Iris pattern recognition and alignment
First Claim
1. A method for aligning a diagnostic iris image of a patient'"'"'s eye having a dilated pupil with a treatment iris image of the eye having a constricted pupil, via an iris pattern recognition technique, wherein an iris recognition landmark in the dilated pupil diagnostic image is not directly identifiable with the corresponding iris recognition landmark in the constricted pupil treatment iris image, to effect an accurate laser treatment of the patient'"'"'s eye that is derived from a diagnostic measurement associated with the dilated pupil, characterized by:
- visibly illuminating the patient'"'"'s eye with a plurality of selected levels of visible illumination to effect a corresponding plurality of different pupil sizes ranging from a constricted pupil diameter to a dilated pupil diameter;
respectively obtaining a sequential plurality of diagnostic iris images each of which has an indicia of the iris recognition landmark;
correlating the indicia of the iris recognition landmark in each sequential diagnostic iris image such that the iris recognition landmark in the constricted pupil diagnostic iris image is identifiable with the iris recognition landmark in the dilated pupil diagnostic iris image;
making a diagnostic measurement of the patient'"'"'s eye and the associated diagnostic image when the pupil is dilated;
obtaining a treatment iris image of the patient'"'"'s eye having a constricted pupil;
aligning the constricted diagnostic iris image with the constricted pupil treatment iris image.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus and methods are described for aligning diagnostic and therapeutic iris images, via iris pattern recognition, for effecting more accurate laser treatment of the eye. A method for aligning a dilated pupil diagnostic iris image associated with a diagnostic measurement for calculating a laser treatment, with a constricted pupil diagnostic iris image, by identifying an iris landmark that is not identifiable solely between the two images, includes a sequential plurality of diagnostic iris images of varying pupil size such that the iris landmark can be tracked between the two images. The aligned, constricted pupil diagnostic image can then be aligned with a constricted pupil treatment image and the ablation pattern rotated accordingly. Limbal edge detection is used in the diagnostic images to provide pupil center translation information for translational alignment of the laser treatment. An improved aberrometer is disclosed having a variable visible illumination fixation target for controlling pupil size for the diagnostic images. A diagnostic and therapeutic laser eye treatment system is described incorporating the apparatus and method embodiments of the invention.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method for aligning a diagnostic iris image of a patient'"'"'s eye having a dilated pupil with a treatment iris image of the eye having a constricted pupil, via an iris pattern recognition technique, wherein an iris recognition landmark in the dilated pupil diagnostic image is not directly identifiable with the corresponding iris recognition landmark in the constricted pupil treatment iris image, to effect an accurate laser treatment of the patient'"'"'s eye that is derived from a diagnostic measurement associated with the dilated pupil, characterized by:
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visibly illuminating the patient'"'"'s eye with a plurality of selected levels of visible illumination to effect a corresponding plurality of different pupil sizes ranging from a constricted pupil diameter to a dilated pupil diameter; respectively obtaining a sequential plurality of diagnostic iris images each of which has an indicia of the iris recognition landmark; correlating the indicia of the iris recognition landmark in each sequential diagnostic iris image such that the iris recognition landmark in the constricted pupil diagnostic iris image is identifiable with the iris recognition landmark in the dilated pupil diagnostic iris image; making a diagnostic measurement of the patient'"'"'s eye and the associated diagnostic image when the pupil is dilated; obtaining a treatment iris image of the patient'"'"'s eye having a constricted pupil; aligning the constricted diagnostic iris image with the constricted pupil treatment iris image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. In a diagnostic and therapeutic system for laser eye surgery wherein a diagnostic image of a patient'"'"'s eye that is obtained by a diagnostic image capture is aligned with a treatment image of the patient'"'"'s eye that is obtained by a treatment image capture device that is associated with a treatment laser system, via an iris pattern recognition technique, the improvement characterized by:
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an illumination control device for controlling a visible illumination level on one of the patient'"'"'s eye being examined and the patient'"'"'s other eye, not being examined, wherein the visible illumination level acts as a control for the pupil diameter of the examined eye; a sequential plurality of diagnostic iris images each including a different pupil diameter ranging between a dilated pupil size and a constricted pupil size corresponding to the controlled visible illumination level, wherein at least an indicia of an iris recognition landmark is identifiable in each sequential diagnostic iris image even though the corresponding iris recognition landmark is not identifiable between the constricted diagnostic pupil image and the dilated diagnostic pupil image; an eye diagnostic measuring device for obtaining a diagnostic measurement of the patient'"'"'s eye associated with the dilated diagnostic pupil image, cooperatively associated with the illumination control device and the diagnostic image capture device; means for exporting at least one of the diagnostic iris images to the laser treatment system; and means for aligning the dilated pupil diagnostic iris image with the constricted pupil diagnostic iris image, and further for aligning the aligned constricted pupil diagnostic iris image with the treatment iris image having a constricted pupil of a size generally corresponding to the diagnostic image constricted pupil size. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. In a diagnostic and therapeutic system for laser eye surgery wherein a diagnostic image of a patient'"'"'s eye that is obtained by a diagnostic image capture device that is also adapted to make a diagnostic measurement of the patient'"'"'s eye, is aligned with a treatment image of the patient'"'"'s eye that is obtained by a treatment image capture device which is associated with a treatment laser system, via an iris pattern recognition technique, the improvement characterized by:
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an illumination control device for controlling a visible illumination level on one of the patient'"'"'s eye being examined and the patient'"'"'s other eye, not being examined, wherein the visible illumination level acts as a control for the pupil diameter of die examined eye; a sequential plurality of diagnostic iris images each including a different pupil diameter ranging between a dilated pupil size and a constricted pupil size corresponding to the controlled visible illumination level, obtained by the diagnostic image capture device, wherein an iris recognition landmark is identifiable in each sequential diagnostic iris image even though the corresponding iris recognition landmark is not identifiable between the constricted diagnostic pupil image and the dilated diagnostic pupil image; means for exporting at least one of the diagnostic iris images to the laser treatment system; means for aligning the dilated pupil diagnostic iris image, associated with a diagnostic measurement image, with the constricted pupil diagnostic iris image; and means for aligning the aligned constricted pupil diagnostic iris image with the treatment iris image having a constricted pupil of a size generally corresponding to the diagnostic image constricted pupil size. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification