JP3447133B2 - Ophthalmic instruments - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention observes and photographs an eye to be inspected by illumination light emitted from a light source, such as a fundus camera and a photo slit lamp, and loads each except for a part of a control circuit. The present invention relates to an ophthalmologic apparatus in which the driving stop and the power supply stop are automatically performed by the power saving means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an ophthalmologic apparatus is provided with an illumination light source and a photographing light source for observing and photographing the fundus and anterior segment of the eye to be inspected. For example, in the case of a fundus camera as an ophthalmologic apparatus, A halogen lamp is used as an illumination light source and a xenon lamp is used as a photographing light source.

The halogen lamp must be constantly lit from the observation of the eye to be examined to the end of the photographing. Also,
The xenon lamp emits light due to discharge from the light emitting capacitor, but this light emitting capacitor spontaneously discharges with the passage of time, so even if the charging is completed, charging is continued to compensate for the natural discharge ( Hereinafter, this continuation of charging will be referred to as "supplementary charging".)

As described above, the illumination light source and the photographing light source consume a large amount of electric power, and moreover, they cause the temperature rise in the ophthalmologic instrument body due to the generation of Joule heat. Therefore,
It is desirable to turn off the illumination light source and discharge the light emitting capacitor as much as possible when the apparatus body is not used.

However, if each light source is left in a lighting state or a light emission preparation state due to the carelessness of the user, not only the power is wasted but also unnecessary heat is generated. . In addition, it also shortens the life of the light source and the light emitting capacitor.

Therefore, in order to solve such a problem, the time generally monitored by a timer and generally required for photographing / observing by this specific photographing method with the specific photographing method as a reference (for example, 15). It is conceivable to provide a power saving means for stopping the power supply to each load excluding the control circuit of each light source etc.

It should be noted that, when the photographing switch provided on the body of the ophthalmologic instrument is detected to be pressed, and if the photographing switch is pressed before the time elapses, the timer clock is reset and a new clock is started. Some do.

This is to prevent the power from being turned off by the power saving means during photographing, and the photographing switch pressed every time this photographing is also used as a clear switch to supply power during photographing. It is designed so that the stop can be reliably prevented.

[0009]

By the way, in recent ophthalmologic instruments, a plurality of observations / imagings are performed by one apparatus main body, and the observation / imaging can be appropriately selected depending on the examination contents and diagnosis contents. For example, in the case of a fundus camera, various photographing methods such as color photographing, visible fluorescence photographing, visible monochromatic photographing, infrared fluorescent photographing, and infrared monochromatic photographing can be performed.

Then, the time required to complete the photographing by each of these photographing methods is greatly different.
In the case of color imaging, which is used relatively frequently, from alignment to completion of imaging in about 10 minutes, in the case of infrared fluorescence imaging, the fluorescent agent injected intravenously to the subject Since it is excited to inspect the blood circulation state of the fundus, the imaging time spans a relatively long time of about 50 minutes.

Therefore, if the operating time of the power saving means is set on the basis of color photography, which is relatively frequently used, when infrared fluorescence photography or the like is performed, the photography switch is not pressed to perform photography. Along with the fact that a moving image is being shot by a video, there is a risk that the power supply may be stopped during the shooting due to forgetting the reset operation with the shooting switch.

On the contrary, if the operating time of the power saving means is set on the basis of the infrared fluorescent photographing having a relatively long photographing time,
When performing color photography, there is a risk that the illumination light source may be left on for a long time.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the operation time of the power saving means can be switched according to a plurality of shooting methods, and the operation of the power saving means during the observation and shooting can be prevented regardless of the shooting method. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ophthalmologic instrument that can be used.

[0014]

In order to achieve the object, the invention according to claim 1 is to provide a timer for measuring an operating time of an instrument and each load except a control circuit when a predetermined time is exceeded. In an ophthalmologic apparatus equipped with a power saving means for stopping power supply to a plurality of imaging methods, the time required for each of a plurality of imaging methods is set, and the operating time of the power saving means is set according to the selected imaging method. The gist of the present invention is to include a switching control means for switching to the set time.

