Method and apparatus for examining optic nerve head circulation
US5830147A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 30, 1997 |
| Grant date | Nov 3, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 30, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA61B3/1233
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A laser source attached to an ophthalmic observation instrument, such as a fundus camera, projects a spot, and a light collector is positioned in the image field of the instrument over the spot to collect return light scattered from a homogeneous tissue bed in the image field. The collected light is directed onto a photomultiplier and digitized at a sampling rate above several kHz to provide a continuous data stream which is fed to a process/control module that operates to automatically define a number n of sample intervals, select a subset of the sample intervals for analysis, transform the selected intervals, and evaluate the shape of the transformed sample intervals. The process/control module may be implemented on a simple computer, and include a user interface which indicates status of signal acquisition, selection and evaluation during a short, e.g., one-minute illumination interval. The ophthalmic instrument images tissue of the fundus, and the light collector is configured to collect light from a target region having a diameter under 0.5 mm, preferably under 0.2 mm, and as little as 0.02 mm which is selected by the operator by moving the light collector to a region of the i…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.