Anterior chamber angle mirror inspection equipment

Abstract

In order to overcome technical defects in anterior chamber angle mirror applications, the invention proposes a device (13) for performing anterior chamber angle mirror inspection for recording a three-dimensional volume block (14) of a sample as a raw data set by optical coherence tomography, characterized in that a visualization device (15) is provided for visualizing the three-dimensional volume block (14) of the sample as the raw data set. And means for generating, from the raw data set, a virtual anterior chamber angle mirror map (15a) that seems to be acquired from a virtual camera plane (16) inside the sample. The invention further provides a method for recording the structure of the room corner (4).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a device according to the subject-matter of claim 1. Background Art

[0002] The term "Optical Coherence Tomography" (often abbreviated to OCT) refers to an imaging method. This method allows two-dimensional and three-dimensional images to be obtained from light-scattering structures. In this method, light with a certain bandwidth is usually split into two partial beams in a beam splitter. A first partial beam falls on the sample or object to be examined, and a second partial beam passes through a reference path. The light reflected from the sample or object interferes with the reference beam. By means of the interference signal, a depth-resolved analysis of the sample can be performed with the aid of a so-called A-scan, i.e. at the depth of the optical axis of the first partial beam. In addition, OCT images can be acquired by scanning the sample in a planar or transverse manner with the first partial beam.

[0003] In this context, the cornea and iris form a structure in the anterior chamber of the eye called the angle, through which the aqueous humor can flow out. Pathological changes in the angle can lead to increased intraocular pressure and the formation of glaucoma. The so-called Schlemm's canals are distributed in a ring-shaped manner in the scleral part of the angle (i.e., the dermis) and form a collecting duct, i.e., a drainage duct for the aqueous humor.

[0004] Due to the refractive conditions of the cornea and the opacity of the sclera, the internal structures of the eye angle cannot be directly observed without technical assistance. In order to visualize these structures, a gonioscope is currently used to directly touch the cornea and bypass the refractive power of the front part of the cornea, and the angle is observed by "turning" with the help of a mirror system. The surgery is completed entirely with the help of this gonioscope.

[0005] The use of a gonioscope and visualization via it restricts the operator in many ways. In principle, it is difficult to learn how to manipulate the gonioscope and interpret the structures visualized. The operator must directly guide the gonioscope with one hand during the procedure. This limits the operator from being able to perform other actions with this hand, for example, to guide a second instrument or control visualization at the same time.

[0006] The operator can only see the surface of the tissue, and information from deep inside the tissue remains hidden. In addition, external instruments used during surgery may obstruct the view of the angle structures.

[0007] This is because the deflection of the corneal haptic causes the angle of incidence to flatten. However, glaucoma surgery should be performed without the corneal haptic. Therefore, there is a great need to improve the visualization of the structures in the angle region during surgery. Summary of the invention

[0008] In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to overcome the technical deficiencies in anterior chamber gonioscopy.

[0009] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides the features described in claim 1.

[0010] The present invention first recognizes that the structure of the human eye angle should be recorded optically as much as possible. The present invention also recognizes that there is a need to improve the visualization of structures in the angle region during surgery, specifically, this can be achieved by visualizing Schlemm's canal or other structures (especially deep visualization). The present invention also recognizes that surgical visualization should not be affected by surgical instruments. The present invention recognizes that if an OCT device can record a three-dimensional block of a sample (i.e., an OCT block) as a raw data set by optical coherence tomography and visualize it, a virtual anterior chamber gonioscopic image that appears to be collected from a virtual camera plane inside the sample can be generated from the raw data set, then the device can be used for anterior chamber gonioscopy. When performing surgery using the above-mentioned virtual anterior chamber gonioscopy, there is no need to hold any examination mirror, which also allows the surgeon to free his hands.

[0011] The visualization device renders the acquisition of the 3D volume, i.e. treats it as a raw data set and generates a virtual gonioscopy map from the virtual camera plane. In this way, the OCT volume is captured in a tight temporal sequence at the relevant circumferential angle of the limbus (i.e. the transition zone between the cornea and the sclera) during surgery. The OCT volume is then rendered onto the virtual camera inside the anterior chamber, and this frontal view is similar to the view observed through the gonioscopy. In this way, the above-mentioned deficiencies in glaucoma surgery can be overcome.

[0012] The operator can perform surgery based on the virtual gonioscopy OCT image. In addition, the virtual gonioscopy rendered in this way can visualize deep tissue data or structures, such as the extent of Schlemm's canal obscured by the trabecular meshwork (tissue in the anterior chamber of the eye). This is a decisive advantage for the surgeon, because Schlemm's canal is exactly the target point of the implant.

[0013] The real camera plane and the virtual camera plane may be at an angle in the range of 80° to 140° to each other, and preferably the two camera planes may be oriented orthogonally to each other. This allows for quantitative measurement of the extent of anatomical structures and for visualization of structures that are actually hidden in the reflected light image, such as Schlemm's Canal.

