Eye Test

Abstract

The present invention relates to eye testing. A system and method for eye testing applications for mobile devices, in particular, an application for self-determining eyeglass prescriptions through a mobile computing device, including SSPF and LLDDM, for enabling a user to self-determine eyeglass prescriptions through a mobile computing device, the device comprising: volatile and non-volatile memory for storing data; a processor configured to execute program instructions in the non-volatile memory; a display screen adapted to receive image information from the processor to present instructions and images to the user; and a camera configured to receive a user pupil image under a test condition; wherein the system comprises application instructions for instructing the processor to perform a method for determining eyeglass prescriptions, the method comprising: determining whether the user's eyes are myopic; determining the principal and axis meridians of the user's eyes when the user observes the image information on the display screen; enabling the LLDDM system to determine the refractive error of the user's eyes in real time with the principal and axis meridians when the user observes the SSPF image information on the display screen; calculating sphere, cylinder and axis prescriptions based on the principal and axis meridian values ​​obtained by the LLDDM system; and displaying the calculated prescription values ​​to the user.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to eye testing applications for mobile devices, particularly applications for self-determining eyeglass prescriptions via mobile computing devices, and generally to determining eyeglass and / or contact lens prescriptions for patients who need to correct refractive errors in one or both eyes to restore the patient's vision.

[0002] The present invention has been developed primarily for DIY systems and methods for self-determining eyeglass prescription values ​​via a mobile device and will be described hereinafter with reference to the present application. However, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to this particular field of use. Background Art

[0003] Any discussion of the background art throughout the specification should not be taken as an admission that the background art is prior art or that the background art is widely known or forms part of the common general knowledge in the field in Australia or worldwide.

[0004] All references cited in this specification (including any patents or patent applications) are hereby incorporated by reference. No admission is made that any reference constitutes prior art. The discussion of the references states what the authors assert, and the applicant reserves the right to challenge the accuracy and pertinence of the references. It should be clearly understood that although some prior art disclosures are referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that these documents form part of the common general knowledge in the art, in Australia or any other country.

[0005] Visual acuity generally refers to the clarity of vision. Visual acuity depends on optical and neurological factors, such as:

[0006] The sharpness of the retinal focus within the eye;

[0007] the health and function of the retina; and

[0008] The sensitivity of the brain's interpretive capacity.

[0009] A common cause of poor vision is an error in refraction (refractive error), or an error in the way light is refracted in the eye. Causes of refractive error include aberrations in the shape of the eye or cornea, and reduced flexibility of the lens. Too much or too little refractive power (related to the length of the eye) is the cause of nearsightedness (myopia) or farsightedness (hyperopia) (the normal refractive state is called emmetropia). Other optical causes are astigmatism or more complex corneal irregularities. Most of these abnormalities can be corrected with optical means (glasses, contact lenses, laser surgery, etc.).

[0010] Glasses (herein interchangeably referred to as glasses, spectacles, contact lenses or simply glasses) are primarily used to improve a person's vision through external correction of any refractive errors of the eye. In order to obtain glasses, the person must first obtain a glasses prescription (hereinafter referred to as glasses prescription, glasses prescription or simply prescription).

[0011] Many people have refractive errors in their eyes, causing them to be either nearsighted (myopia) or farsighted (hyperopia). Those skilled in the art will understand that myopia refers to a refractive error in the optical properties of the eye that causes the image to focus in front of the retina (i.e., a refractive error). These optical defects are typically caused by defects in the cornea, elongation of the eye's structures, other conditions, or a combination of these conditions. On the other hand, hyperopia refers to a refractive error in the optical properties of the eye that causes the image to focus behind the retina. These optical defects are created when the optical components of the eye are not sufficient to support the front-to-back length of the eye. Myopia and hyperopia have a component, the spheroid measurement, which represents the strength or refraction required to correct the optical defect.

[0012] Astigmatism refers to a refractive error that causes light rays entering the eye to focus at two points instead of one. It is caused by uneven (optical) power of the cornea and / or lens. Most commonly, an astigmatic eye has a toroidal surface to the cornea. Eye astigmatism has two components, the axial measurement (axial), which represents the angle of orientation of the toroidal optic (optics), and the cylindrical measurement, which represents the strength or power of the toroidal optic. Myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism are the main refractive errors that cause patients to seek treatment to correct vision problems.

[0013] Manifest refractive analysis is a diagnostic tool used by ophthalmologists and optometrists to test a patient's refractive errors to indicate whether the patient would benefit from correction with glasses or contact lenses. As part of this technique, the patient looks through a phoropter while the ophthalmologist or optometrist evaluates each of the patient's eyes. Retinal reflection diagnostic techniques are often used to assess the magnitude of the refractive errors present in the patient's eyes. Subjective patient feedback is used to refine explicit refraction, which involves the patient choosing between image quality as different lenses with varying refractive powers are slid onto the phoropter. These refractive errors can be corrected with lenses applied directly to the eye (commonly called glasses) or with contact lenses. They can also be corrected with various surgical procedures, such as laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK). At the end of the manifest refractive analysis, the ophthalmologist or optometrist can write a prescription for glasses, contact lenses, and / or refractive surgery.

[0014] Other methods for determining a patient's refractive error include known diagnostic devices such as wavefront sensors, refractometers, and other devices well known in the art. Some of the diagnostic devices use a computer to help determine a patient's refractive error. For example, one implementation of a wavefront-type refractor known in the art uses a "Hartmann-Shack" sensor to measure the wavefront of a beam of light generated from an illumination point projected onto the retina and through the optics of the eye. In such a wavefront-type refractor, a probe beam from a laser or superluminescent diode is projected onto the retina through the optics of the eye. Light scattered by the retina passes through the optics of the eye and emerges through the pupil of the eye. The wavefront of the exiting beam carries refractive information related to the optics of the eye. For example, if the eye is emmetropic (i.e., the optical system of the eye has no refractive error), the wavefront of the emerging beam should be flat. The relay optics transfer the wavefront emerging from the pupil to the Hartmann-Shack sensor. The Hartmann-Shack sensor measures the distortion of the wavefront and provides this information to a computer which calculates the refractive error of the eye due to aberrations in the eye's optical components, which is then converted into a refractive correction prescription for the patient to correct their vision.

[0015] Each of the above-described techniques for determining a patient's refractive error requires the patient to travel to a location where such a machine or physician is present and available to make the determination, including a professional to operate the machine. Furthermore, upon traveling to the physician's office, the patient must pay for the physician's time and services, which may or may not be covered by their health insurance. This is both expensive and inconvenient for the patient, and presents a technical barrier to the patient obtaining a prescription using alternative and / or more readily available methods.

[0016] Furthermore, the cost of the above machines (phoroptors, wavefront refractors, etc.) prohibits ownership by non-medical individuals, and thus patients do not have the ability to determine their own eyeglass or contact prescriptions outside of a medical setting.

[0017] Therefore, there is a need for a user-operated system that is capable of determining a user's optical correction for the purpose of purchasing prescription eyewear (glasses / glasses) for correcting / improving the user's unique and individual refractive errors and overcoming technical problems that are limited to the use of highly specialized technical vision assessment equipment and operation by highly specialized technicians. Summary of the invention

[0018] It is an object of the present invention to overcome or ameliorate at least one or more disadvantages of the prior art, or to provide a useful alternative.

[0019] One embodiment provides a computer program product for performing the methods described herein.

[0020] One embodiment provides a non-transferable carrier medium for carrying computer executable code, which when executed on a processor causes the processor to perform a method as described herein.

[0021] One embodiment provides a system configured to perform the methods described herein.

[0022] According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for enabling a user to self-determine an eyeglass prescription through a mobile computing device, the system comprising simultaneous split point focus (SSPF) and low latency dynamic distance monitoring (LLDDM). The device may include a volatile memory and a non-volatile memory for storing data. The device may also include a processor configured to execute program instructions stored in the non-volatile memory. The device may also include a visual display screen adapted to receive image information from the processor to present instructions and images to the user. The device may also include a camera configured to receive an image of the user's pupil under a test condition. The system may include application instructions for directing the processor to perform a method for determining an eyeglass prescription. The method may include a step of determining whether the user's eyes are myopic. If the user's eyes are myopic, the method may include a further step of determining the principal meridian and the axis meridian of the user's eyes when the user observes the image information on the display screen. The method may also include causing the LLDDM system to determine the refractive power error of the user's eyes in real time with the principal and axis meridians when the user observes the SSPF image information on the display screen. The method may include the step of calculating spherical, cylindrical and axial prescriptions from the principal meridian and axial meridian values ​​obtained via the LLDDM system. The method may include the step of displaying the calculated prescription values ​​to a user.

[0023] According to a particular arrangement of the first aspect, there is provided a system for enabling a user to self-determine an eyeglass prescription via a mobile computing device, the system comprising simultaneous split point focusing (SSPF) and low latency dynamic distance monitoring (LLDDM), the device comprising:

[0024] Volatile and non-volatile memory for storing data;

[0025] a processor configured to execute program instructions stored in the non-volatile memory;

[0026] a visual display screen adapted to receive image information from the processor to present instructions and images to a user; and

[0027] a camera configured to receive an image of the user's pupil under test conditions;

[0028] The system includes application instructions for directing the processor to perform a method for determining an eyeglass prescription, the method comprising:

[0029] determining whether the user's eyes are myopic, and whether the user's eyes are myopic;

[0030] determining principal and axial meridians of the user's eyes when the user observes the image information on the display screen;

[0031] enabling the LLDDM system to determine the refractive power error of the user's eye in real time with the principal and axial meridians when the user observes the SSPF image information on the display screen;

[0032] calculating spherical, cylindrical, and axial prescriptions based on the principal and axial meridian values ​​obtained by the LLDDM system; and

[0033] The calculated prescription values ​​are displayed to the user.

[0034] Determining whether the user's eyes are myopic includes a method implemented by executing program instructions with the processor, the method comprising:

[0035] displaying an image including a first portion having a duochrome background on the display screen; providing instructions to the user; and

[0036] Input is received from the user regarding a portion of the image that subjectively appears sharper to the user.

[0037] Determining the axis meridian comprises a method implemented by executing program instructions with the processor, the method comprising:

[0038] displaying a radial orientation image on the display screen; providing instructions to the user; and

[0039] Input is received from the user regarding a portion of the radially-oriented image that subjectively appears sharper to the user.

[0040] Determining the principal meridian comprises a method implemented by executing program instructions with the processor, the method comprising:

[0041] displaying a hashed line image including a two-color background on the display screen and receiving input from the user regarding a position spaced from the user's eyes under test at which the lines appear subjectively equally sharp to the user; and

[0042] The distance from the display screen to the eyes of the user being measured is determined.

[0043] The hash line image displayed on the screen may be configured to have a width between about 2 and 8 pixels, and may have a width on the screen of about 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 pixels. The radial line image displayed on the screen is configured to have a width between about 4 and 8 pixels, and may have a width on the screen of about 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 pixels. The length of the line displayed on the screen is between about 40 and 60 mm, or about 20 to 80 mm, about 30 to 70 mm, about 20 to 60 mm, about 30 to 60 mm, about 50 to 60 mm, and may be about 20, 30, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 80 mm long.

[0044] The system includes a two-color image, which includes a two-color background image having at least two parts separated by an interface; and an image overlaid on the two-color background across the interface between the two-color background parts, wherein each of the images in each of the two-color background parts is simultaneously imaged to the fovea of ​​the eye of the user being measured.

[0045] During testing, the distance from the display screen to the eyes of the user under test may be determined from a real-time video stream of the user's eyes.

