Patent Application
20160256052
The present invention relates generally to a detection device that is able to carry out constant-pressure puffing towards the eye of a test subject, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a detection device that is able to calculate the value of intraocular pressure and the thickness of cornea of the eyeball of a test subject at the same time.
Many tools exist for the detection of intraocular pressure of the eyeball of test subjects, but the common tools that are normally used for detecting intraocular pressure include an applanation tonometer, a tonopen as well as a pneumatonometer. The most reliable method for the detection of intraocular pressure is the applanation tonometer. However, to detect the intraocular pressure of the eyeball of the test subject with a applanation tonometer, anesthetic needs to be applied on the cornea of the eyeball of the test subject before the detection method, and the intraocular pressure of the test subject may be detected by subsequently placing the applanation tonometer in direct contact with the cornea of the eyeball of a test subject.
As to the tonopen, the tonopen has a design that is similar to the design of an applanation tonometer. In other words, to detect the intraocular pressure of the eye of a test subject, the tonopen needs to be in direct contact with the eye. The main advantages of the tonopen are that it is easily portable, and that the speed of detecting the intraocular pressure is fast. However, the rate of failure and the error rate are relatively high.
With regard to the detection method by the pneumatonometer, this detection method involves the instantaneous injection of a air with a certain pressure to the cornea of the eyeball of the test subject in order to flatten the cornea of the eyeball of the test subject; this detection method makes use of electrons to detect the changes in reflected wave, and thus calculating the value of the intraocular pressure. The main advantage of the pneumatonometer is that no direct contact with the test subject's cornea is needed, however, errors would occur with this detection method when the intraocular pressure gets too high, for example at thirty to forty millimeters of mercury. As such, the pneumatonometer is used mainly for screening.
Referring to
Moreover, the detecting optical path 17 of the conventional pneumatic tonometer may project an infrared light source 18 to the eyeball 10 in a different direction to the puffing device, such that the value of an intraocular pressure can be calculated by the photoelectric cell 19 that receives a signal reflected by the eyeball 10.
However, since the detecting optical path and the puffing path of the conventional pneumatic tonometer are located in different paths, the errors which are caused by the tolerances of the components and the assembly errors may result from the errors of the result determined. As such, in order to enable the conventional pneumatic tonometer to calculate a value of an intraocular pressure more accurate, it is necessary to have an improvement on the detecting optical path and the imaging optical path of the conventional determined tonometer.
The main objective of the present invention is to enable the values of intraocular pressure and thickness of the cornea of the eyeball of the test subject to be detected at the same time, by means of placing the detecting optical path and the comparison optical path within different device structures.
The other objective of the present invention is to have a design such that the detecting optical path and the puffing path may be on the same axis, so as to effectively reduce the errors that may be caused by the tolerance of the components.
In order to achieve the aforesaid objectives, the present invention is related to an intraocular pressure detecting device, for the detection of the intraocular pressure as well as the thickness of the cornea of the eyeball of test subjects, whereby the intraocular pressure detecting device of the present invention includes a sampling device, a comparison device, a detecting device as well as a gazing unit.
The sampling device may include an opening window that forms a through hole, whereby the interior of the sampling device may include an imaging unit as well as a puffing unit. The imaging unit may form an imaging optical path directly with the eyeball, via a through hole of the opening window.
According to a preferred exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the comparison device may include a reflecting mirror and a driving device; and the detecting device may be in connection with the sampling device and the comparison device, respectively. The detecting device may indirectly form a detecting optical path with the eyeball, via the opening window of the sampling device. In addition, in accordance with a preferred exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the detecting device may directly form a comparison optical path with the reflecting mirror of the comparison device. The comparison optical path may include a second relay lens, and the driving device may drive the reflecting mirror to selectively get close to or to get further away from the second relay lens.
Whereby, the detecting device may include a projecting element, a light splitting element as well as an operating element. The projecting element may include a first detecting signal and a second detecting signal. In addition, the light splitting element is in connection with the projecting element, whereby the light splitting element projects the first detecting signal to the detecting optical path, and projects the second detecting signal to the comparison optical path. Moreover, the light splitting element may receive the first reflecting signal and the second reflecting signal. Furthermore, the operating element is in connection with the light splitting element, the operating element may receive the first reflecting signal and the second reflecting signal, so as to calculate a current value for the intraocular pressure and value for the thickness of the cornea of the eyeball of the test subject.
In addition to the above, the detecting optical path and the imaging optical path may enable the imaging unit of the imaging optical path and the detecting device of the detecting optical path to be located on a different axis, by means of a first light splitting lens. Moreover, in accordance with a preferred exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a first relay lens may exist in between the first light splitting lens and the opening window. The puffing device may work together with the through holes of the opening window to blow air towards the eyeball of the test subject; furthermore, the puffing device may blow air towards the area between the opening window and the first relay lens, so as to form a puffing path that is on the same axis as the detecting optical path.