[0014] With the detection device, at least one volume or OCT volume can be acquired along an arc segment, preferably in an angular range of 10° to 120°. Advantageously, the OCT volumes are acquired in such a way that the limbus of the eye and the structures required for glaucoma surgery are located in these volumes. Advantageously, the OCT volume covers a limbus radius range of at least 10° to 120°, as this corresponds to the preferred viewing angle in gonioscopy.

[0015] In this context, multiple volumes or OCT volumes can be acquired successively over time and recorded as a raw data set. In order to ensure a sufficiently high lateral resolution at a sufficiently high image refresh rate, advantageously only a small portion of the angular range of interest is visualized in a small volume at the limbus.

[0016] The arc segment can be a part of a ring segment or a part of a spiral, in particular a part of an elliptical spiral. Technically speaking, if the angle range to be observed is large, the ring segment around the corneal limbus is scanned; if the angle range is small, the elliptical spiral is scanned.

[0017] With the help of the visualization device, external instruments used to surgically treat the specimen can be imaged transparently or eliminated from the virtual gonioscopy. Compared to the gonioscope, the incident light for OCT imaging is at a steeper angle, so there is no shadowing of the angle view by the external instruments used. In this way, the anterior chamber view is purely virtual, so the surgical instruments can be eliminated from the gonioscopy image or drawn semi-transparently, which is not possible with typical gonioscopy.

[0018] Tracking means may be provided for tracking the light from an optical coherence tomography scan of a moving volume of the sample. If the OCT volume is scanned in a small area around the limbus as described above, it may be advantageous to track the motion and accordingly track the scan between volumes due to the movement of the eye relative to the microscope. The tracking information may be generated by the OCT data itself or by an additional camera (e.g. the microscope itself).

[0019] Furthermore, it is advantageous to track the relevant limbal region by other imaging modalities. Tracking can control the lateral placement of the OCT volume. Advantageously, the tracking is performed using surgical microscope images.

[0020] A calibration device may be provided for automatically calculating and determining a virtual camera plane based on the sample structure. Alternatively or additionally, the calibration device may be manually operable so as to adjust the position and orientation of the virtual camera plane under user control. Preferably, the viewing angle of the virtual view is automatically determined, i.e. based on segmentation of the eye structure in the OCT data - e.g. the corneal vertex and the iris plane. The operator may adjust the automatically assumed viewing angle corresponding to the virtual camera plane. To this end, the elevation angle of the camera plane or the rotation of the plane around the optical axis of the eye may be controlled. A typical gonioscopy examination needs to be mastered. Using the apparatus described herein, the correct view can be automatically acquired.

[0021] The volume can be acquired at a refresh rate in the range of 1 Hz to 1 kHz. Alternatively or additionally, the virtual gonioscopic image can be displayed with a latency of less than 500 milliseconds. By selecting this frequency range, the angle structure can be better captured. It is particularly advantageous to acquire the OCT volume at a refresh rate of at least 20 Hz. It is also advantageous to display the rendered virtual gonioscopic image with a latency of less than 100 milliseconds. In this way, the operator can easily understand what is actually happening at the time.

[0022] A method for performing virtual gonioscopy, without using a gonioscope, using an optical coherence tomography device, in particular a device of the type described herein, comprises the following steps:

[0023] - Using optical coherence tomography, the eyeball is illuminated from the real camera plane and the 3D volume of the eyeball is recorded from the real camera plane as the raw data set;

[0024] - generating a virtual gonioscopic image from the original data set, the virtual gonioscopic image coming from a virtual camera plane inside the eyeball, allowing a top view of the eyeball structures;

[0025] -Images the eye's angle structures in virtual gonioscopy.

[0026] By performing this method with the device described herein, a gonioscope is no longer required.

[0027] For the above embodiment, the volume or OCT volume should not be too large, otherwise it is not possible to achieve a high refresh rate under the conditions of dense scanning and expansion. Each OCT volume acquired in this way is projected onto the virtual camera plane. The projection method should make the image similar to the view observed through the anterior chamber gonioscope.

[0028] The scleral ligaments, ciliary body, and trabecular meshwork should be distinguished with the highest possible contrast during projection.

[0029] In this regard, the above structures may include Schlemm's Canal, Ciliary Zonule, Scleral Band, Trabebular Meshwork and / or Schwalbe Line. The clinical target of many glaucoma surgeries is Schlemm's Canal. Since Schlemm's Canal cannot be seen in microscope images, surgeons will locate it based on the pigmented trabecular meshwork where Schlemm's Canal is located. Using OCT equipment, Schlemm's Canal can be visualized or segmented and highlighted accordingly.