[0046] According to a second aspect of the present invention, a method for a user to self-determine an eyeglass prescription through a mobile computing device is provided. The method may include the step of providing a mobile computing device. The mobile device may include a processor configured to execute program instructions stored in a non-volatile memory. The mobile device may also include a visual display screen adapted to receive image information from the processor to present instructions and images to the user. The mobile device may also include a camera configured to receive an image of the user's pupil during a test situation. The method may also include the step of providing application instructions for instructing the processor to execute a method for determining an eyeglass prescription. The program instructions may include program code for determining whether the user's eyes are myopic. If the user's eyes are myopic, the program instructions may also include program code for determining the principal meridian and axis meridian of the user's eyes when the user observes the image information on the display screen; and program code for calculating sphere, cylinder, and axis prescriptions from the principal meridian and axis meridian.

[0047] According to a specific configuration of the second aspect, a method is provided for a user to self-determine an eyeglass prescription via a mobile computing device, the method comprising:

[0048] A mobile computing device is provided, comprising:

[0049] a processor configured to execute program instructions stored in the non-volatile memory;

[0050] a visual display screen adapted to receive image information from said processor to present instructions and images to said user; and

[0051] a camera configured to receive an image of the user's pupil under test conditions;

[0052] The method includes application program instructions for directing the processor to execute a method for determining an eyeglass prescription, the program instructions including:

[0053] program code for determining whether the user's eyes are myopic and whether the user's eyes are myopic;

[0054] program code for determining principal and axial meridians of the user's eyes when the user views image information on the display screen; and

[0055] Program code for calculating sphere, cylinder and axis prescriptions from said principal and axis meridians.

[0056] Determining whether the user's eyes are myopic includes program code for displaying an image on the display screen, including:

[0057] A two-color background; a program code for providing instructions to the user; and

[0058] Program code for receiving input from the user regarding a portion of the image that subjectively appears sharper to the user.

[0059] Determining the axis meridian includes:

[0060] Program code for displaying a radial orientation image on the display screen; program code for providing instructions to a user; and

[0061] Program code for receiving information from the user regarding a portion of the radially oriented image that appears subjectively sharper to the user.

[0062] Determining the principal meridian includes:

[0063] program code for displaying a hashed line image including a two-color background on the display screen and receiving input from the user regarding locations where the lines spaced from the user's eyes under test appear subjectively equally sharp to the user; and

[0064] The distance from the display screen to the eyes of the user being measured is determined.

[0065] The method includes presenting a two-color image on the display screen, the two-color image including a two-color background image having at least two parts separated by an interface; and an image overlaid on the two-color background across the interface between the two-color background parts; wherein each of the images in each of the two-color background parts is simultaneously imaged onto the fovea of ​​the eye of the user being measured.

[0066] During testing, the distance from the display screen to the eyes of the user under test is determined from a real-time video stream of the user's eyes.

[0067] The two-color background includes a background image having a first portion and a second portion and an interface, wherein the first portion and the second portion are adjacent to each other.

[0068] The first portion may include a red background portion and the second portion may include a green or blue background.

[0069] The hash line image may be overlaid on the red and green background portions and may be aligned with the interface at between about 40 and 90 degrees. The hash line image may be aligned between about 40° and 140°, about 45° and 135°, about 50° and 130°, about 55° and 125°, about 60° and 120°, about 65° and 115°, about 70° and 110°, about 75° and 105°, about 80° and 100°, or about 85° and 95°, and may be aligned with the interface at between about 40°, about 45° and 135°, about 50° and 130°, about 55° and 125°, about 60° and 120°, about 65° and 115°, about 70° and 110°, about 75° and 105°, about 80° and 100°, or about 85° and 95°. 45°, 50°, 55°, 60°, 65°, 70°, 75°, 80°, 85°, 86°, 87°, 88°, 89°, 89.5°, 90°, 90.5°, 91°, 92°, 93°, 94°, 95°, 100°, 105°, 110°, 115°, 120°, 125°, 130°, 135° or about 140°.

[0070] The hash line image may be aligned approximately perpendicular to the interface.

[0071] According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for enabling a user to self-determine an eyeglass prescription via a mobile computing device.

[0072] The apparatus may include a volatile memory and a non-volatile memory for storing data. The apparatus may also include a processor configured to execute program instructions stored in the non-volatile memory. The apparatus may also include a visual display screen adapted to receive image information from the processor to present instructions and images to a user. The apparatus may also include a camera configured to receive an image of the user's pupil in a test situation.

[0073] The system may include application instructions for directing the processor to perform a method for determining an eyeglass prescription. The method may include the steps of determining whether the user's eyes are myopic and whether the user's eyes are myopic. The method may include the further step of determining the principal meridian and the axis meridian of the user's eyes when the user observes the image information on the display screen. The method may include the further step of calculating a sphere, cylinder, and axis prescription from the principal meridian and the axis meridian. The method may include the further step of displaying the calculated prescription value to the user.

[0074] According to a particular configuration of the third aspect, there is provided a system for a user to self-determine an eyeglass prescription via a mobile computing device, the device comprising:

[0075] Volatile and non-volatile memory for storing data;

[0076] a processor configured to execute program instructions stored in the non-volatile memory;

[0077] a visual display screen adapted to receive image information from said processor to present instructions and images to said user; and

[0078] a camera configured to receive an image of the user's pupil under test conditions;

[0079] The system includes application instructions for directing the processor to perform a method for determining an eyeglass prescription, the method comprising:

[0080] determining whether the user's eyes are myopic, and whether the user's eyes are myopic;

[0081] determining principal and axial meridians of the user's eyes when the user observes the image information on the display screen;

[0082] calculating sphere, cylinder, and axis prescriptions from the principal and axis meridian values; and

[0083] The calculated prescription values ​​are displayed to the user.

[0084] The step of determining whether the user's eyes are myopic may include a method implemented by executing program instructions with a processor. The method may include:

[0085] displaying on the display screen an image including a first portion having a two-color background;

[0086] providing instructions to the user; and

[0087] Input is received from the user regarding a portion of the image that subjectively appears sharper to the user.

[0088] The step of determining the axis meridian may include a method implemented by executing program instructions with a processor. The method may include:

[0089] displaying a radially oriented image on the display screen;

[0090] providing instructions to the user; and

[0091] Input is received from the user regarding a portion of the radially-oriented image that subjectively appears sharper to the user.

[0092] The step of locating the principal meridian may include a method implemented by executing program instructions with a processor. The method may include:

[0093] displaying on the display screen a hashed line image including a first portion having a two-color background and receiving input from the user regarding a position spaced from the user's eyes under test at which the lines appear subjectively equally sharp to the user; and

[0094] The distance from the display screen to the eyes of the user being measured is determined.

[0095] The hash line image displayed on the screen may be configured to have a width between about 2 and 8 pixels, and may have a width on the screen of about 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 pixels. The radial line image displayed on the screen is configured to have a width between about 4 and 8 pixels, and may have a width on the screen of about 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 pixels. The lines displayed on the screen are between about 40 and 60 mm, or about 20 to 80 mm, about 30 to 70 mm, about 20 to 60 mm, about 30 to 60 mm, about 50 to 60 mm long, and about 20, 30, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 80 mm long.

[0096] According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for a user to self-determine an eyeglass prescription via a mobile computing device. The method may include the steps of providing a mobile computing device, the mobile computing device comprising:

[0097] a processor configured to execute program instructions stored in the non-volatile memory;

[0098] a visual display screen adapted to receive image information from the processor to present instructions and images to a user; and

[0099] A camera that receives images of the user's pupils during the test.

[0100] The method may comprise the further step of providing application instructions for instructing a processor to perform a method for determining an eyeglass prescription.

[0101] The program instructions may include program code for determining whether the user's eyes are myopic and whether the user's eyes are myopic. The program instructions may also include program code for determining the principal meridian and the axis meridian of the user's eyes when the user observes the image information on the display screen. The program instructions may also include program code for calculating spherical, cylindrical and axis prescriptions from the principal meridian and the axis meridian.

[0102] According to a specific configuration of the fourth aspect of the present invention, a method for a user to self-determine an eyeglass prescription via a mobile computing device is provided. The method may include the following steps:

[0103] A mobile computing device is provided, comprising:

[0104] a processor configured to execute program instructions stored in the non-volatile memory;

[0105] a visual display screen adapted to receive image information from the processor to present instructions and images to a user; and

[0106] a camera configured to receive an image of a user's pupil under a test condition;

[0107] The method includes providing application program instructions for directing the processor to perform a method for determining an eyeglass prescription, the program instructions including:

[0108] program code for determining whether a user's eyes are myopic and whether the user's eyes are myopic;

[0109] program code for determining the principal meridian and the axis meridian of the user's eye when the user views image information on a display screen; and

[0110] Program code for calculating spherical, cylindrical, and axial prescriptions from the principal and axial meridians.

[0111] The step of determining whether the user's eyes are myopic may include a program code for displaying an image on a display screen, including:

[0112] Two-color background;

[0113] Program code for providing instructions to a user; and

[0114] Program code for receiving input from a user regarding portions of an image that are subjectively sharper to the user.

[0115] The steps of determining the axis meridian may include:

[0116] program code for displaying a radially oriented image on a display screen;

[0117] Program code for providing instructions to a user; and

[0118] Program code for receiving input from a user of radially orienting a portion of an image that is subjectively sharper to the user.

[0119] The steps for determining the principal meridian may include:

[0120] program code for displaying a hash line image on a display screen, the hash line image including a first portion having a two-color background, and receiving input from a user regarding a location spaced from a measured user's eyes at which the lines are subjectively equally legible to the user; and

[0121] Determine the distance from the display screen to the eyes of the user being measured.

[0122] The present invention generally relates to a system and method for determining a patient's refractive error, and more particularly, determining a patient's refractive error by using a mobile computing device and providing the patient with a corrective lens prescription for a patient's preferred type of corrective lens. The system and method do not require travel or expensive doctor visits and optimize convenience and cost-effectiveness.

[0123] In a general embodiment, the present invention provides a method for determining a corrective lens prescription for a patient. The method includes determining the patient's astigmatism prescription for each of the patient's eyes separately through a computer screen.

[0124] In another embodiment, the first figure and the second figure are the same figure. In another embodiment, the first figure and the second figure are different figures.

[0125] In an alternative embodiment, the present disclosure provides a method for determining a corrective lens prescription for a patient. The method includes, for each eye of the patient separately, determining an astigmatism prescription for the patient, and determining the diopter of the corrective lens prescription for the patient by presenting an image on a display screen of a mobile device, receiving input from a user regarding the displayed image, and determining a distance between the mobile device display screen and the patient's eyes.

[0126] In another embodiment, the method further includes, separately for each uncorrected eye of the patient, determining whether the patient is myopic or hyperopic by presenting an image to the patient via a display screen of a mobile device, the image presented to the patient including at least one area having a two-color background, and further enabling the patient to provide input to the mobile device corresponding to a portion of the image presented on the screen associated with the area perceived by the user to be sharpest.

[0127] In another embodiment, the present invention provides a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The non-transitory computer-readable medium includes a plurality of instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to operate with at least one display device of a mobile device, at least one storage device of the mobile device, at least one user input device, and at least one camera device to determine a corrective lens prescription for a patient.

[0128] The two-color background of any of the above aspects may include a background image having a first portion and a second portion and an interface, wherein the first portion and the second portion are adjacent to each other.

[0129] The first portion may include a red background portion, and the second portion may include a green or blue background.

[0130] The hash line image can be overlaid on the red and green background portions and aligned between approximately 40 degrees and 90 degrees from the interface.

[0131] The hash line image may be aligned substantially perpendicular to the interface.

[0132] An advantage of the present invention is that it provides greater convenience to patients when determining and receiving eyeglass and / or contact lens prescriptions.

[0133] An advantage of the present invention is that it reduces the cost and expense for a patient to determine and receive an eyeglass and / or contact lens prescription.

[0134] Another advantage of the present invention is that eyeglass and / or contact lens prescriptions are determined without the need for expensive equipment that is only available in optometric professional practices.

[0135] Another advantage of certain embodiments of the present invention is that eyeglass and / or contact lens prescriptions are determined without placing a lens in front of the patient's eyes.

[0136] Another advantage of the present invention is faster determination of eyeglass and / or contact lens prescriptions.

[0137] Further advantages of the systems and methods disclosed herein include, but are not limited to:

[0138] An automated calibration process that evaluates ambient lighting and adjusts the device's display brightness.

[0139] An automatic calibration process that calculates pupil distance. Pupil distance can be used to calculate the user's refractive state. Pupil distance can be provided to the user so the user can use this value to order prescription glasses.

[0140] Historical and symptom data collection that can be used in optimal prescription prediction algorithms.

[0141] Determine the refractive state of the user's eyes, specifically the optical system sphere, cylinder, and cylindrical axis correction requirements for each eye.

[0142] A subjective method to obtain the refractive state of the user's eyes.

[0143] Longitudinal recording of refraction results over time to allow comparison of results over time.

[0144] Analytics / algorithms based on artificial intelligence and machine learning to provide more accurate results.

[0145] Objective method to obtain the refractive state of the user's eyes.

[0146] A method of evaluating accommodative function and deriving a near addition component of an eyeglass or contact lens prescription for a user's eye.

[0147] Algorithms that provide optimal prescription predictions.

[0148] An effective method of acquiring first Purkinje image data is, for example, to utilize the display screen of a mobile computing device to generate a bright "flash" that is reflected from the user's cornea and then captured by the device's camera system.

[0149] A method of evaluating binocular vision function, such as using a pupil tracking function of a software application to monitor the relative position of individual pupils and determine whether a separation abnormality can be detected, thereby indicating abnormal binocular function of the user's eyes.

[0150] Methods of assessing color vision, such as incorporating program code into a software application to implement the Ishihara color vision test, are understood by the skilled artisan.

[0151] Methods of assessing macular function, for example, include program code in a software application to implement the Amsler grid test, as will be understood by the skilled artisan.

[0152] Methods of assessing anterior ocular pathology, for example, by capturing anterior ocular images using a camera system of a mobile computing device and analyzing the images using algorithms to detect various pathologies, such as infection, advanced cataract, eyelid tumors.

[0153] Methods of assessing visual fields, for example using simple automated perimetry programs, are understood by the skilled artisan.

[0154] Methods of evaluating the visual system for certain neurological disorders, such as including program code in a software application for evaluating eye movement in various directions to diagnose various neurological impairments. Also, for neurological defects, analyzing the user's pupillary reflexes and examination of pupillary responses, as understood by the skilled artisan.

[0155] Specialized integrated module for automated ophthalmic medication tracking and reporting.

[0156] Additional features and advantages are described herein, and will be apparent from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0157] Although any other forms falling within the scope of the invention are contemplated, preferred embodiments / preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0158] Figure 1 A schematic diagram showing a use case of a DIY prescription application via a mobile computing device;

[0159] Figure 2 A flow chart illustrating an example initial stage of a method of operating an embodiment of the system of the present disclosure is shown;

[0160] Figure 3 shows a flow chart of an example method illustrating further stages of a method of operating an embodiment of the system of the present disclosure;

[0161] Figure 4 shows a flow chart illustrating an example method of detailed stages of a method of operating an embodiment of a system of the present disclosure for determining a principal meridian for calculating an eyeglass prescription for a patient;

[0162] Figure 5 Screen shots showing examples of embodiments of the system of the present disclosure, wherein the system displays images associated with an initial stage of a method of operating an embodiment of the system of the present disclosure;

[0163] Fig. 6A A screen shot showing an example of an embodiment of the system of the present disclosure, wherein the system displays a further image associated with a further stage of a method of operating an embodiment of the system of the present disclosure for a patient to provide input, wherein the input corresponds to the clearest meridian associated with an axis measurement of the patient;

[0164] Figure 6B Shown according to Fig. 6A The image shown in the numbering convention used when calculating axis parameters in eyeglass recipes;

[0165] 7A to 7C An exemplary screen shot showing an exemplary embodiment of the disclosed system, wherein the system displays a simultaneous scattered point focus (SSPF) image for determining a principal meridian for calculating a patient's eyeglass prescription according to a method of an operating system embodiment;

[0166] Figure 8 Schematically illustrates a method of obtaining distance measurements with a single camera device that uses similar triangles to determine the distance d from the display screen of a mobile device to the user's eyes;

[0167] Fig. 9 A mobile computing device is shown upon which various embodiments described herein may be implemented according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0168] Fig.10 A graph showing the results of a pilot study comparing the accuracy of eyeglass prescriptions calculated using the eye testing systems and methods disclosed herein;

[0169] Fig.11 A known configuration of the prior art of a conventional prior art side-by-side two-color eye test image is shown;

[0170] Fig. 12A shows a further arrangement of a SPFF image according to the present disclosure; and

[0171] Fig. 12B shows a screen displayed on a mobile device Fig. 12A Example settings for the SPFF image. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0172] limited

[0173] The following definitions are provided as general definitions and should not limit the scope of the present invention to these terms alone, but are set forth for a better understanding of the following description.

[0174] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as those generally understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the invention belongs. It should be further understood that the terms used in this specification should be interpreted as having the same meaning as that in this specification and the related art, and unless expressly provided in this specification, should not be interpreted as idealized or overly formal meanings. For purposes of the present invention, additional terms are defined as follows. In addition, all definitions defined and used herein should be understood to govern dictionary definitions, definitions in documents incorporated by reference, and / or the ordinary meaning of the defined terms, unless there is a question about the meaning of a particular term, in which case the general dictionary definitions and / or the general use of the terms will be accepted.

[0175] For purposes of the present invention, the following terms are defined below.

[0176] As used herein, the articles "a" and "an" refer to one or more (ie, to at least one) of the grammatical object of the article. By way of example, "an element" refers to one or more elements.

[0177] The term "about" as used herein refers to an amount that varies up to 30%, preferably up to 20%, and more preferably up to 10% compared to a reference amount. The use of the word "about" to qualify a number simply indicates that the number is not to be construed as an exact value.

[0178] In this specification, unless the context requires otherwise, “comprise”, “including” and “comprising” will be understood as including the stated steps or elements or groups of steps or elements but not excluding any other steps or elements or groups of steps or elements.

[0179] Any term used in this article: "include" or "it includes" or "it contains" is also an open term, which also means at least including the elements / features after the term, but not excluding other elements / features. Therefore, "include" is synonymous with "include", meaning "including".

[0180] In the claims, as well as in the summary of the invention and the following description, all transitional phrases, such as "includes," "comprising," "carrying," "having," "containing," "involving," "holding," "consisting of," etc., should be understood to be open, i.e., meaning "including but not limited to." Only the transitional phrases "consisting of" and "consisting essentially of" alone should be closed or semi-closed transitional phrases, respectively.

[0181] As used herein, the term "exemplary" is used to provide examples rather than indicative properties. That is, an "exemplary embodiment" is an embodiment provided as an example, rather than necessarily an embodiment that is an ideal model or represents the best exemplary property of its kind.

[0182] Although any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the present invention, preferred methods and materials are described. It should be understood that the methods, devices and systems described herein can be implemented in various ways and for various purposes. The description here is only illustrative.

[0183] The various methods or processes outlined herein may be encoded as software executable on one or more processors employing any of a variety of operating systems or platforms. In addition, such software may be written using any of a number of suitable programming languages ​​and / or programming or scripting tools, and may also be compiled into executable machine language code or intermediate code executed on an architecture or virtual machine.

[0184] In this regard, various inventive concepts may be embodied as a computer-readable storage medium (or multiple computer-readable storage media) (e.g., computer memory, one or more floppy disks, compressed disks, optical disks, tapes, flash memory, circuit configurations of field programmable gate arrays or other semiconductor devices, or other non-transitory media or tangible computer storage media), which is encoded with one or more programs that, when executed on one or more computers or other processors, perform methods that implement various embodiments of the present invention described above. The computer-readable medium is transportable so that one or more programs stored thereon can be loaded onto one or more different computers or other processors to implement various aspects of the present invention as described above.

[0185] In this document, the term "program" or "software" is used in a general sense to refer to any type of computer code or computer executable instruction set that can be used to program a computer or other processor to implement various aspects of the above-mentioned embodiments. In addition, it should be understood that according to one aspect, when performing the method of the present invention, one or more computer programs that do not need to reside on a single computer or processor can be distributed in a modular manner between multiple different computers or processors to implement various aspects of the present invention.

[0186] Computer executable instructions can be executed by one or more computers or other devices in various forms (e.g., program modules). Typically, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform specific tasks or implement specific abstract data types. Typically, the functionality of program modules can be combined or distributed as needed in various embodiments.

[0187] In addition, data structures are stored in computer-readable media in any suitable form. For simple illustration, data structures can be shown to have fields that are associated by positions in the data structure. Such relationships can also be achieved by allocating storage in a computer-readable medium for fields that have positions that express the relationships between the fields. However, any suitable mechanism can be used to establish relationships between information in the fields of a data structure, including by using pointers, tags, or other mechanisms that establish relationships between data elements.

[0188] In addition, various inventive concepts may be embodied as one or more methods, examples of which are provided. The actions performed as part of the method may be ordered in any suitable manner. Thus, embodiments may be constructed in which the actions are performed in an order different from that shown, which may include performing some actions simultaneously, even though they are shown as sequential actions in the illustrated embodiments.

[0189] The phrase "and / or" as used in this specification and claims should be understood to mean "one or both" of the elements so connected, i.e., elements appearing consecutively in some cases and elements appearing separately in other cases. Multiple elements listed with "and / or" should be interpreted in the same manner, i.e., "one or more" of the elements so connected. In addition to the elements specifically identified by the "and / or" clause, other elements may optionally be present, whether or not related to the specifically identified elements. Thus, as a non-limiting example, in one embodiment, when used with open language such as "comprising", a reference to "A and / or B" may refer to A only (optionally including elements other than B); in another embodiment, to B only (optionally including elements other than A); in another embodiment, to both A and B (optionally including other elements), etc.

[0190] "Or" as used in this specification and claims should be understood to have the same meaning as "and / or" defined above. For example, when separating items in a list, "or" or "and / or" should be interpreted as including, that is, including at least one of a plurality or a series of elements, but also including more than one, and optional additional unlisted items. Only terms that clearly indicate the contrary, such as "only one" or "exactly one", or when used in the claims, "consisting of..." means that exactly one element is included in a plurality of elements or a series of elements. In general, the term "or" used in this specification, when preceded by an exclusive term such as "any", "one", "only one" or "exactly one", should only be interpreted as indicating an exclusive alternative (i.e. "one or the other, but not both at the same time". When used in the claims, "essentially consisting of..." should have the general meaning used in the field of patent law.

[0191] As used in this specification and claims, the phrase "at least one" referring to a list of one or more elements should be understood as at least one element selected from any one or more elements in the list of elements, but does not necessarily include at least one of each element specifically listed in the list of elements, nor does it exclude any combination of elements in the list of elements. This limitation also allows the optional presence of elements other than the elements explicitly identified in the list of elements referred to by the phrase "at least one", whether these elements are related or unrelated to the explicitly identified elements. Thus, as a non-limiting example, "at least one of A and B" (or equivalently, "at least one of A or B", or equivalently "at least one of A and / or B") may refer to at least one (and optionally multiple) A in one embodiment, without B (and optionally including elements other than B); in another embodiment, at least one, optionally including more than one B, and without A (and optionally including elements other than A); in yet another embodiment, at least one, optionally including more than one A and at least one B, optionally including multiple B (and optionally including other elements); and so on.

[0192] For the purposes of this specification, if method steps are described in a sequence, that order does not necessarily imply that the steps will be performed chronologically in that order unless there is no other logical way to interpret the order.

[0193] In addition, where features or aspects of the invention are described in terms of Markush groups, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention is also thereby described in terms of any individual member or subgroup of members of the Markush group.

[0194] Detailed Description

[0195] A user interface and a corresponding user interaction method are disclosed. In the following description, specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these specific details need not be utilized to implement the present invention. Instead, specific details known to those skilled in the art are omitted for clarity where appropriate.

[0196] In the following description it should be noted that similar or identical reference numerals in different embodiments denote the same or similar features.

[0197] Methods for remote and autonomous measurement of the refractive state of the human eye have the potential to greatly reduce the time and cost required to obtain eyeglass prescriptions for users. This potential can only be truly realized if it does not require any specialized training for the user (or the assistance of someone with specialized training) and can be achieved in a natural, convenient, and immediate manner. The commercial potential of any DIY eyeglass prescription system will be reduced if consumers face technical or usability barriers, such as a long and difficult process, the need to visit a fixed location, the need for specialized devices or instruments, or a complex user interface.

[0198] An ideal DIY prescription determination system would have no difficult or time-consuming setup, must produce accurate and reliable results, and should be deployed on widely available consumer hardware, such as mobile devices, such as smartphones or personal tablet computing devices. Furthermore, the system should also make the results available in real time without much effort on the part of the subject, and store them in a system with means for easily retrieving the calculated prescription at a later stage (e.g., when the user orders prescription glasses or consults a specialist for further vision-related investigations).

[0199] To maximize the accessibility of such systems to consumers, the system should ideally also be able to operate in typical consumer environments (e.g., at home or outdoors) and therefore must be able to operate with minimal restrictions on lighting conditions, image resolution, or the user's position or posture when the system is used.

[0200] Additionally, the entire system must be able to seamlessly obtain a basic measurement required for the eyewear ordering and manufacturing process, namely, pupil distance. In certain settings, the pupil distance may be pre-stored in the software application, or the application may be configured to receive input from the user of their specific pupil distance, where the application may guide the user through instructions displayed on the display screen of the mobile device. For example, the user may be instructed to place the camera of the mobile device at a known distance d from the user's eyes (see Figure 8 ) and the pupil distance can be calculated from similar triangles, as shown below Figure 8 Discussed in more detail. In a specific example, the user may be guided to set the distance d using a ruler, or alternatively using an object of known size (eg, a sheet of A4 size paper) to set the distance d.

[0201] DIY prescription determination systems can be implemented using either subjective or objective methods, however, limitations of both methods make it difficult to implement a reliable system. For example:

[0202] Subjective testing requires feedback from the user as to which of the presented images are preferred. However, subjective testing can give substantially erroneous results for a variety of reasons, such as: accommodation of the user's eyes (i.e., the ability or inability of the eyes to change their focus from distant objects to near objects and vice versa); the user not following the instructions correctly, or the user's preference for one particular shape over another, and a variety of other reasons that may be understood by the technical recipient.

[0203] Objective tests do not take into account how the brain perceives and analyzes the images received by the ocular system. Therefore, these tests often do not provide the best prescription for all patients, as some patients prefer results that are biased towards subjective results.

[0204] Therefore, skilled clinicians typically consider both subjective and objective results when determining the final eyeglass prescription.

[0205] Accordingly, in order for a self-testing eyeglass prescription system to be effective, the steps of the tasks for determining their visual refractive state must be easily understood by the user, and the user must be able to perform those tasks satisfactorily in order to provide an accurate description of the user's current visual refractive state while taking into account user input sufficient to facilitate the ordering of prescription eyeglasses for correcting the user's vision.

[0206] The systems and methods disclosed herein for determining a user's eyeglass prescription are suitable for use with a software application suitable for execution on a mobile computing device, such as a smartphone or tablet device, which includes a display screen and at least one camera device configured to face the user when the user is viewing the display screen (e.g., a camera device commonly provided on modern mobile computing devices for video telephony (e.g., - Trademark of Apple Inc.). The software application is configured to provide visual stimuli to a user to determine or estimate a person's refractive state. The software application is designed to generate a useful optical prescription for ordering optical devices such as eyeglasses or contact lenses, and by using the present invention as a smartphone application, a significant advantage is provided that a user can receive their personal eyeglass prescription without having to visit a qualified optical professional for an assessment of their refractive state, and without having to use a highly specialized optometric device (e.g., a phoropter).

[0207] In such Figure 1In a particular arrangement 10 of the system shown in , a user 1 having an eye 3 requiring refractive correction executes a software application on a mobile computing device (e.g., a smartphone or tablet computing device or similar device having a display screen 7 as will be understood by those skilled in the art) 5. The mobile device includes a visual display screen 7 for presenting instructions and visual images to the user. In a preferred arrangement, the device 5 display screen is a touch sensitive device adapted to receive input from the user 1 in response to instructions and / or images displayed on the display screen. The mobile device 5 also includes at least one forward-facing camera so that when the user 1 looks at the display screen of the device 5, the user's eye 3 is in the field of view of the camera. The user's eyes 3 are separated by a distance PD, which in use is typically designated as the interpupillary distance of the user's eyes 3, i.e., the horizontal distance between the pupils of the user's left and right eyes.

[0208] Figures 2 to 4 Flowcharts showing examples of various stages of a process or method according to a specific embodiment of the system of the present invention. In various embodiments, one or more processors execute a set of instructions to implement these processes. Although reference is made to Figures 2 to 4 The flowcharts shown are used to describe these processes, but the system can use many other processes to perform the actions associated with these illustrated processes. For example, the system can change the order of some of the illustrated blocks. The system can also make some of the illustrated blocks optional, the system can repeat some of the illustrated blocks, and / or the system can not use some of the illustrated blocks as required.

[0209] Figure 2 A flowchart showing the initial stage 100 of a method for self-determining eyeglass prescriptions via a mobile device. Figure 1 Generally involves determining a patient's eyeglass and / or contact lens prescription for a refractive error in one or both eyes that needs correction to restore the patient's vision.

[0210] Initially, a software application suitable for performing the methods and processes disclosed herein is configured to request a user to provide initial input data that helps calculate the user's eyeglass prescription. For example, the software application may be adapted to ask 101 a series of questions to the user to initially help determine whether they are nearsighted, farsighted, astigmatism, presbyopia, or a combination of these problems. This information is used to guide the examination path, and specific methods that can be used are described below.

[0211] To start the test (step 1), the software application is adapted to display 103 an image 500 on the display screen of the mobile device 5, wherein the image comprises two equal images 505 (e.g. Verhoeff circles) displayed on a two-color background comprising two adjacent background areas 501 and 503 with an interface 507, wherein Figure 5As shown, an image 505a is displayed on a red background 501, while an image 505b is displayed on a green background 503 (although a blue background can also be used instead of green), and the question is asked which one is clearer. Figure 5 and others), for the sake of clarity, the red and green parts of the two-color background (e.g., 501 and 503) are depicted, and the descriptors "red" and "green" are displayed in the corresponding parts, however it should be understood that the image 500 presented to the user on the screen 7 of the mobile device 5 generally does not include such descriptors.

[0212] In particular, the software application may present an instruction to the user on a display screen, such as "Which image is sharper?" and present a plurality of options for the user to respond in the form of a corresponding plurality of designated touch areas of the display screen for the user to provide input to the software application 105. Example response options provided to the user may include "Red", "Green", and "Neither". If the user indicates that the image on the red background is sharper 110, it is initially assumed that the user is myopic, and the user will proceed to the next stage of the method, such as Figure 3 Method 200 is shown.

[0213] The thickness and spacing of the lines of the Verhoeff circles 505 in the displayed image are generally not significant, and the primary factor in the success of the test is the user's ability to identify whether they are clearer against a red or green background. Since visual acuity is not measured, nor is it a design requirement for success, the user does not need to identify any detail in the circle image. It is sufficient that the user can see the circle. This is generally possible for all users, and simply moving the mobile device closer or further away allows almost all users to see the circle clearly enough to make an initial assessment of whether the user is nearsighted.

[0214] On a two-color (such as red and green) background (such as Figure 5 The presenting of the same image on an image 500 of the user's eye includes a two-color test that exploits the wavelength-dependent nature of the focusing power of the lens of the user's eye, thereby exploiting the lateral chromatic aberration of the eye. Due to the chromatic aberration of the eye, the shorter wavelength (green) is focused in front of the longer red wavelength. If the user indicates that the image in either the red or green region is not sharper than the other region, it is assumed that the user's eye does not need correction and the test will stop 150.

[0215] For example, if the user indicates that the image 505b in the green area 503 is clearer when presented with the image 500 on the screen 7 of the mobile device 5, it will be assumed that the user is hyperopic or (or additionally) presbyopic, and therefore, the method 100 will stop the test 150, and the software application can guide the user 155 to an alternative test procedure because no correction is needed or the method 100 cannot provide a prescription for correcting the user's specific refractive index error. If the user indicates that the image 505a in the red portion 501 of the image 500 is clearer, it is determined that the user is myopic, and the method 100 proceeds 125 to stage 2 of the test (method 200, as shown in FIG. 20). Figure 3 shown).

[0216] Figure 3 A flow chart of an example method 200 illustrating a further stage (step 2) of a method of operating an embodiment of the disclosed system is shown. After determining in stage 1 of the method 100 that the user requires vision correction for myopia in at least one eye 3, the software application is configured to present 201 a further image to the user on a display screen of the mobile device 5. For step 201, the image includes Fig. 6A A series of radial lines are shown and observe which (if any) is clearer / darker than the others. Fig. 6A In the radial line image 600 shown, line 601 is represented as a darker line to represent the apparent image observable by the user with astigmatism in one eye with an axis of about 15°. In the image 600 presented to the user on the display screen 7, all radial lines are presented with equal thickness. The user is guided, through an indication displayed on the screen, to move the mobile device 5 closer or further away from his eye in order to identify whether any line is indeed sharper. The user is required to select the sharpest line through the touch screen or indicate through a designated touch surface (or position on a touch-sensitive display interface) that all lines appear to have the same sharpness (or that no particular line is sharper than any other line in the image).

[0217] If the user selected a line in the image, the method assumes that the user's eyes require correction for astigmatism and continues with submethod 210. Conversely, if the user indicates that all lines appear to have the same sharpness, the method assumes that the user's eyes do not require correction for astigmatism and continues with submethod 230.

[0218] Astigmatism - Method 210

[0219] If the input 203 received from the user indicates a selected line of the image presented in step 201, the software application stores the rotation angle of the selected line as the clearest meridian in volatile or short-term memory of the mobile computing device 5 and then proceeds. Figure 3 Sub-method 210 is shown.

[0220] This software application refers to Fig. 6A , the axis parameters of the eyeglass prescription are calculated from the meridian of greatest clarity. For example, if the user selects a lens with an angle between 0° and 90° ( Figure 6B ), the axis is assigned to the selected line plus 90, for example, if the user selects a 30° line, the axis is reported as 30+90=120. Alternatively, if the user selects a line with an angle between 90° and 180° ( Figure 6B ) line, the axis is assigned to the selected line minus 90, for example, if the user selects the 165° line, the axis is reported as 165-90=75.

[0221] If desired, the software application may report a compensated axis by applying an adjustment to the reported axis based on the orientation of the mobile computing device 5. For example, if the user selects the 30° line while holding the mobile computing device 5 in an orientation rotated 10° clockwise (as seen by the user), the compensated axis will be reported as 120+10=130°. Alternatively, if the user selects the 30° line while holding the mobile computing device 5 in an orientation rotated 10° counterclockwise (as seen by the user), the compensated axis will be reported as 120-10=110°.

[0222] Initially, in sub-method 210, the software application includes Fig. 7A A simultaneous segmented point focus (SSPF) image (described in further detail below) is presented to the user 211 on a display screen of a hash line pattern 705A shown, which in some embodiments is oriented at the same angle as the radial line selected in step 203 based on the input from step 203. In an alternative embodiment, the user is presented with a display screen of a hash line pattern 705A shown in FIG. Figure 7C The image 700c shown, wherein the hash line image 705c is oriented at or near 90 degrees (perpendicular) relative to the interface 707 located between the red / green background portions 701 and 703, respectively. In a specific setting, as described above, Figures 7A to 7C A portion of the image 700 (shown in two configurations 700a and 700b and an alternative embodiment 707c) has a two-color background including a red background portion 701 and a green (or blue) background portion 703 as a further two-color background test. The user is prompted to perform the following as discussed below by displaying the instructions 213 on the screen. Figure 4 A principal meridian determination method 400 is shown to determine a first principal meridian (Meridian 1) for use in calculating the spherical component of an eyeglass prescription.