[0015]

In the above-mentioned structure according to claim 1,
The timer measures the operating time of the instrument, and when the power saving means exceeds the predetermined time, the power supply to each load except the control circuit is stopped, and the switching control means is required for each of a plurality of photographing methods. The operating time of the power saving means can be switched to the set time according to the selected photographing method.

[0016]

Embodiments of the ophthalmologic apparatus of the present invention are applied to a fundus camera and described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 6, the fundus camera 1 includes an illumination optical system 10, an observation / photographing optical system 30, and an observation / photographing optical system 30.
The observation system 40, the photographing system 50, and the alignment optical system 60, which are branched at the end of the optical path, are provided.

The illumination optical system 10 includes a halogen lamp 11,
Condenser lens 12, xenon lamp 13, condenser lens 14, two types of exciter filters 15
a, 15b, light shield 16, ring-shaped diaphragm 17, light shield 1
8, relay lens 19, reflection mirror 20, relay lens 21, black spot plate 22, relay lens 23, perforated mirror 2
4. Optical components such as the objective lens 25 are provided, and O1 is the optical axis of the optical path.

The illumination light emitted from the halogen lamp 11 is projected onto the fundus Ef of the eye E through the condenser lens 12 and the objective lens 25 during observation and moving image fluorescence photography, and at the time of still image photography xenon. The illumination light from the lamp 13 is the condenser lens 14
To the objective lens 25, the light is projected onto the fundus Ef.

The exciter filter 15a is used for visible fluorescence, which is inserted into the optical path of the illumination optical system 10 when performing visible fluorescence photography.
Reference numeral 5b is used for infrared fluorescence that is inserted in the optical path of the illumination optical system 10 when performing infrared fluorescence photography. The filters 15a and 15b are inserted / removed by a driving means such as a solenoid (not shown), and both are removed from the optical path during observation including alignment operation.

The shading plate 16 is arranged so as to be conjugate with the cornea Ec of the eye E to be examined, and similarly, the ring-shaped diaphragm 17 is provided with the pupil and the shading plate 1.
Reference numeral 8 is arranged to be conjugate with the rear surface of the lens. The black spot plate 22 is a light shield for preventing the reflected light beam on the surface of the objective lens 25 from passing through the hole portion 24 a of the perforated mirror 24.

The observation / photographing optical system 30 includes the objective lens 2
5, hole 24a of perforated mirror 24, half mirror 3
1, barrier filters 32a and 32b, focusing lens 3
3, an imaging lens 34, and a quick return mirror 35.

The observation system 40 is a quick return mirror 4
1, the mask 42, the field lens 4 that is conjugate with the fundus Ef
3, a reflection prism 44, and an eyepiece lens 45.

A mask 46 and a film 47 of a 35 mm camera for photographing light from the eye to be inspected are provided behind the quick return mirror 41 on the extension line coaxial with the optical axis O2 of the observation / photographing optical path. The quick return mirror 41 is always inserted in the optical path except when the fundus image is recorded on the film 47.

The photographing system 50 is a television camera 5 having a mask 51, a field lens 52 conjugate with the fundus oculi Ef, a reflection mirror 53, a relay lens 54, and an area CCD 55.
6, a recording device 57, and a monitor device 58.

The quick return mirror 35 is retracted from the observation / photographing optical path when observing the eye to be inspected with visible light including fluorescence described later and when photographing a fundus image on the film 47, and the eye to be examined 58 is monitored. In the case of observing with and in the case of moving image shooting (still image shooting is also possible), it is inserted into the observation / shooting optical path to reflect the fundus reflected light flux toward the shooting system 50.

The alignment optical system 60 includes a light source 61, a condenser lens 62, and a light guide 6 such as an optical fiber.
3, a mirror 64, a two-hole diaphragm 65, a relay lens 66, and a half mirror 31, and O3 is the optical axis of the optical path.

