ADAPTIVE OPTICS APPARATUS AND IMAGING APPARATUS INCLUDING THE SAME

• US 20110096337A1
• Filed: 10/19/2010
• Published: 04/28/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Saito, Kenichi, Hirose, Futoshi
• Granted Patent: US 8,902,432 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 356/491
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/102 for optical coherence tomography [OCT]
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/14 Arrangements specially adapted for eye photography apparatus or arrangements for taking photographs per se G03B
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2021/1787 Tomographic, i.e. computerised reconstruction from projective measurements
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/21 Polarisation-affecting properties G01N21/19 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/4795 spatially resolved investigating of object in scattering medium in vivo A61B
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2201/0675 SLM
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 26/06 for controlling the phase of light G02B26/08 takes precedence , measuring optical phase difference G01J9/00
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 2203/12 spatial light modulator
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 2203/18 adaptive optics, e.g. wavefront correction

Abstract

An adaptive optics apparatus includes a light modulation unit configured to modulate each of two polarization components of light at a position that is optically conjugate to an object, the light being emitted by a light source; and an irradiation unit configured to irradiate the object with light that is modulated by the light modulation unit.

Claims

1. An adaptive optics apparatus comprising:

a light modulation unit configured to modulate each of two polarization components of light at a position that is optically conjugate to an object, the light being emitted by a light source; and

an irradiation unit configured to irradiate the object with light that is modulated by the light modulation unit.

2. The adaptive optics apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

an aberration measuring unit configured to measure an aberration of the object,

wherein the light modulation unit modulates light on the basis of a measurement result obtained by the aberration measuring unit at a position that is optically conjugate to the aberration measuring unit, the light being emitted by the light source.

3. The adaptive optics apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the object is a subject'"'"'s eye,

wherein the aberration is generated in an anterior ocular segment of the subject'"'"'s eye, and wherein the light modulation unit is disposed at a position that is optically conjugate to the anterior ocular segment.

4. The adaptive optics apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein light that is used by the aberration measuring unit to measure the aberration and light that is used to acquire an image of the object are emitted by light sources that are different from each other.

5. The adaptive optics apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the light modulation unit modulates each of two polarization components of a return beam at a position that is optically conjugate to the object, the return beam returning from the object that is irradiated with light by the irradiation unit.

6. The adaptive optics apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the light modulation unit includes

a first light modulation unit disposed at a position that is optically conjugate to the object, the first light modulation unit modulating one of the two polarization components, and

a second light modulation unit disposed at a position that is optically conjugate to the object, the second light modulation unit modulating the other of the two polarization components.

7. The adaptive optics apparatus according to claim 6,

wherein the first and second light modulation units are optically parallely or serially disposed.

8. An imaging apparatus comprising:

the adaptive optics apparatus according to claim 1; and

an image acquiring unit configured to acquire an image of the object on the basis of a return beam that returns from the object when the object is irradiated with light by the irradiation unit.

9. The imaging apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising:

a splitting unit configured to split the light emitted by the light source into a beam that enters the light modulation unit and a reference beam,

wherein the image acquiring unit acquires a tomographic image of the object on the basis of an interference beam that is generated by interference between the return beam and the reference beam, the return beam returning from the object that is irradiated with light by the irradiation unit.

10. An adaptive optics method comprising:

a light modulating step of modulating each of two polarization components of light at a position that is optically conjugate to an object, the light being emitted by a light source; and

an irradiation step of irradiating the object with light that is modulated in the light modulation step.