The gazing unit is located in the interior of the sampling device. Moreover, the gazing unit may form a gazing optical path with the eyeball of the test subject by means of the opening window. In addition, the gazing optical path and the detecting optical path may enable the gazing optical path and the detecting optical path to be located on a different axis, by means of a second light splitting lens.
In accordance with a preferred exemplary embodiment of the present invention, when the length of the comparison optical path is subjected to adjustment, such that this length is now equal to the length of the detecting optical path, the detecting device may calculate the value of the intraocular pressure by means of the first reflecting signal and the second reflecting signal.
The distinguishing technical feature of the present invention lies in the fact that the detecting optical path as well as the puffing path of the puffing device may be located on the same axis at the same time. This may enable the errors that may be caused by the tolerance of the components to be effectively reduced. In addition to the above, the detecting device may be able to calculate the values of intraocular pressure and the thickness of the cornea of the eyeball of the test subject at the same time, by means of receiving the first reflecting signal and the second reflecting signal.
The present invention can be understood in more detail by reading the subsequent detailed description in conjunction with the examples and preferred exemplary embodiments made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate the preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
As shown in
The detecting device 20 may include a projecting element 21, a light splitting element 22, an operating element 23, a first projecting element 24 and a second projecting element 25. The projecting element 21 may be in connection with the light splitting element 22. In addition, the projecting element 21 may include a first detecting signal and a second detecting signal. Moreover, the light splitting element 22 may be in connection with the operating element 23. The first projecting element 24 and the second projecting element 25 may respectively be in connection with the light splitting element 22. The first projecting element 24 may be located inside the sampling device 30, and the second projecting element 25 may be located inside the comparison device 40.
Also, as shown in
In accordance with the preferred exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the operating element 23 of the detecting device 20 may be a charge coupled device (CCD). Moreover, the imaging unit 32 of the sampling device 30 may be a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor.
Referring to
Moreover, the detecting device 20 may form a detecting optical path 26 directly with the eyeball 50 of the test subject, by means of the light splitting element 22, the first projecting element 24, the first light splitting lens 35, the first relay lens 37 and the through hole 311 of the opening window 31. It should be noted that the detecting optical path 26 and the puffing path 331 are located on the same axis. In addition, the detecting device 20 may form a comparison optical path 27, by means of the light splitting element 22, the second projecting element 25, the second relay lens 42 and the reflecting mirror 41.
In addition, as shown in
In accordance with the preferred exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the imaging optical path 321 may include a third relay lens 321a and a fourth relay lens 321b. In addition, the third relay lens 321a and the fourth relay lens 321b may be located in between the imaging unit 32 and the first light splitting lens 35. Moreover, the detecting optical path 26 may include a fifth relay lens 261 that is located in between the first light splitting lens 35 and the first projecting element 24.
In the specific application, as shown in
As shown in
As such, in accordance with the preferred exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the second projecting element 25 may project the second detecting signal towards the comparison optical path 27, and may form a second reflecting signal corresponding to the first reflecting signal by means of reflection from the reflecting mirror 41 of the comparison device 40. Following this, the second reflecting signal may be projected towards the light splitting element 22 of the detecting device 20 along the comparison optical path 27. The light splitting element 22 of the detecting device 20 may also transmit the first reflecting signal and the second reflecting signal to the operating element 23, such that a value of an intraocular pressure and a thickness of a cornea of the eyeball 50 of the test subject may be calculated by the operating element 23 based on the first reflecting signal and the second reflecting signal.
This is then followed by the puffing of the puffing unit 33, which may puff based on the puffing path 331 towards the eyeball 50 of the test subject, so as to enable the eyeball 50 of the test subject to be inwardly compressed by air, such that the length of the detection optical path 26 may be increased. As such, when the first reflecting signal may not correspond to the second reflecting signal, the driving device 43 of the comparison device 40 may drive the reflecting mirror 41 to get further away from the second relay lens 42. In accordance with this, the length of the comparison optical path 27 may be equal to the length of the detecting optical path 26, so as to enable the first reflecting signal to correspond to the second reflecting signal. Therefore, the value of an intraocular pressure and a thickness of a cornea of the eyeball of the test subject may be calculated by the operating element 23 of the detecting device 20 by means of the first reflecting signal and the second reflecting signal.
In summary, the present invention may effectively reduce the error that is caused by the impact of part tolerances by the detecting optical path and the puffing path of the puffing device being located on the same axis. Furthermore, the value of intraocular pressure and the value of the thickness of a cornea of the eyeball of the test subject may be calculated by the detecting device that receives the first reflecting signal and the second reflecting signal.
Although the preferred exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the preferred exemplary embodiments thereof, it may be apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.