On the other hand, each of these optical systems 10 to 60 is shown in FIG.
It is provided inside a housing 71 of the apparatus main body 70 shown in FIG. The device main body 70 includes a power source base 72, a jaw support 73, an external fixation target device 74, a pedestal part 75, and a depression part 76.

The housing 71 is provided with a view angle switching lever 77, a correction lens switching knob 78, and a focusing handle 79. Further, on the upper surface of the housing 71, for example, the photographing system 5
An upper mount 82a is provided for detachably mounting a TV relay lens, a polaroid camera, etc., which is a unit of part of 0. Further, the observation system 40 is built into the upper part of the rear surface of the housing 71 via a lower mount 82b.
The camera body 83 is detachably attached. Moreover,
A display unit 84 is provided below the rear surface of the housing 71.

The pedestal section 75 is a joystick 85 as a movement operation lever for displacing the housing 71 together with the elevation section 76, a photographing switch 86 provided on the joystick 85, a first operation section 87, and a second operation section. Equipped with 88.

As shown in FIGS. 4 (A) and 4 (B), the display section 84 is operated after the intravenous injection of the fluorescent agent to the subject (FIG. 4 (A)) and the number of images (FIG. 4). (B)), or a counter display portion 84a for displaying various warnings such as condition setting errors, and a power saving means level for displaying a level of usage time and remaining time when a power saving means described later is in operation. The display unit 84b and the power saving timer display unit 84c that displays time when the power saving unit is operating are also provided.

The display unit 84 may be eliminated and replaced with the screen 58a, or at least a part of the display unit 84 may be replaced with the screen 5a.
It may also be used as 8a.

The power-saving means level display section 84b is composed of a plurality of grid-shaped lamps and the like, and each of the lamps is gradually turned on (state shown by the hatched lines in FIG. 4A) depending on the time of use, and the remaining time. The light-off state (state shown in white in FIG. 4 (A)) indicating that the lamps may be reduced, or conversely, each of the lamps is gradually turned off according to the usage time (shown in white in FIG. 4 (B)). (Displayed state is omitted) and the lighting state showing the remaining time (Fig. 4
The state of the hatched display in (B) may be reduced.

The power saving timer display portion 84c displays the display state as a use time corresponding to the operating time of the power saving means (the state of FIG. 4A), or the operating time of the power saving means. Remaining time and- (minus) display (Fig. 4
(State of (B)). The power saving means level display section 84
The combination of b and the display state of the power saving timer display portion 84c is arbitrary.

As shown in FIG. 3, the first operating section 87 includes a movable table fixing switch 89, a flash emission amount adjusting switch 90, a photographing device selecting switch 91, a recording method selecting switch 92, a photographing mode selecting switch 93, and a flick switch. 94, a non-flash switch 95, a data recording execution switch 96, an upper switch 97, and a lower switch 98.

As shown in FIG. 2, the second operating section 88 includes a timer switch 99, a stereo image switching switch 100, a normal volume switch 101, a fluorescent volume switch 102, an exciter filter insertion switch 103, and a barrier filter insertion switch 104. Is equipped with.

The photographing device selection switch 91 is operated when any one of Polaroid, 35 mm and TV is selected as a photographing device.

The recording method selection switch 92 is a switch for selecting either SV1 (for example, still video) or SV2 (for example, VTR) as a recording method, and which of the SV1 and SV2 is selected by the photographing device selection switch 91. If is selected, it is recognized by a detection device (not shown) whether or not the device for the selected recording method is mounted on any of the mounts 82a and 82b.

The photographing mode selection switch 93 is operated to select any photographing method (mode) of color photographing, visible fluorescent photographing, visible monochromatic photographing, infrared fluorescent photographing, and infrared monochromatic photographing. The shooting mode selection switch 93 is connected to a drive circuit for various filters, and inserts a filter corresponding to the selected shooting mode into the optical path (including a case where no filter is used).

For example, when the exciter filter insertion switch 103 is pressed while either the visible fluorescence photographing or the visible monochromatic photographing is selected, the solenoid (not shown) is driven through the driving circuit to drive the exciter. The filter 15a is inserted in the optical path. Further, when the barrier filter insertion switch 104 is pressed in the same state, a solenoid (not shown) is driven via the drive circuit to insert the barrier filter 32a into the optical path.

On the other hand, when the exciter filter insertion switch 103 is pressed while either the infrared fluorescence photography or the infrared monochromatic photography is selected, the solenoid (not shown) is driven via the drive circuit. The exciter filter 15b is inserted into the optical path. When the barrier filter insertion switch 104 is pressed in the same state, a solenoid (not shown) is driven via the drive circuit to insert the barrier filter 32b into the optical path.
The filter is not inserted in the case of color photography.

The flick switch 94 is operated when the lighting color of the fixation target 74a attached to the free end portion of the external fixation target device 74 is switched between red and green, and the non-flash switch 95 presses the photographing switch 86. Even if it is not desired to turn on the xenon lamp 11, it is operated.

The upper switch 97 is an upper mount 82.
The lower switch 98 is operated when the recording medium side mounted on the a is selected as the photographing optical path, and the lower switch 98 is operated when the recording medium side mounted on the lower mount 82b is selected as the photographing optical path.

The timer switch 99 is operated when the timer is operated simultaneously with the intravenous injection of the fluorescent agent, and the signal when this timer switch 99 is operated is output to the counter circuit 106 via the arithmetic control circuit 105 described later. Is
This starts counting. The count status of the counter circuit 106 is displayed on the display unit 84.

The normal volume switch 101 is operated when adjusting the light quantity of the halogen lamp 11 during normal photographing, and the fluorescent volume switch 102 is operated when adjusting the light quantity of the halogen lamp 11 during fluorescent photographing.

The switches and the like provided on the first and second operation parts 87 and 88 are not limited to the types and arrangements described above, and it goes without saying that various design changes can be made.

On the other hand, the output signal based on the operation of the first and second operation portions 87, 88, the joystick 85, the photographing switch 86, etc. is input to the arithmetic control circuit 105 as the switching control means as shown in FIG. Then, each load is controlled based on this input signal.

The respective loads here include the halogen lamp 11, the xenon lamp 13, the screen 58a, the external fixation lamp 74a, the display section 84, etc., as well as the front and rear, left and right of the housing 71 operated by the joystick 85. Controls a pulse motor (not shown) that moves and displaces up and down, a solenoid (not shown) that inserts and removes a driving mirror, a filter, and the like from the optical path, a counter circuit 106, a timer circuit 107 as a power saving unit, a power saving circuit 108, and the like. To do.

This power saving means switches the power saving time according to the length of the shooting time generally required in various shooting states, and the operation of the power saving means is performed when the above-mentioned various switches are operated. This is used together with the function of resetting the time to prevent the power saving means from being unexpectedly activated during the shooting to stop the power supply.

That is, the power saving circuit 108 selects a specific photographing method (color photographing or visible fluorescence photographing) from a plurality of photographing methods (color photographing, visible fluorescence photographing, visible monochromatic photographing, infrared fluorescent photographing, infrared monochromatic photographing). ), The generally required shooting time is set not only for the shooting time generally required but also for all that can be selected by the shooting mode selection switch 93.
5 minutes, 30 minutes for visible fluorescence photography, 15 for visible monochromatic photography
Minutes, 50 minutes for infrared fluorescence photography, and 15 minutes for infrared monochromatic photography.

In the case of infrared fluorescence photography, since the photography time is relatively long, the power saving circuit 10 is selected when infrared fluorescence photography is selected by the photography mode selection switch 93.
The operation of 8 may be stopped so that the power saving means does not operate (in other words, the operation time of the power saving circuit is switched to infinity).

Further, although the photographing time is set only by the photographing mode selection switch 93 in the present embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and the time may be set by the switches 91 and 92, for example. Furthermore, for example, infrared fluorescence + VT
In R, the reference may be set depending on a combination of both the photographing method and the device, such as 50 minutes.