[0223] The thickness and spacing of the lines of the hash line pattern in the displayed image are determined with reference to the typical natural retinal cell spacing / density of the human eye and the angular area across the macula and perimacular region of the eye (i.e., around the macula) relative to the displayed image at a typical user distance corresponding roughly to arm's length (typically about 1 m) as used by the software application administering the eye test. In a particular setting, the software application may be configured to assume a maximum working distance of about 1 m from the user's face. If the user uses the device to perform the eye test procedure at a working distance d between about 1 and 2 m (i.e., 0.5D to 1.00D), the software application may make a good guess at the principal meridian value measurement (as described above) to within 0.5D of accuracy, e.g., by simply prescribing a correction of -0.50D, the resulting prescription will be within / greater than 0.5D of accuracy, and mostly within 0.25D of accuracy, so there is no need to accurately measure distances between the device and the user's eye greater than 1 meter. A similar strategy is appropriate for working distances d between about 1 m and 67 cm (ie, 1.00 D to about 1.50 D), however, it is useful to obtain true measurements as frequently as possible to eliminate the additional step in the methods disclosed herein for guessing the appropriate prescription correction value.

[0224] In a particular arrangement, the lines of the image displayed to the user on the display screen 7 of the mobile device 5 of the systems and methods disclosed herein are approximately 4 pixels wide, but can be configured to be approximately 4 to 8 pixels wide. It should be noted that line widths less than 3 pixels are generally ineffective. In a specific arrangement, the lines can be configured to be 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 pixels wide, as required, and are preferably approximately 6 pixels wide. In a mobile device having a display screen with a pixel spacing of approximately 50 mm, a line on the display spanning a width of approximately 6 pixels will be displayed on the display as a line having a width of approximately 0.3 mm. Similarly, the lines of the sagittal image used to determine the axis of any astigmatism are shown in FIG. Fig. 6A ), the lines on the display screen 7 of the mobile device 5 may be between about 2 and 8 pixels wide. In a particular arrangement, the radial lines may be configured to be 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 pixels wide, and preferably about 5 or 6 pixels wide, depending on the requirements. As screen resolutions (no doubt) increase over time, it will be necessary to add correction factors for future versions, thus using mm values ​​rather than pixel values. In a particular arrangement, the lines displayed on the display screen 7 by the software application may have anti-aliasing applied. Typically, when displayed on the screen of the mobile device 5, the lines of the hash line image (e.g., see Figures 7A to 7C) is selected to be between about 40 and 60 mm long, and may be about 40 mm, 45 mm, 50 mm, 55 mm or about 60 mm long, and is preferably about 50 mm long. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the physical dimensions of the lines produced vary slightly depending on the screen size and pixel density of the particular mobile device 5 used, however, they remain sufficiently constant to be effective across the range of currently available devices.

[0225] The hash line screen is a unique design that takes advantage of the above-described two-color phenomenon and further improves the presentation to obtain high image position accuracy without requiring or allowing the eye to change focus (also known as the eye's accommodation ability) when evaluating adjacent sides of the image. The two-color background image presented on the screen 7 of the user's mobile device 5 includes a two-color background image composed of at least two background portions separated by an interface and an image of the interface between the background regions on the two-color background portions. Each background region of the two-color background includes a different pure color, wherein the colors of adjacent background portions are sufficiently separated in color (wavelength) so that there is a discernible difference in the focus of the user's eye on each color toward the user's retina, for example, the background portion may be blue or green, while the adjacent portion may be yellow or red. In the currently described arrangement, two presentations (component images) or sides (i.e., each of the one or more background positions) of the two-color image are simultaneously imaged to the fovea of ​​the eye of the user being tested. This special arrangement has not been described previously and is referred to herein as a simultaneous split point focus (SSPF) design.

[0226] Although the previously described Fig.11 The two-color image 1100 (similar to Figure 5 500) (e.g. WO2019 / 099952), but these examples retain the original two-color side-by-side setting of image 1100. Example setting of two-color pattern.

[0227] In such previously known two-color setups, the user must view each side of a two-color image (e.g., image 1100) separately, requiring gaze adjustment, alternating viewing, and memory. Furthermore, focus or accommodation may be activated differently through either screen, and critically, detailed comparison of the red / green foveal images simultaneously is not possible. Those skilled in the art will regard these previously disclosed examples as standard two-color tests, and those skilled in the art will recognize that these examples are for general evaluation purposes only.

[0228] This article describes Figures 7A to 7C The SSPF method shown in Fig.11 A further example of an SPFF image 1200 is shown in FIG. Fig. 12AAs shown, in the specific setting of SPFF image 1200, Fig. 12B is presented on the display screen 7 of the mobile device 5. Figures 7A to 7C As shown, image 1200 includes a two-color background including a red background portion 1201 and a green background portion 1203, with a hash line image 1205 overlaid across an interface 1207 between the red and green background portions 1201 and 1203. Crucial to the design of the SSPF is the ability of an image (e.g., hash line pattern 1205), which is overlaid on the two-color background 1201 / 1203, to be segmented across the foveal focus of the eye of the user being tested, thereby enabling the user to simultaneously fixate on a line of two portions of the two-color presentation (i.e., the red 1201 and green 1203 portions of the two-color image 1200 approximately in the interface region 1209). This can be achieved by presenting a line that crosses the red / green interface, and further in Figure 7C In the preferred embodiment shown, the red / green interface 707 is oriented about 90 degrees relative to the hash line 705c (see Figure 7C ). Fig. 7A and 7B In particular, an alternative embodiment is shown in which the hash line image 705 is angularly offset from the red / green interface 707. In some display screens 7 of the computing device 5, the non-perpendicular orientation of the hash line image to the red / green interface 707 may experience undesirable aliasing of the hash line image 705 at the interface 707, particularly in the case of a user with a high amount of astigmatism defect in the user's eye optics. However, this will be overcome by a higher resolution display screen 7, in which case the angle of the image 705 to the interface 707 can be between about 40 degrees and 90 degrees relative to the interface 707, and preferably 90 degrees relative to the interface 707.

[0229] In this way, there is no possibility of accommodative differences in assessing red / green line sharpness, memory effects are eliminated, and no selective preferential viewing phenomena interfere with the assessment.

[0230] Once the desired principal meridian has been accurately located using the SSPF image, the distance from the display screen 7 to the eye 3 of the user under test must be determined.

[0231] Instead of relying on more conventionally implemented bracketing or thresholding methods to estimate distance measurements, or additional common physical measurement methods using a ruler or tape, the system and method disclosed herein differs in that it uses an approach that relies on a real-time video stream.

[0232] Using live video streams enables low-latency measurements to be performed dynamically and in real time, providing greater accuracy. The new system is referred to herein as Low Latency Dynamic Distance Monitoring (LLDDM).

[0233] Modern mobile computing devices typically have frame rates for video capture of around 60 frames per second (fps), although newer devices have frame rates up to 960fps or higher. With the increase in high-speed video capture rates, very low latency distance measurements can be achieved, which is advantageous when attempting to make accurate measurements to within a few millimeters from a device that is handheld and can be moved slightly during the measurement process (i.e., through natural shaking or movement of the user's arm).

[0234] The high speed measurements supported by LLDDM further improve the accuracy of distance determinations because multiple measurements can be obtained very quickly and the results averaged, modulated, or have other statistical analyses applied to the results.

[0235] Once the principal meridian (1) is determined, sub-method 210 (astigmatic eye) is performed by presenting an image on a display screen 215, the image comprising Figure 7B The hash line pattern 705B is shown oriented orthogonal (90° rotated) to the angle of the radial line selected in step 203. The user is again prompted by on-screen instructions 217 to perform the following operations as discussed below. Figure 4 A principal meridian determination method 400 is shown to determine a second principal meridian (Meridian 2) for use in calculating the cylindrical component of an eyeglass prescription for an astigmatic eye.

[0236] Non-astigmatic Eyes - Method 230

[0237] If the input received 203 from the user indicates a selected line of the image presented in step 201, the software application then presents an image to the user on the display screen, the image comprising: Figure 7C The hash line pattern 705C is shown as being oriented vertically in the present arrangement, however, in the absence of astigmatism in the user's eye, the orientation of the hash pattern in the image in sub-method 230 is irrelevant and may be oriented equally horizontally or at any suitable angle in between. As described above, Figure 7C The SSPF image may have a two-color background including a red background portion and a green (or blue) background portion, as a further two-color background test as described above.

[0238] Since there is no secondary astigmatism axis in this case, the principal meridian determination method 400 discussed in detail below only needs to be performed once.

[0239] In an alternative setting, and primarily for users with color vision deficiencies, the software application disclosed herein may provide the user with the option to remove the red / green (or blue) background if desired, which may help the user identify the correct distance at which the lines are sharp.

[0240] Principal Meridian Determination - Method 400

[0241] Figure 4 A method 400 for determining the principal meridian required for calculating an eyeglass prescription is shown. Figure 3 Sub-methods 210 and 230 of method 200 are shown, both of which use the principal meridian procedure 400 to determine the spherical measurement of the eyeglass prescription - in the astigmatism sub-method 210, the process is repeated twice to determine the refractive components in two refractive meridians (the maximum refractive meridian and the minimum refractive meridian).

[0242] First, then, the software application presents the SSPF image to the user on the display screen 7 (e.g., step 211 of method 200 above), including Figures 7A to 7C 401 . The user 401 is then guided by instructions presented on the display screen of the mobile device 5 to move the mobile device 5 away from the eye until the lines of the image are blurred and the lines on the red background portion are sharper than the lines on the green background portion. The user 403 is then prompted to move the phone closer until the line images of the red and green background portions first become equally sharp. Once the lines are equally sharp, the user provides an input signal to the software via a designated area of ​​the touch sensitive display, and the LLDDM software calculates the principal meridian 407 by measuring the distance 405 from the display screen to the user's eye. In order to convert the distance measurement to the principal meridian, the distance measurement is converted into diopters, where a diopter is defined as the "reciprocal of a meter", i.e., 1 / m. Therefore, if the measurement is 50cm or 1 / 2m, the principal meridian derived from the reciprocal of 1 / 2m is 2D.

[0243] Distance measurement

[0244] To determine the principal meridian, the software application must measure or estimate the distance between the image displayed on the visual display screen of the mobile device 5 and the user's eyes. There are many different methods that can be used to determine distance using an optical camera (e.g., a forward-facing camera embedded in a mobile computing device (e.g., a smartphone or tablet device)), which will be readily understood by those skilled in the art. Many such methods of obtaining distance or depth information can use binocular vision, where two cameras are placed side by side in a manner similar to the way the human eye determines depth information presented to the brain. However, to date, most mobile computing devices only include a single camera solution, so it is necessary to use other methods to obtain depth information.

