JPH0585169B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a microscope for observing and photographing the cornea, particularly its endothelial cells, at high magnification.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Images of endothelial cells in the cornea have extremely low contrast, and if the reflection of illumination light from the corneal surface overlaps, observation or photography becomes impossible. In order to prevent the reflected light beam from being superimposed on the image light beam, a slit is used to illuminate the object in a linear manner, and the image light beam is extracted from a direction different from that of the illumination. Since the microscopic image obtained in this way is in the form of a narrow band, it was recommended that the slit be moved to scan and illuminate the object to be examined, and that the image beam should be extracted through the slit that moves in synchronization with the scanning illumination.
This method is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 63-50010, and by implementing this method, it has become possible to clearly observe or photograph the object to be examined over the entire field of view of the microscope.

【0003】

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, since the cornea is spherically curved, even if the invention described in the above publication is carried out, the optical axis of the microscope must be aligned with the center of the cornea for good observation. must be
If it deviates from this, strong specular reflection light from the corneal surface will mix into the image beam, or image beams from the endothelial cells will escape, making observation impossible. In order to perform observations well, it is necessary to perform both centering and focusing to align the optical axis of the microscope with the center of the cornea, but the eyeball constantly moves back and forth (changes in distance), up and down, and left and right. Since cell images cannot be observed until centering and focusing are almost completed, these adjustment operations are extremely difficult. In particular, in the conventional method of illuminating with a light beam passing through a fixed slit, the field of view is narrow, making centering and focusing more difficult. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus that can easily achieve both centering and focusing when observing the cornea.

[0004]

Means for Solving the Problems A microscope according to the present invention is provided with a high magnification optical path and a low magnification optical path on a common objective optical axis. Specific structures for this purpose include: (1) A configuration in which the image beam is divided into two by a semitransparent mirror or the like, and each is used as an optical path for low-magnification centering and focusing, and an optical path for high-magnification observation. (2) A configuration in which an image beam is extracted from the middle of the objective lens for one optical path and is supplied to the other optical path. (3) A configuration in which the image beam passing through a common objective lens is divided into two parts, one of which is supplied to a high-magnification optical path and the other to a low-magnification optical path. (4) A configuration in which an objective lens with variable magnification is used, and the same microscope system is used for centering and focusing at low magnifications, and for observation at high magnifications. (5) A configuration in which the low-magnification objective lens and the high-magnification objective lens can be interchanged within the optical axis of the microscope. Any of these can be adopted.

[0005] The high magnification optical path is set to be focused closer to the user than the low magnification optical path when viewed from the microscope side by a distance approximately equivalent to the distance between the iris and the cornea. Further, a light source for illuminating the surface to be observed is arranged symmetrically around the objective optical axis.

[0006]

[Operation] In use, first, while observing a low-magnification image, focus on the iris and center the image of the light source so that it is reflected at a position symmetrical to the center of the pupil.

[0007] Then, the focus of the high-magnification image almost matches the cornea. Therefore, fine adjustments are made to focus and centering as necessary, and then full-scale observation or photography is started under high magnification. Therefore, focusing and centering operations become extremely easy.

[0008]

EXAMPLE In FIG. 1, 1 is an eyeball, 2 is a cornea, 3 is an iris, and 4 is a crystalline lens. A low magnification objective lens system 6 consisting of a lens 5 is mounted on the front surface of the eyeball 1.
An objective lens structure 11 having a high magnification objective lens system 10 (for example, 20 times) and a high magnification objective lens system 10 (for example, 20 times) is installed movably in the direction of the arrow 12. The objective lens system 6 focuses on the surface 13, and the objective lens system 10 focuses on the surface 13.
It is adjusted in advance so that the focus is on the surface 14 in front by ~3 mm).

[0009] The light beam emitted by the light source 15 passes through the lens 16,
17 onto the slit plate 18, reflected by the reflecting mirror 19 in the right angle direction, collimated by the lens 20, further reflected in the right angle direction by the reflecting mirror 21, and from one half of the microscope optical axis 22 to the objective lens system 6. Or enter 10.

[0010] The slit plate 18 has a large number of slits 2.
3, 23..., and is moving in the direction of arrow 24. The images of the slits 23, 23, . The area is scanned by moving in the direction of the arrow. Around the objective lens system 6, light sources 25, 25...
...are placed symmetrically around the center.

[0011] The image of the focus plane 13 or 14 returns within the objective lens system 6 or 10, travels along the optical axis 22, is imaged on the slit plate 27 by the auxiliary lens 26, and is further imaged by the taking lens 28. An image is formed on the photosensitive surface 30 of the television imager 29.

[0012] The slit plate 27 also has a large number of slits 3.
1, 31..., and moves in the direction of arrow 32 in synchronization with the slit plate 18. Therefore, the focus plane 13
Or, only the parts illuminated by the images of slits 23, 23 on 14 are
1..., so the image of the focus plane 13 or 14 illuminated by the light source 15 is displayed on the television monitor screen.