The timer circuit 107 counts the time set in this way, and within this time the joystick 85
Or the photographing switch 86, or the first and second operation units 87 and 88
The arithmetic and control circuit 10 indicates that the switches and the like have not been operated.
When the determination is made by No. 4, a stop signal is output to the power saving circuit 105 to stop the power supply to the halogen lamp 11 and the xenon lamp 13 (the charging capacitor of the halogen lamp 11 and the xenon lamp 13) for the power source (not shown).

On the other hand, the timer circuit 10 sets the set time.
7 counts, and when the arithmetic control circuit 104 determines that the joystick 85, the photographing switch 86, or the switches of the first and second operation units 87 and 88 are operated within this time, the power saving circuit 105 is displayed. A reset signal is output to continue the power supply to the halogen lamp 11 and the xenon lamp 13 (the charging capacitor of the halogen lamp 11 and the like) to a power source (not shown) and reset the count of the timer circuit 107.

The switching of the operation of the power saving means is not limited to the above-mentioned case, but the angle of view switching lever 7
7, correction lens switching knob 78, focusing handle 7
9, fluorescent filter mounting portions 80 and 81, joystick 85, photographing switch 86, various switches 89 to 98 of the first operation portion 87, various switches 99 to of the second operation portion 88
Any one of 104 can be set to be commonly used as a switch for switching or resetting the power saving means, and can also be set as a combination of a plurality or more.

When the timer circuit 107 monitors the use time or the remaining time of the set time reaches a predetermined time, the power saving means is a warning means (a buzzer, which is different from the display on the display section 84). It is also possible to prompt a warning by (chime, voice, etc.) 109.

Further, the power saving means is provided in the inspection room when the apparatus main body is moved, the examinee and the examiner are in positions suitable for inspection and photographing, in addition to the state where the above-mentioned various switches are operated. A state detection sensor 110 (for example, a rocking sensor or a light / dark sensor) is provided to detect a clear use / non-use state including the surrounding environment, such as when electricity is turned off. It is also possible to cause the arithmetic control circuit 104 to control the power saving means based on the detection signal from the state detection sensor 110.

In the above embodiment, the control of the power saving means is disclosed by taking the fundus camera as an example, but the invention can be applied to a photo slit lamp or the like.

[0059]

As described above, in the ophthalmologic apparatus of the present invention, the time required for each of a plurality of photographing methods is set, and the operation of the power saving means is performed according to the selected photographing method. By providing the switching control means for switching the time to each set time, it is possible to switch the operating time of the power saving means according to a plurality of shooting methods, and the power saving means of the power saving means in the middle of the observation shooting can be changed regardless of the shooting method. The operation can be prevented.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an essential part showing an ophthalmologic apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is likewise a front view of a second operation portion.

FIG. 3 is likewise a front view of the first operating portion.

FIG. 4A is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a display unit,
(B) is an explanatory view showing another example of the display unit.

FIG. 5 is likewise a perspective view of the apparatus body.

FIG. 6 is likewise an explanatory diagram of an optical system.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Halogen lamp (light source) 13 ... Xenon lamp (light source) 107 ... Timer circuit 108 ... Power saving circuit

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Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. An ophthalmologic apparatus comprising: a timer for counting the operating time of the instrument; and a power saving means for stopping the power supply to each load except the control circuit when a predetermined time is exceeded. The ophthalmologic apparatus is characterized by further comprising switching control means for setting the required time for each of them and switching the operating time of the power saving means to the set time according to the selected photographing method. 2. The ophthalmologic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the timer is reset when there is any input from an operation unit or a sensor provided in the apparatus body. 3. When the selected photographing method is an infrared fluorescence photographing method for photographing a fundus image of an eye to be examined in an infrared fluorescence region, the operation of the power saving means is stopped. The ophthalmologic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 4. A power saving display section for displaying a time until the power saving means is activated.
Ophthalmic instrument described in. 5. The ophthalmologic apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a warning means for notifying that the power saving means has reached a certain time before the operating time.