[0245] Figure 8A system 850 is schematically shown for obtaining distance measurements in a single camera setup using similar triangles to determine the distance d from the display screen 7 of the device 5 to the eye 3 of the user 1. The device 5 comprises a single camera device comprising an image sensor 851 and a focusing lens 853. The triangles 857 and 855 formed between the vertices ABL and A'B'L respectively are similar subtending equal angles θ with the lens 853 (located at the vertex L). The distance d' between the lens 853 and the plane of the image sensor 851 is known from the manufacturer's specifications of the mobile device 5. The interpupillary distance PD (line segment AC) is generally consistent across the population, so as an initial estimate, this distance PD can be pre-entered into the software application. In further arrangements, the software application can accept the user input of their specific interpupillary distance PD to provide a more accurate measurement. In subsequent calculations, the PD must be known, within ±2 mm, for the result to be sufficiently accurate (within 0.5D). The accurate PD consistently gives a prescription accuracy within about 0.25D. When the principal meridians are determined in the method 400 above (step 405), the position of the image of the user's pupil is determined by conventional image processing and recognition methods, and the distance between the centroids of the pupils in pixels of the image sensor is converted to an actual distance PD' in meters using the manufacturer's specifications of the image sensor used in the mobile device 5. Once the pixel distance PD' (line segment A'C') is known, the distance d from the lens L855 to the plane AC of the user's eye 3 is found by comparing the segment ratios of similar triangles ABL 857 and A'B' L855, where:

[0246]

[0247] A distance d measurement within ±5 mm results in an adequate calculation of the user's eyeglass prescription within 0.25 diopter steps of the available diopter options available for the corrective optic. The higher the diopter, the shorter the distance, and the more important the distance measurement accuracy becomes. For example, if D = 1 / m, if m is large enough, then a small error has little effect on the final prescription value, but if m is small, then a small error can conduct a significant error into the reported eyeglass prescription result. When testing the acuity of a user, an accuracy of distance d within the range of + / -5 mm gives good results (+ / -0.25D) for the range of distances that the software application needs to measure in operation. However, if the error of distance d is within + / -10mm, the software application will still provide acceptable results within an accuracy of + / -0.50D of the reported prescription value. During the process of method 400, the measurement d is then stored in volatile memory as the principal meridian for use in calculating the eyeglass prescription.

[0248] In this particular distance measurement setting, the device 5 needs to be able to distinguish the two pupils of the user's eye 3, otherwise it cannot determine the image distance PD' of the eye 3 on the image sensor 751. In particular, the software application may provide a visual indication on the display 7 to inform the user that the two pupils have been detected before the user starts the measurement, to allow the user to adjust the position of the device relative to their eyes, to open their eyes wider, or to adjust the lighting for the software application as needed to enable automatic measurement of the principal meridian distance.

[0249] In an alternative arrangement, if desired, the user may also have the ability to physically measure the distance from the eye to the display and input that value directly into the software application. Additionally, if the display needs to be extended further from the eye than the user can reach, the user may seek the assistance of another person, or stabilize the display and then move away from the display.

[0250] In an alternative arrangement, the application software may instead estimate the angle 2θ subtended by the user's eye when imaged on the image sensor 751 compared to the angular field of view 2φ of the camera lens 753. In this case, the distance d from the device camera's lens 753 to the user's eye 3 is given by:

[0251]

[0252] Where W is the width of image sensor 751 .

[0253] In an alternative arrangement, the application software may also include a device including hardware and / or program instructions for automatic pupil distance calculation, so as to automate the direct measurement of the distance between the display screen and the user's eyes.

[0254] Prescription calculation

[0255] To convert the stored meridian data to the user's eyeglass prescription, both principal meridian distances are converted to refractive power expressed in diopters (D=1 / m). The minimum diopters (least negative diopters, Meridian 1) are reported first as sphere values. The higher diopters (Meridian 2) have the lowest diopters subtracted from them (giving a difference value), and the difference is then reported as a cylinder value, and then the axis values ​​are reported based on the above radial lines. For example, principal meridian 1 is measured as 50cm and meridian 2 is 30cm. Meridian 1=1 / 2m inverted gives 2D. Principal meridian 2=1 / 3m inverted gives 3D. Therefore, in this example, the eyeglass prescription for the user's eyes is reported as -2.00 / -1.00x axis.

[0256] Now back to Figure 3and method 200, once the principal meridian is determined, it is combined with the sharpest line meridian stored in the volatile memory of the device 5 from step 205, and the software application calculates the spherical, cylindrical and axial components of the refractive error for that eye to provide the user's specific eyeglass prescription for the eye currently being tested, and the results are stored in the volatile memory of the device 5. The software application checks whether both eyes have been tested. In a specific setting, the software application can be configured to receive input from the user as to whether there is a need to test their other eye, thereby allowing the user to test only one eye on request. If desired, the user may also have the option of physically measuring the distance from the eye to the display, and inputting that value. Additionally, if the display needs to extend further from the eye than the user can reach, the user may seek the help of another person, or stabilize the display, and then walk away from the display.

[0257] Experimental research

[0258] In a preliminary trial of the software application and eye testing system and method disclosed herein, eye testing consisted of 27 participants who were unaware of optical components or optometry. All subjects performed the following sequence:

[0259] A brief medical history and symptom survey;

[0260] Fundus photography (excluding applicability);

[0261] self-refraction;

[0262] Retinoscopy;

[0263] Subjective refraction; and

[0264] An early prototype of the eye testing software application disclosed herein was managed on a mobile computing device.

[0265] During the initial phase of testing, no subjects were excluded due to ocular pathology, but one subject was excluded due to amblyopia (i.e., lazy eye).

[0266] All participants' eyeglass prescriptions calculated by the eye testing software application were within 0.75 diopters of their prescriptions determined by normal subjective refraction (i.e., compared to the participant's prescription results determined by a combination of objective and subjective refraction, i.e., the final optometrist's prescription), and 65% of the sphero-cylindrical results reported by the eye testing application were within 0.25 diopters.

[0267] The ophthalmic testing software application disclosed herein obtained 65% of the sphere-cylindrical results in this pilot study that were comparable to the subjective refraction of an experienced optometrist. All eyeglass prescription results from the ophthalmic testing software application, whether pass / fail, will give the user acceptable and desirable results for myopic eyes who are uncorrected or severely undercorrected. These version 1 prototype results outperformed the new Japanese autorefractor.

[0268] In contrast, the sphere-cylindrical pass rate for the autorefractor device used in the study was only 73%. None of the failed results from the autorefractor provided acceptable and desired vision correction results for myopia. These results are fairly consistent with expectations for autorefractors, thereby indicating that the ophthalmic testing software application as disclosed herein provides a significant improvement in determining eyeglass prescriptions that result in favorable vision correction for the user relative to the desired results obtained from the autorefractor device. Fig.10 A comparison of the pass rate of the eye testing software application disclosed herein and the pass rate of the autorefractor results from the trial participants is shown.

[0269] Hyperopia eye settings

[0270] As described above, in the discussion of method 100, if user 1 cannot identify any clearer image in step 105, or if user 1 identifies the green background portion of the two-color background image (such as Figure 5 The image on the background part 503) is better than the image on the red background part (such as Figure 5 If the image on the background portion 501 of the image is clearer, it is assumed that the user is farsighted in this particular eye. In this case, the method 100 stops 150, and if Figure 2 As shown in step 155 of , an alternative procedure for determining the user's unique eyeglass prescription may be provided to the user 1. In a particular setting of the appropriate alternative procedure, the user 1 may be provided with the option of receiving an optical lens (test lens) having sufficient positive refractive power, which the user 1 may keep in front of his or her eyes during the test procedure of the above method 200. The refractive power of the additional lens is determined so as to effectively give the user's eye artificial myopia by a known amount, and the test may be carried out as usual, and the software application takes the positive lens refractive power of the additional lens into account when calculating the user's eyeglass prescription. A suitable test lens may be found by moving the detail image closer until it is blurred, i.e., finding the closest distance at which the object can be seen relatively clearly. A measurement of this distance is obtained. Using the user's age and comparing it to a table of expected accommodation functions for age and race, the distance correction may be estimated, and the appropriate positive refractive power lens may be sent to the user 1 so that the above methods 100, 200 and 300 may be performed normally.

[0271] Alternative prescription determination method

[0272] The above-described methods 100, 200, and 300 and related sub-methods are considered to be the preferred methods for determining a user's eyeglass prescription using a mobile computing device. However, additional methods of obtaining an optical prescription are provided and may be useful for people who are unable to communicate, have difficulty following instructions provided by a software application, or cannot reliably complete Test Routine A for a variety of other reasons.

[0273] Sometimes, if at least one of the user's eyes is farsighted, the user may require additional lenses to obtain the optimal refractive effect as discussed above in connection with the example alternative process.

[0274] In a further arrangement for eye testing of a presbyopic eye, another embodiment is provided, wherein the user performs the test procedure while facing a reflector and viewing a virtual image of a smartphone screen in the reflector. A high contrast circular image (black and white) may be helpful in determining a suitable eyeglass prescription for a presbyopic eye when viewed virtually (e.g., as a virtual image in a mirror).

[0275] Retinoscopic reflex alternatives

[0276] In a further arrangement for conducting an eye test, a software application adapted to operate on the mobile computing device 5 is optionally configured to generate or direct the user to generate a reflection from the retina using, for example, a flashlight or light source included in the mobile device 5, the reflection being examined by analyzing images of the user's eye captured during the test to determine the user's refractive error and thereby determine an optical prescription.

[0277] In a further arrangement, the camera and flashlight system of the mobile device 5 provides a convenient way to illuminate the pupil through the retinoscope reflection. In this particular arrangement, a software application executed by the processor of the mobile device 5 utilizes the flashlight system to direct a bright light through the pupil into the user's eye, which then reflects from the retina and back through the pupil into the eye, thereby producing a retinoscope reflection (commonly referred to as the red-eye effect in photography). The speed of movement of the retinoscope reflection relative to the speed of movement of the light source, as well as the brightness of the retinal reflection, can be examined to determine the refractive error of the eye. Although the user can perform this task independently, it is easier and more accurate for the user (subject) to seek the help of another person (operator) to operate the mobile device 5 for this process.

[0278] Specifically for this setting, if the user is able, the user first completes Fig. 6A The line test shown, as described above, is used to identify the axis of the cylinder (axis).

[0279] The operator assisting the user holds the mobile device vertically at a distance of approximately 40 cm–50 cm from the eye of the user to be tested. The user is guided to observe the distance, look beside the device 5, and maintain a relaxed eye posture (explained by the instructions provided on the display by the software application). The user follows the instructions given by the software application, slowly moving the mobile device 5 up / down, left / right, and diagonally along the meridians of approximately 45 degrees and 135 degrees. The resulting retinal mirror reflections are captured and analyzed by the software application to generate a user-specific eyeglass prescription for the current eye being tested.

[0280] Additionally, the retinal mirror reflection can be captured at different distances from the eye, and only the brightness and appearance of the retinal mirror reflection need to be examined to determine the user's specific eyeglass prescription for the current eye under test.

[0281] If the system deems the retinal reflection produced by the mobile device's lighting system insufficient (or deemed insufficient by the operator if the operator is sufficiently skilled in the use of the invention), the invention can be used with the light source coming from an internal or external infrared emitter (if available). External infrared light sources are readily available in the form of remote control units designed and provided for devices such as televisions, DVD players, etc. The infrared light source is held flat and perpendicular to the mobile device and the distance from the light source to the camera is measured. The distance measurement is taken into account in the software application.

[0282] As instructed, the operator follows a procedure similar to that described above, directing an infrared beam into the subject's eye while the subject attends to a distant point, fixating no further than the light source (almost coincident with the light source). The resulting retinoscope reflections are captured by the smartphone camera system, and the general reflections and / or different arcuate patterns produced in these reflections are evaluated by the inventive software to generate prescription results for spheres, cylinders, and axes.

[0283] In order for the invention to collect enough data to obtain a reliable optical prescription result, it may sometimes be necessary to capture multiple retinoscope images by either method, or to continuously record image capture using a smartphone camera system. In any case, the user is guided by the invention application.

[0284] At any time the distance to the eye can be measured using the phone camera system, but the user may preferably be provided with the option of manual entry for bright light retinoscopy or infrared light refractometry if the user so desires (perhaps by an experienced operator).

[0285] Presbyopia Assessment Method

[0286] Once the distance prescription is known or estimated according to one or more of the methods disclosed above, the software application can calculate the near addition result. Additionally, the user can use the optical ophthalmoscope or optical refraction function of the software application to determine the near addition according to typical procedures understood by those skilled in the art. The process of image capture is essentially the same as the distance Rx process performed by ophthalmoscope or optical refraction, but the difference is that the user pays attention to the plane of the light source / camera during the image capture process, while the mobile device 5 is maintained at the desired distance (i.e., the user's desired working distance) at which the subject reads or views a computer display, etc. The present invention provides instructions for this near process, where, in a special setting, the procedure will be the same as the procedure for distance assessment (i.e., the test procedure discussed above, except that the user is looking at the phone screen instead of a distant object. The generation and analysis of reflections are the same, and the results will change considering the distance of the phone from the eye.

