Ophthalmic wavefront sensor operating in parallel sampling and lock-in detection mode
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An ophthalmic wavefront sensor comprising:
- a light source configured to receive a reference signal oscillating/pulsing at a reference frequency and to generate a beam of light formed by pulses of light at the reference frequency;
a beam directing element configured to launch the beam of light from the light source into a patient eye and where a portion of the beam of light returned from the patient eye forms an object wavefront in the form of light pulses at the reference frequency;
an optical wavefront relay system, configured to relay an object wavefront from an object plane located at the anterior portion of a patient eye to a wavefront image plane along a beam path that can guide an incident wavefront relay beam having a large diopter range at the object plane to the wavefront image plane;
an array of high frequency response position sensing devices with each position sensing device configured to detect the amount of deflection of an image spot centroid from a reference position and to output a measurement signal indicating the amount of deflection;
an array of sub-wavefront sampling elements, disposed before the array of high frequency response position sensing devices and substantially at the wavefront image plane, with each sampling element in the array of sub-wavefront sampling elements configured to sample a sub-wavefront of the relayed wavefront and to focus a sampled sub-wavefront onto a corresponding high frequency response position sensing device in the array of high frequency response position sensing devices, where the sub-wavefront sampling elements are physically spaced from each other in such a way that each sampled sub-wavefront of a high diopter range object wavefront is focused only on the corresponding high frequency response position sensing device corresponding to the sub-wavefront sampling element; and
an electronic frequency-sensitive detection system coupled to receive the reference signal and the measurement signal, with the electronic frequency-sensitive detection system configured to indicate only the magnitude of a frequency component of the measurement signal at about the reference frequency so that all noise signals, including 1/f noise, can be substantially suppressed, where f represents DC and frequencies lower than the reference frequency.
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Abstract
One embodiment of the present invention is an ophthalmic wavefront sensor for use with an ophthalmic microscope to provide continuous measurements of the refractive state of an eye. The wavefront sensor operates in both parallel sampling and lock-in detection mode by synchronizing the pulsing of the light source with a multiple number of position sensing devices/detectors used for detecting the centroid position of the sampled sub-wavefronts. Other embodiments include a beam scanner to sample selected portions of the wavefront and a live image sensor and a tracking deflector.
88 Citations
41 Claims
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1. An ophthalmic wavefront sensor comprising:
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a light source configured to receive a reference signal oscillating/pulsing at a reference frequency and to generate a beam of light formed by pulses of light at the reference frequency; a beam directing element configured to launch the beam of light from the light source into a patient eye and where a portion of the beam of light returned from the patient eye forms an object wavefront in the form of light pulses at the reference frequency; an optical wavefront relay system, configured to relay an object wavefront from an object plane located at the anterior portion of a patient eye to a wavefront image plane along a beam path that can guide an incident wavefront relay beam having a large diopter range at the object plane to the wavefront image plane; an array of high frequency response position sensing devices with each position sensing device configured to detect the amount of deflection of an image spot centroid from a reference position and to output a measurement signal indicating the amount of deflection; an array of sub-wavefront sampling elements, disposed before the array of high frequency response position sensing devices and substantially at the wavefront image plane, with each sampling element in the array of sub-wavefront sampling elements configured to sample a sub-wavefront of the relayed wavefront and to focus a sampled sub-wavefront onto a corresponding high frequency response position sensing device in the array of high frequency response position sensing devices, where the sub-wavefront sampling elements are physically spaced from each other in such a way that each sampled sub-wavefront of a high diopter range object wavefront is focused only on the corresponding high frequency response position sensing device corresponding to the sub-wavefront sampling element; and an electronic frequency-sensitive detection system coupled to receive the reference signal and the measurement signal, with the electronic frequency-sensitive detection system configured to indicate only the magnitude of a frequency component of the measurement signal at about the reference frequency so that all noise signals, including 1/f noise, can be substantially suppressed, where f represents DC and frequencies lower than the reference frequency. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An ophthalmic wavefront sensor comprising:
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a light source configured to receive a reference signal oscillating/pulsing at a reference frequency and to generate a beam of light formed by pulses of light at the reference frequency; a beam directing element configured to launch the beam of light from the light source into a patient eye and where a portion of the beam of light returned from the patient eye forms an object wavefront in the form of light pulses at the reference frequency; a first optical wavefront relay system, configured to relay an object wavefront from a first object plane located at the anterior portion of a patient eye to a first wavefront image plane along a first beam path that can guide an incident wavefront relay beam having a large diopter range at the object plane to the first wavefront image plane; a second optical wavefront relay system having a second object plane located substantially at the first wavefront image plane, configured to further relay the object wavefront from the second object plane to a second wavefront image plane along a second beam path that can guide the incident wavefront relay beam having a large diopter range at the first object plane to the second wavefront image plane; an array of high frequency response position sensing devices with each position sensing device configured to detect the amount of deflection of an image spot centroid from a reference position and to output a measurement signal indicating the amount of deflection; an array of sub-wavefront sampling elements, disposed before the array of high frequency response position sensing devices and substantially at the second wavefront image plane, with each sampling element in the array of sub-wavefront sampling elements configured to sample a sub-wavefront of the relayed wavefront and to focus a sampled sub-wavefront onto a corresponding high frequency response position sensing device in the array of high frequency response position sensing devices, where the sub-wavefront sampling elements are physically spaced from each other in such a way that each sampled sub-wavefront of a high diopter range object wavefront is focused only on the corresponding high frequency response position sensing device corresponding to the sub-wavefront sampling element; and an electronic frequency-sensitive detection system coupled to receive the reference signal and the measurement signal, with the electronic frequency-sensitive detection system configured to indicate only the magnitude of a frequency component of the measurement signal at about the reference frequency so that all noise signals, including 1/f noise, can be substantially suppressed, where f represents DC and frequencies lower than the reference frequency. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An ophthalmic wavefront sensor adapted to couple to an ophthalmic microscope, comprising:
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a light source configured to receive a reference signal oscillating/pulsing at a reference frequency and to generate a beam of light formed by pulses of light at the reference frequency; a first beam directing element configured to launch the beam of light from the light source into a patient eye and where a portion of the beam of light returned from the patient eye forms an object wavefront in the form of light pulses at the reference frequency; an imaging sensor configured to provide a live eye anterior image; a second beam directing element configured to provide an optical path for eye imaging; an optical wavefront relay system, configured to relay an object wavefront from an object plane located at the anterior portion of a patient eye to a wavefront image plane along a beam path that can guide an incident wavefront relay beam having a large diopter range at the object plane to the wavefront image plane; an array of high frequency response position sensing devices with each position sensing device configured to detect the amount of deflection of an image spot centroid from a reference position and to output a measurement signal indicating the amount of deflection; an array of sub-wavefront sampling elements, disposed before the array of high frequency response position sensing devices and substantially at the wavefront image plane, with each sampling element in the array of sub-wavefront sampling elements configured to sample a sub-wavefront of the relayed wavefront and to focus a sampled sub-wavefront onto a corresponding high frequency response position sensing device in the array of high frequency response position sensing devices, where the sub-wavefront sampling elements are physically spaced from each other in such a way that each sampled sub-wavefront of a high diopter range object wavefront is focused only on the corresponding high frequency response position sensing device corresponding to the sub-wavefront sampling element; and an electronic frequency-sensitive detection system coupled to receive the reference signal and the measurement signal and coupled to the image sensor, with the electronic frequency-sensitive detection system configured to indicate only the magnitude of a frequency component of the measurement signal at about the reference frequency so that all noise signals, including 1/f noise, can be substantially suppressed, where f represents DC and frequencies lower than the reference frequency. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. An ophthalmic wavefront sensor adapted to couple to an ophthalmic microscope, comprising:
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a light source configured to receive a reference signal oscillating/pulsing at a reference frequency and to generate a beam of light formed by pulses of light at the reference frequency; a first beam directing element configured to launch the beam of light from the light source into a patient eye and where a portion of the beam of light returned from the patient eye forms an object wavefront in the form of light pulses at the reference frequency; an imaging sensor configured to provide a live eye anterior image; a second beam directing element configured to provide an optical path for eye imaging; a first optical wavefront relay system, configured to relay an object wavefront from a first object plane located at the anterior portion of a patient eye to a first wavefront image plane along a first beam path that can guide an incident wavefront relay beam having a large diopter range at the object plane to the first wavefront image plane; a second optical wavefront relay system having a second object plane located substantially at the first wavefront image plane, configured to further relay the object wavefront from the second object plane to a second wavefront image plane along a second beam path that can guide the incident wavefront relay beam having a large diopter range at the first object plane to the second wavefront image plane; an array of high frequency response position sensing devices with each position sensing device configured to detect the amount of deflection of an image spot centroid from a reference position and to output a measurement signal indicating the amount of deflection; an array of sub-wavefront sampling elements, disposed before the array of high frequency response position sensing devices and substantially at the second wavefront image plane, with each sampling element in the array of sub-wavefront sampling elements configured to sample a sub-wavefront of the relayed wavefront and to focus a sampled sub-wavefront onto a corresponding high frequency response position sensing device in the array of high frequency response position sensing devices, where the sub-wavefront sampling elements are physically spaced from each other in such a way that each sampled sub-wavefront of a high diopter range object wavefront is focused only on the corresponding high frequency response position sensing device corresponding to the sub-wavefront sampling element; and an electronic frequency-sensitive detection system coupled to receive the reference signal and the measurement signal, with the electronic frequency-sensitive detection system configured to indicate only the magnitude of a frequency component of the measurement signal at about the reference frequency so that all noise signals, including 1/f noise, can be substantially suppressed, where f represents DC and frequencies lower than the reference frequency. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. An ophthalmic wavefront sensor comprising:
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an optical wavefront relay system, configured to relay an object wavefront from an object plane located at the anterior portion of a patient eye to a wavefront image plane along a beam path that can guide an incident wavefront relay beam having a large diopter range at the object plane to the wavefront image plane; a beam scanner/deflector disposed along the beam path, configured to fully intercept and scan the wavefront relay beam in two dimensions; an array of position sensing devices with each position sensing device configured to detect the amount of two dimensional deflection of an image spot centroid from a reference position and to output a measurement signal indicating the amount of two dimensional deflection; and an array of sub-wavefront sampling elements, disposed before the array of position sensing devices and substantially at the wavefront image plane, with each sampling element in the array of sub-wavefront sampling elements configured to sample a sub-wavefront of the relayed wavefront and to focus a sampled sub-wavefront onto a corresponding position sensing device in the array of position sensing devices, where the sub-wavefront sampling elements are physically spaced from each other in such a way that each sampled sub-wavefront of a high diopter range object wavefront is focused only on the corresponding position sensing device corresponding to the sub-wavefront sampling element. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35)
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36. An ophthalmic wavefront sensor comprising:
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a first optical wavefront relay system, configured to relay an object wavefront from a first object plane located at the anterior portion of a patient eye to a first wavefront image plane along a first beam path that can guide an incident wavefront relay beam having a large diopter range at the first object plane to the first wavefront image plane; a second optical wavefront relay system having a second object plane located substantially at the first wavefront image plane, configured to further relay the object wavefront from the second object plane to a Fourier transform plane and to a second wavefront image plane along a second beam path that can guide the incident wavefront relay beam having a large diopter range at the first object plane to the second wavefront image plane; a beam scanner/deflector disposed substantially at the Fourier transform plane, configured to fully intercept and scan the wavefront relay beam; an array of position sensing devices with each position sensing device configured to detect the amount of deflection of an image spot centroid from a reference position and to output a measurement signal indicating the amount of deflection; and an array of sub-wavefront sampling elements, disposed before the array of position sensing devices and substantially at the second wavefront image plane, with each sampling element in the array of sub-wavefront sampling elements configured to sample a sub-wavefront of the relayed wavefront and to focus a sampled sub-wavefront onto a corresponding position sensing device in the array of position sensing devices, where the sub-wavefront sampling elements are physically spaced from each other in such a way that each sampled sub-wavefront of a high diopter range object wavefront is focused only on the corresponding position sensing device corresponding to the sub-wavefront sampling element. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38)
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39. An ophthalmic wavefront sensor comprising:
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a light source configured to receive a reference signal oscillating/pulsing at a reference frequency and to generate a beam of light formed by pulses of light at the reference frequency; a beam directing element configured to launch the beam of light from the light source into a patient eye and where a portion of the beam of light returned from the patient eye forms an object wavefront in the form of light pulses at the reference frequency; an optical wavefront relay system, configured to relay an object wavefront from an object plane located at the anterior portion of a patient eye to a wavefront image plane along a beam path that can guide an incident wavefront relay beam having a large diopter range at the object plane to the wavefront image plane; an array of high frequency response position sensing devices with each position sensing device configured to detect the amount of deflection of an image spot centroid from a reference position and to output a measurement signal indicating the amount of deflection; and an array of sub-wavefront sampling elements, disposed before the array of high frequency response position sensing devices and substantially at the wavefront image plane, with each sampling element in the array of sub-wavefront sampling elements configured to sample a sub-wavefront of the relayed wavefront and to focus a sampled sub-wavefront onto a corresponding high frequency response position sensing device in the array of high frequency response position sensing devices, where the sub-wavefront sampling elements are physically spaced from each other in such a way that each sampled sub-wavefront of a high diopter range object wavefront is focused only on the corresponding high frequency response position sensing device corresponding to the sub-wavefront sampling element. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41)
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Specification