light to the fundus; and

a second photographing optical system comprising a second photo-receiving element arranged to photo-receive the illumination light reflected from the fundus and obtain the second fundus image with a view angle wider than the first fundus image under magnification lower than the first fundus image;

a monitor; and

a control unit arranged to display on the monitor the first fundus image and the second fundus image, and display an indicator on the second fundus image displayed on the monitor, the indicator indicating a photographed portion of the first fundus image.

2. The fundus photographing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a position detecting unit arranged to obtain information on a movement position of the fundus by photographing a predetermined portion of the fundus and detecting a time-varying positional deviation of the portion; and

a deflecting unit disposed closer to the eye than the scanning unit on the optical path of the first illumination optical system, and arranged to deflect the illumination light via the scanning unit by a predetermined angle,

wherein the control unit is arranged to drive the deflecting unit based on the movement position information obtained by the position detecting unit.

3. The fundus photographing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit is arranged to change a position of the indicator displayed on the monitor based on the movement position information.

4. The fundus photographing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first photographing unit further comprises a third light source arranged to emit light with a wavelength that is different from a wavelength of the light emitted from the first light source, and the light from the third light source is usable by the wavefront compensating unit.

5. The fundus photographing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the wave front compensating unit further comprises:

a first polarizing unit arranged to polarize the light emitted from the third light source and projected to the fundus such that the light has a given polarization direction; and

a second polarizing unit arranged to cut off the light having the given polarization direction, and direct light having a polarization direction perpendicular to the given polarization direction to the wavefront sensor, and

the wavefront compensating device is a liquid-crystal spatial phase modulator, and is disposed so as to compensate wavefront aberration of the light having the polarization direction perpendicular to the given polarization direction.

6. The fundus photographing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is arranged to control the emission of the illumination light from the first light source based on a compensation result of the wavefront aberration detected by the wavefront sensor.

7. The fundus photographing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is arranged to control the emission of the illumination light from the first light source based on alignment information on the second fundus image obtained by the second photographing unit.