[0287] Ophthalmic Medication Tracking

[0288] In further settings, the application software can be additionally configured to provide ophthalmic support to the user beyond simply determining their specific eyeglass prescription. For example, treatment-specific tracking capabilities can improve outcomes for patients receiving long-term eye drop therapy by increasing adherence to the entire treatment regimen over a long period of time while informing the ECP (or multiple ECPs over time) of the patient's progress as needed for timely intervention.

[0289] Treatment-specific tracking has the significant advantage of eliminating unnecessary follow-up visits and associated costs, as treatment parameters are continuously monitored and follow-up visits are triggered when needed. Treatment-specific tracking has the significant advantage of also ensuring timely and appropriate ECP visits, helping ECPs provide time- and cost-effective treatment management.

[0290] Additionally, the ability to effectively implement and manage large-scale national treatment programs is possible, with large-scale data collection for program and research purposes ongoing and in real time in any and / or all jurisdictions around the world.

[0291] Atropine therapy management

[0292] Myopia is a significant and widely underestimated public health problem with an imminent economic burden. Myopia is misunderstood as a benign ocular refractive disease. The economic burden of high myopic ocular pathology will be enormous, both in terms of direct costs associated with surgical treatment and indirect costs of long-term vision impairment. The software applications disclosed herein can be further configured to meet the needs of governments around the world to develop and manage public policies and interventions to prevent people from developing high myopia and its associated vision impairment.

[0293] Atropine treatment involves the use of eye drops once daily. This is the most effective myopia control strategy and is realistic and suitable for large population programs. Atropine treatment is a long-term treatment regimen, lasting more than 10 years for many people. It requires the eye drops to be instilled at approximately the same time each day and has been found to be more effective if the first instillation of the eye drops is alternated each day. Atropine treatment usually takes about 1 year to be effective.

[0294] Users receiving atropine treatment also typically need to have their eyeglass prescription modified to include the reading addition that is sometimes required in the eyeglass prescription after the atropine is gradually increased. If binocular function is impaired, the eyeglass prescription sometimes also needs to increase the reading addition, and this additional reading addition helps to further reduce myopia progression. Therefore, the user's eyeglass prescription should always remain accurate, as undercorrection has been shown to increase myopia. Therefore, the systems and methods disclosed herein enable users to quickly and accurately obtain updated prescriptions without the additional expense and inconvenience of regular follow-up visits with their eye care professionals.

[0295] The functionality of the present invention is increased through the optional ophthalmic medication tracking module to help atropine users and ECPs successfully manage 1) atropine therapy, 2) eyeglass correction during atropine therapy.

[0296] The Ophthalmic Medication Tracking Module has the ability to perform and manage a variety of tasks associated with treatment regimens, including, for example:

[0297] The time / date when atropine treatment was initiated.

[0298] Prompt daily infusion of atropine at specific times.

[0299] Verify the infusion of atropine and record the infusion time.

[0300] Track and manage multiple users on one or more accounts simultaneously (multiple children may be prescribed treatment at the same time and in the care of one or more parents).

[0301] Track and manage users' atropine supply.

[0302] Prompt users to reorder atropine before supplies run out.

[0303] Atropine is automatically ordered at defined remaining supply levels to ensure continued uninterrupted treatment.

[0304] Users are prompted to test and record their refraction results regularly and nudge eye care. If results do not match their current prescription, an ECP is recommended to be involved to ensure under-correction is avoided.

[0305] The user is prompted to measure their near eye posture; if the value is outside the parameters set by the Eye Testing Module (or the user's ECP), the ECP is prompted for access.

[0306] Prompts the user to measure their near accommodation state; if the value exceeds the parameters set by the eye test module (or the user's ECP), prompts the ECP to access

[0307] Alerts the patient that the ECP returns a value outside defined limits.

[0308] Adaptable to various concentrations of atropine.

[0309] Adapt to medications other than atropine.

[0310] Adaptable to various treatment options.

[0311] Feedback the collected data to ECP.

[0312] Feedback of data to the research team and / or eye health program team.

[0313] The ophthalmic medication tracking module may advantageously be configured as desired for a variety of treatment types including, but not limited to, atropine and glaucoma management, ocular autoimmune disease management, ocular surface management, ocular infectious disease treatment, and ocular inflammatory disease management.

[0314] Computing Devices

[0315] The computing device / computer system 900 may be used to implement the method of providing eyeglass prescriptions using a mobile computing device (and related sub-methods (e.g., Figure 1 , 2 and 3) as shown in methods 100, 200, 300 and sub-methods 210 and 230, such as Fig. 9 As shown, Figures 2 to 4The process can be implemented as software, such as one or more applications executable within the computing device 900. In particular, the steps of methods 100, 200, 300 and sub-methods 210 and 230 are affected by instructions in the software executed within the computer system 900. The instructions can form one or more code modules, each module for performing one or more specific tasks. The software can also be divided into two separate parts, wherein the first part and the corresponding code module execute the method, and the second part and the corresponding code module manage the user interface between the first part and the user. The software can be stored in a computer readable medium, for example, including the storage device described below. The software is loaded from the computer readable medium into the computer system 900 and then executed by the computer system 900. A computer readable medium having such software or computer program recorded thereon is a computer program product. The use of a computer program product in the computer system 900 preferably affects an advantageous device for providing a user-accessible ophthalmic test application for a mobile device, in particular an application for self-determination of eyeglass prescriptions through a mobile computing device.

[0316] In a particular arrangement, the software module may be located in a central server with processing capabilities, such as a cloud server arrangement, and accessed remotely by the mobile device 5 via a network connection (e.g., a local or wide area Wi-Fi network or via the Internet). Take a particular arrangement as an example. The methods and systems disclosed herein may be accessed by a user via an Internet browser page. In this arrangement, the client mobile device 5 receives image data to be displayed on the screen 7 to assess the user's visual state (i.e., whether there are any aberrations in the user's eyes that affect their vision) and the refractive errors in the user's eyes, and the client device sends the user's response to a server in the cloud for processing to determine the user's eyeglass prescription (provided to the user via the client mobile device 5). Alternatively, the software module may be stored on the mobile device 5 in a standalone configuration that does not rely on a network or Internet connection, as the method steps and processing are all performed locally by the processor of the user's mobile device 5.

[0317] Reference Fig. 9 , the mobile device 5 is described with reference to an exemplary computing device 900 suitable for standalone operation or via a network connection to a remote server. The exemplary computing device 900 may include, but is not limited to, one or more central processing units (CPUs) 901, which include one or more processors 902, a system memory 903, and a system bus 904 that couples various system components including the system memory 903 to the processing unit 901. The system bus 904 can be any of a variety of bus structures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus structures.

[0318] The computing device 900 also typically includes computer-readable media, which may include any available media accessible by the computing device 900, and includes volatile and non-volatile media and removable and non-removable media. As an example and not a limitation, computer-readable media may include computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media include media implemented in any method or technology for storing information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. Computer storage media include, but are not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other storage technology, CD ROM, digital versatile disk (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic tape, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic disk storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store the required information and can be accessed by the computing device 900. Communication media typically embody computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal (such as a carrier wave or other transmission mechanism), and include any information transmission medium. By way of example, but not limitation, communication media include wired media such as a wired network or a direct wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared, and other wireless media. Any combination of the above should also be included in the scope of computer-readable media.

[0319] The system memory 903 includes computer storage media in the form of volatile and / or nonvolatile memory, such as read-only memory (ROM) 905 and random access memory (RAM) 906. A basic input / output system 907 (BIOS), containing the basic routines that help transfer information between elements within the computing device 900 (e.g., during startup), is typically stored in ROM 905. RAM 906 typically contains data and / or program modules that are immediately accessible to and / or currently being operated on by processing unit 901. By way of example and not limitation, Fig. 9 Operating system e08, other program modules e09, and program data 910 are shown.

[0320] The computing device e00 may also include other removable / non-removable, volatile / non-volatile computer storage media. For example only, Fig. 9 A hard disk drive 911 is shown that reads or writes from a non-removable, non-volatile magnetic medium. Other removable / non-removable, volatile / non-volatile computer storage media that can be used with the exemplary computing device include, but are not limited to, magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digital versatile disks, digital video tapes, solid-state RAM, solid-state ROM, etc. The hard disk drive 911 is typically connected to the system bus 904 via a non-removable memory interface (e.g., interface 912).

[0321] Above and Fig. 9The illustrated drives and their associated computer storage media provide storage of computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules and other data for the computing device 900. For example, in Fig. 9 , hard disk drive 911 is shown as storing operating system 913, other program modules 914, and program data 915. Note that these components may be the same as or different from operating system 908, other program modules 909, and program data 910. Operating system 913, other program modules 914, and program data 915 are given different numbers here to illustrate that they are at least different copies.

[0322] The computing device also includes one or more input / output (I / O) interfaces 930 connected to a system bus e04, which includes an audio-video interface coupled to output devices including one or more display screens 934 and speakers 935. The input / output interface 930 is also coupled to one or more input devices including, but not limited to, for example, a touch-sensitive device 931 (e.g., a smartphone or tablet device) and at least one camera device (e.g., a front-facing camera e32).

[0323] In connection with the following description, computing device 900 may operate in a network environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers. Fig. 9 9 is shown as being connected to a network 920, which is not limited to any particular network or network protocol, but may include, for example, Ethernet, Bluetooth, or IEEE 802.X wireless protocols. Fig. 9 The logical connection shown is a general network connection 921, which can be a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), or other network, such as the Internet. The computing device 900 is connected to the general network connection e21 through a network interface or adapter 9e, which is in turn connected to the system bus 904. In a network environment, program modules depicted with respect to the computing device 900 or parts or peripherals thereof can be stored in the memory of one or more other computing devices that are communicatively coupled to the computing device 900 through the general network connection 921. It should be understood that the network connections shown are exemplary and other means of establishing a communication link between computing devices can be used.

[0324] explain

[0325] bus

[0326] In the context of this document, the term "bus" and its derivatives, in a preferred embodiment, are described as a communication bus subsystem for interconnecting various devices, including via parallel connections, such as Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), traditional Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), etc. or serial connections, such as PCI Express (PCIe), Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (Serial ATA), etc., and should be broadly interpreted here as any system for communicating data.

[0327] according to

[0328] As used herein, "according to" may also mean "as a function of" and is not necessarily limited to having a specific integer associated therewith.

[0329] Compound term

[0330] As described herein, a "computer-implemented method" is not necessarily inferred to be performed by a single computing device, such that the steps of the method may be performed by multiple cooperating computing devices.

[0331] Similar objects used in this document, such as "web server", "server", "client computing device", "computer-readable medium", etc., are not necessarily interpreted as a single object, and may be implemented as two or more objects that cooperate, for example, a web server is interpreted as two or more web servers in a server farm that cooperate to achieve the desired goal, or computer-readable media are distributed in a composite manner, such as program code is provided on a compact disc that can be activated by a license key that can be downloaded from a computer network.

[0332] process

[0333] Unless otherwise specifically stated, as will be apparent from the following discussion, throughout the specification discussion, terms such as "process," "calculate," "compute," "determine," "analyze," etc., are used to refer to the actions and / or processes of a computer or computing system or similar electronic computing device that manipulates and / or transforms data represented as physical quantities (e.g., electronic quantities) into other data represented as physical quantities.

[0334] processor

[0335] In a similar manner, the term "processor" may refer to any device or any portion of a device that processes electronic data, such as converting that electronic data from registers and / or memory to other electronic data, such as may be stored in registers and / or memory. A "computer" or "computing device" or "computing machine" or "computing platform" may include one or more processors.