[0013] First, using the objective lens system 6, an image of the focus plane 13 is displayed on a television monitor screen, and focusing is performed so that the iris 3 matches the focus plane 13. If the microscope magnification at this time is equal to the same magnification and the dimension of the photosensitive surface 30 of the image pickup device 29 is 10 mm, the diameter of the pupil is several mm, so the iris 3 can be seen on the TV monitor screen 33 as shown in FIG. The image 34 is displayed large, and the reflected images 35, 3 of the light sources 25, 25...
5... are displayed inside or outside the pupil image 36.

[0014] Therefore, focusing is performed so that the iris image 34 becomes clear in the monitor image, and centering is performed so that the light source reflection images 35, 35, . . . are displayed symmetrically with respect to the center of the pupil image 35.

[0015] Next, the objective lens structure 11 is
direction and move the high magnification objective lens system 10 toward the optical axis 2.
2, the image of the corneal endothelial cell at exactly that position is displayed on the monitor screen 33 because the focus is set d in front of you. In this case, the focus and centering are only slightly out of alignment, so they can be easily and precisely adjusted without losing sight of the cell image.

[0016] Here, the magnification of the objective lens system 10 is 20
If it is doubled, a range of 0.5 mm in height of the cornea 2 can be enlarged and displayed to fill the entire monitor image receiving screen 33.

[0017] In addition, 37 is a high magnification objective lens system 10.
A light source installed on the outside of the lens that emits light in a non-dazzling color such as red, and the tip of the light guide 38 that extends from this is located on the optical axis 39 of the lens and is used as a fixation target for the examinee to stare at during the examination. It will be done.

FIG. 3 shows an objective lens structure 11 in a different embodiment of the invention, with an auxiliary lens system 43 in the optical axis 42 of a low magnification objective lens system 41 as shown by arrow 4.
By inserting it as shown in 4, the magnification can be switched to high. In this case as well, by switching from low magnification to high magnification, the focal plane is configured to move forward by d, as explained with reference to FIG. 45 is an annular light source provided around the low magnification objective lens system 41 and used for centering;
The reflected image appears in a ring shape on the television monitor screen. Therefore, centering is performed so that this reflected image is concentric with the pupil image.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the low magnification objective lens system 51 is composed of lenses 52 and 53 near the tip, and the high magnification objective lens system 54 is composed of lenses 52, 53, 55, and 56. has been done. Light sources 25, 25, . . . for centering are arranged around the low magnification objective lens system 51.

[0020] The illumination light from the observation light source 15 is transmitted through the lens 1.
6 and 17, the beam is focused onto a fixed slit 57, passes through a reflecting mirror 19, a lens 20, and a reflecting mirror 21, enters a high magnification objective lens system 54 from behind, and forms a slit-shaped image on a focusing plane 14. do.

[0021] The image on the focus plane 14 on the near side is focused on the photosensitive surface 3 in the television imager 29 by the high magnification objective lens system 54, the relay lens 26, and the imaging lens 28.
The image is formed on 0. Further, the image of the front focus plane 13 obtained by the illumination of the light sources 25, 25, . . .
An image is formed on a photosensitive surface 61 of another television imaging device 60 by a low magnification objective lens system 51, a small reflecting mirror 58 located behind it, and an imaging lens 59.

[0022] In this embodiment, an enlarged image is obtained using the monitor image obtained by the image capture device 29 while constantly correcting the deviation in focus and centering due to the movement of the eyeball 1 using the monitor image obtained by the image capture device 60. Therefore, there is no need to frequently change the magnification every time an error occurs.

[0023]

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, the cornea can be quickly and easily focused and centered on the microscope, where it is extremely difficult to focus and center the microscope because the contrast of the light rays in the image is weak and it is easily interfered with by reflected light. In addition, focusing and centering can be easily performed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an optical path diagram of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a television monitor image in the above embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an objective lens structure in another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an optical path diagram of yet another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1...Eyeball 2...Cornea 3...Iris 6...Low magnification objective lens system 10...High magnification objective lens system 11...Objective lens structure 13... Focus plane at low magnification 14... Focus plane at high magnification 15...Illumination light source 25... Light source symmetrical about the center 29...TV camera 33...Monitor screen 34...Iris image 35... Annular light source reflection image.

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: A high-magnification optical path and a low-magnification optical path are provided with a common objective optical axis of the microscope, and the position of the focused surface to be observed in the high-magnification optical path is set lower than the position of the focused surface to be observed in the low-magnification optical path. A light source is set toward the front when viewed from the microscope side by a distance approximately equivalent to the distance between the iris and the cornea, and is arranged to surround the objective optical axis and illuminate the surface to be observed symmetrically with respect to the optical axis. Corneal microscope.