[0336] In one embodiment, the methods described herein may be performed by one or more processors that accept a computer-readable (also referred to as machine-readable) code comprising a set of instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, perform at least one of the methods described herein. A processor is included that is capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential instructions or other instructions) that specify the actions to be taken. Thus, an example is a typical processing system that includes one or more processors. The processing system may also include a memory subsystem that includes a main RAM and / or a static RAM and / or a ROM.

[0337] Computer readable medium

[0338] Furthermore, the computer-readable carrier medium may form or be comprised in a computer program product. The computer program product may be stored on a computer-usable carrier medium, the computer program product comprising computer-readable program means for causing a processor to execute the method described herein.

[0339] Networked or multi-processor

[0340] In alternative embodiments, one or more processors operate as standalone devices, or may be connected (e.g., networked with other processors) in a networked deployment, in the capacity of a server or client machine in a server-client network environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer or distributed network environment. The one or more processors may form a web device, a network router, a switch or a bridge, or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by the machine.

[0341] Note that while some figures show only a single processor and a single memory carrying computer readable code, those skilled in the art will appreciate that many of the above components are included but not explicitly shown or described in order not to obscure aspects of the present invention. For example, while only one machine is shown, the term "machine" should also be construed to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

[0342] Additional Embodiments

[0343] Therefore, one embodiment of each method described herein is in the form of a computer-readable carrier medium carrying a set of instructions, for example, a computer program for execution on one or more processors. Therefore, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, embodiments of the present invention may be implemented as methods, devices (e.g., special-purpose devices), devices (e.g., data processing systems), or computer-readable carrier media. A computer-readable carrier medium carries computer-readable code, including a set of instructions that cause one or more processors to implement a method when executed on one or more processors. Therefore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a method, a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. In addition, the present invention may take the form of a carrier medium (e.g., a computer program product on a computer-readable storage medium), in which a computer-readable program code is contained.

[0344] Carrier medium

[0345] The software may also be sent or received over a network via a network interface device. Although the carrier medium is shown as a single medium in the exemplary embodiments, the term "carrier medium" should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database and / or associated caches and servers) storing one or more sets of instructions. The term "carrier medium" should also be taken to include any medium capable of storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by one or more processors and causing one or more processors to perform any one or more methods of the present invention. The carrier medium may have a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media.

[0346] Implementation

[0347] It will be appreciated that, in one embodiment, the steps of the method discussed are performed by executing instructions (computer readable code) stored in a memory by an appropriate processor (or processors) of a processing (i.e., computer) system. It will also be appreciated that the present invention is not limited to any particular implementation or programming technique, and that the present invention may be implemented using any suitable technique for implementing the functionality described herein. The present invention is not limited to any particular programming language or operating system.

[0348] Device for implementing a method or function

[0349] In addition, some embodiments are described herein as methods or combinations of elements of methods that can be implemented by a processor or processor device, a computer system, or by other means of performing the function. Thus, a processor with the necessary instructions to perform such a method or method element forms a method for performing the method or method element. In addition, the elements described herein of the device embodiments are examples of devices for implementing the functions performed by the elements for implementing the present invention.

[0350] connect

[0351] Similarly, it should be noted that the term "connected" used in the claims should not be interpreted as being limited to direct connections. Thus, the scope of the statement device A connected to device B should not be limited to devices or systems in which the output of device A is directly connected to the input of device B. This means that there is a path between the output of A and the input of B, which may be a path that includes other devices or equipment. "Connected" may mean that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact, or that two or more elements are not in direct contact with each other but still cooperate or interact with each other.

[0352] Example

[0353] In this specification, reference to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," "a setting," or "setting" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in conjunction with that embodiment / setting is included in at least one embodiment / setting of the present invention. Thus, the phrases "in one embodiment / setting" or "in an embodiment / setting" appearing in various places in this specification do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment / setting, but rather may be. Furthermore, particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments / settings, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from this disclosure.

[0354] Similarly, it should be understood that in the above description of exemplary embodiments / arrangements of the invention, various features of the invention are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment / arrangement or its drawings and descriptions for the purpose of simplifying the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various inventive aspects. However, this disclosure method should not be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed invention requires more features than are expressly stated in each claim. Instead, as reflected in the claims below, inventive aspects lie in non-all features of a single, foregoing disclosed embodiment / arrangement. Therefore, the claims that follow the detailed description are hereby expressly incorporated into this detailed description, with each claim existing independently as a separate embodiment / arrangement of the invention.

[0355] In addition, although some embodiments / settings described herein include but do not include some other features included in other embodiments / settings, the combination of features of different embodiments / settings is intended to be within the scope of the present invention and form different embodiments / settings, which can be understood by those skilled in the art. For example, in the following claims, any claimed embodiment / setting can be used in any combination.

[0356] Specific details

[0357] In the description provided herein, many specific details are set forth. However, it is to be understood that embodiments of the present invention may be implemented without these specific details. In other cases, well-known methods, structures, and techniques are not shown in detail in order not to affect the understanding of this description.

[0358] the term

[0359] In describing the preferred embodiments of the present invention shown in the accompanying drawings, specific terms will be used for the sake of clarity. However, the present invention is not limited to the specific terms selected, and it should be understood that each specific term includes all technical equivalents that operate in a similar manner to achieve similar technical purposes. Terms such as "forward", "rearward", "radial", "peripheral", "upward", "downward", etc. are used as words for the convenience of providing reference points and should not be interpreted as limiting terms.

[0360] Different instances of an object

[0361] As used herein, unless otherwise specified, the use of ordinal adjectives "first," "second," "third," etc., to describe a common object simply indicates that reference is being made to different instances of similar objects and does not imply that the objects so described are necessarily in a given order, in time, in space, in ranking, or in any other manner.

[0362] Scope of the Invention

[0363] Thus, while there has been described what are considered to be preferred arrangements of the present invention, those skilled in the art will recognize that other and further modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and it is intended that all such modifications and alterations within the scope of the invention be claimed. Functionality may be added or deleted from the block diagrams, and operations may be interchanged between functional blocks. Steps may be added or deleted to the methods described within the scope of the present invention.

[0364] Although the invention has been described with reference to specific examples, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention may be embodied in many other forms.

[0365] Industrial Applicability

[0366] From the above, it should be apparent that the described arrangements are applicable to the mobile device industry, and in particular to methods and systems for distributing digital media via mobile devices.

[0367] It will be appreciated that the above-described systems and methods at least generally provide an eye testing application for a mobile device, and in particular an application for self-determination of eyeglass prescriptions via a mobile computing device.

[0368] The systems and methods described herein and / or shown in the accompanying drawings are presented by way of example only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Unless otherwise specifically stated, various aspects and components of the systems and methods disclosed herein may be modified or replaced by known equivalents or have heretofore unknown substitutes, such as substitutes that may be developed in the future or may be found to be acceptable substitutes in the future. The systems and methods disclosed herein may also be modified for various applications while remaining within the scope and spirit of the claimed invention, because the range of potential applications is large, and because it is intended that the present systems and methods accommodate many such changes.

Claims

1. A system for enabling a user to self-determine eyeglass prescriptions via a mobile computing device, the system comprising simultaneous split point focus (SSPF) and low latency dynamic distance monitoring (LLDDM), the device comprising: Volatile and non-volatile memory for storing data; a processor configured to execute program instructions stored in the non-volatile memory; a visual display screen adapted to receive image information from said processor to present instructions and images to said user; as well as a camera configured to receive an image of the user's pupil under test conditions; The system includes application instructions for directing the processor to perform a method for determining an eyeglass prescription, the method comprising: determining whether the user's eyes are myopic, and whether the user's eyes are hyperopic; determining a principal meridian and an axis meridian of an eye of the user when the user observes the image information on the display screen; The LLDDM determines the refractive power error of the user's eye in real time using the principal meridian and the axis meridian when the user observes the SSPF image information on the display screen; calculating spherical, cylindrical, and axial prescriptions based on the principal meridians and the axial meridians obtained by the LLDDM; displaying the calculated prescription value to the user; Wherein, the image information provided to the display screen includes a two-color image, and the two-color image includes: a two-color background having at least two portions separated by an interface; and an image of the interface overlaid on the two-color background spanning between the portions of the two-color background; Wherein, the image of the interface between the portions of the two-color background, each of which is overlaid on the two-color background, is simultaneously imaged onto the fovea of ​​the eyes of the user being measured.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein determining whether the user's eyes are myopic comprises a method implemented by executing program instructions with the processor, the method comprising: displaying on the display screen an image including a first portion having a two-color background; providing instructions to said user; as well as Input is received from the user regarding a portion of the image that subjectively appears sharper to the user.

3. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein determining the axis meridian comprises a method implemented by executing program instructions with the processor, the method comprising: displaying a radially oriented image on the display screen; providing instructions to said user; as well as Input is received from the user regarding a portion of the radially-oriented image that subjectively appears sharper to the user.

4. The system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: Determining the principal meridian comprises a method implemented by executing program instructions with the processor, the method comprising: displaying a hashed line image including a two-color background on the display screen and receiving input from the user regarding a position spaced from the user's eyes under test at which the hashed lines appear subjectively equally clear to the user; and The distance from the display screen to the eyes of the user being measured is determined. 5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the hash line image displayed on the screen is configured to have a width between 2 and 8 pixels. 6 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the hash line image displayed on the screen is configured to have a width between 4 and 8 pixels.

7. A system according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the length of the hash lines displayed on the screen is between 40 and 60 mm.

8. A system according to any one of claims 1, 2, 5 and 6, wherein: The distance from the display screen to the eyes of the user under test is determined from a real-time video stream of the user's eyes during testing.

9. A method for a user to self-determine an eyeglass prescription via a mobile computing device, the method comprising: A mobile computing device is provided, comprising: a processor configured to execute program instructions stored in the non-volatile memory; a visual display screen adapted to receive image information from said processor to present instructions and images to said user; and a camera configured to receive an image of the user's pupil under test conditions; The method includes application program instructions for directing the processor to execute a method for determining an eyeglass prescription, the program instructions including: program code for determining whether the user's eyes are myopic and whether the user's eyes are hyperopic; program code for determining a principal meridian and an axis meridian of the user's eye when the user views image information on the display screen; and program code for calculating sphere, cylinder and axis prescriptions from said principal meridians and said axis meridians; The method further comprises presenting a two-color image on the display screen, the two-color image comprising: a two-color background having at least two portions separated by an interface; and an image of the interface overlaid on the two-color background spanning between the portions of the two-color background; Wherein, the image of the interface between the portions of the two-color background, each of which is overlaid on the two-color background, is simultaneously imaged onto the fovea of ​​the eyes of the user being measured.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein determining whether the user's eyes are myopic comprises program code for displaying an image on the display screen, comprising: Program code for displaying a two-color background on the display screen; program code for providing instructions to the user; as well as Program code for receiving input from the user regarding a portion of the image that subjectively appears sharper to the user.

11. The method of claim 9 or 10, wherein determining the axis meridian comprises: program code for displaying a radially oriented image on said display screen; program code for providing instructions to said user; as well as Program code for receiving information from the user regarding a portion of the radially oriented image that appears subjectively sharper to the user.

12. The method of claim 9 or 10, wherein determining the principal meridian comprises: program code for displaying a hash line image including a two-color background on the display screen and receiving input from the user regarding locations at which the hash lines, spaced from the user's eyes under test, subjectively appear equally clear to the user; as well as The distance from the display screen to the eyes of the user being measured is determined.

13. The method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein: The distance from the display screen to the eyes of the user under test is determined from a real-time video stream of the user's eyes during testing. 14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the two-color background comprises a background image having a first portion and a second portion and an interface, wherein the first portion and the second portion are adjacent to each other.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein: The first portion includes a red background portion, and the second portion includes a green background portion or a blue background portion.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein: The hash line image is overlaid on the red background portion and the green background portion and is aligned with the interface at between 40 and 90 degrees.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein: The hash line image is aligned perpendicular to the interface.

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