[0030] Volume acquisition can be performed along the limbal curve over an angle range of 10° to 120°. The scanning pattern of the volume should be designed so that the minimum distance of the OCT voxel from the limbus in the orthogonal direction is small enough to ensure that the structural transitions (ciliary ligament, scleral ligament, anterior border) are scanned at a high enough level. The above requirements indicate that the use of fast OCT has advantages.

[0031] The volume can be projected onto the virtual camera plane so that the projected image resembles the view through a gonioscopic lens to form a virtual gonioscopic map. This way, operators can rely on a familiar image that they know in practice.

[0032] A variety of methods can be envisioned to project the relevant structures from the OCT volume. A simple pinhole camera model can be used as a virtual camera model. The OCT volume is mapped to the display pixels of the virtual camera through center projection. The camera center can be finite or infinite.

[0033] Advantageously, segmentation is provided that transitions from the anterior chamber to solid structures such as the iris, ciliary body, sclera, trabecular meshwork and cornea. The segmentation lines can be used to calculate a frontal projection, projecting from a thin layer portion of the boundary layer onto a virtual camera plane using a central projection.

[0034] Another method involves ray casting starting from the pixels of the virtual camera plane. To this end, the voxels of the OCT volume can be assigned an opacity as a function of their intensity according to a suitable opacity function. Advantageously, the opacity function is chosen so that no opacity is assigned to the "aqueous humor" voxels, but a maximum opacity is assigned to all tissues. The high sensitivity of the OCT device is conducive to obtaining high-quality images. The cornea is a tissue with the second highest transparency after the aqueous humor. The contrast between the cornea and the aqueous humor should be high enough. Then, projection is performed by ray casting, and for each pixel of the virtual camera, the beam assigned according to the central projection is calculated through the OCT volume. The intensities of the OCT voxels are weighted and accumulated according to their opacity. However, starting from the camera plane, only a certain number of voxel intensities are accumulated in the direction of the beam until the accumulated opacity value exceeds a threshold.

[0035] The position and orientation of the virtual camera plane should be automatically preselected. However, the user should be able to change the position and orientation within several degrees of freedom.

[0036] The methods described herein can be performed intraoperatively, particularly during glaucoma surgery.

[0037] The method is described in detail below with reference to the optional improvement scheme:

[0038] The structure of the eye's chamber angle is very important for diagnosis and treatment, but without technical assistance, it cannot be observed under a surgical microscope.

[0039] Using the method described in this article, the internal structure of the chamber angle can be observed with the help of intraoperative OCT while using a surgical microscope, without the need for any other instruments.

[0040] In order to be able to visualize structures required for diagnosis or surgical treatment, namely the scleral spur, ciliary body, trabecular meshwork, Schlemm's canal, etc., a volume tomographic image is generated in the information-bearing area of ​​the corneal limbus of the eye.

[0041] Such tomograms must be further processed before they can be used for the above-mentioned applications.

[0042] For visualization purposes, virtual camera views were created from the tomographic data, allowing the above structures to be observed.

[0043] The advantage of this virtual gonioscopy is that its orientation matches the gonioscopy that surgeons are accustomed to.

[0044] For this purpose, a virtual camera plane is placed in the anterior chamber in a corresponding position, onto which the tomographic data are projected in an advantageous manner, so that the above-mentioned anatomical structures are displayed with high contrast.

[0045] Also advantageously, important structures within the ocular tissue (such as Schlemm's canal), which are common targets for surgical procedures, can be viewed in such projections.In contrast to conventional methods, information or structures can be obtained from tomographic images.

[0046] Important structures, such as the scleral ridge, can be highlighted by automatic segmentation. Advantageously, the pose and positioning of the virtual camera plane is automatically assumed.

[0047] Good configuration can be achieved by automatic segmentation of the anatomical structures of the posterior cornea, the scleral ridges and the anterior iris. Advantageously, such information or structures can be generated from tomographic OCT data and surgical microscope images.

[0048] The surgeon should be able to control the configuration of the camera plane. Therefore, the control degrees of freedom are advantageously preconfigured and can then be operated, for example, via a foot pedal, a 3D mouse or a touch pad or the like.

[0049] Advantageously, the normal rotation angle of the camera to the iris plane, the distance of the camera plane to the scleral crest ligament, the parallel rotation angle of the camera plane to the limbus and / or the width and height of the camera plane can be controlled.

[0050] Advantageously, the optional virtual camera plane in the tomographic data set is transformed into a cylindrical coordinate system, wherein the cylindrical axis points in a direction similar to the optical axis of the eye. This corresponds to a cylindrical camera plane of appropriate position and shape.

[0051] The view from the virtual camera can be visualized using a regular screen or binoculars.

[0052] Advantageously, tomographic OCT data and surgical camera images are used to achieve a mutual augmented reality visualization of the structure.

[0053] For example, the selected virtual camera plane can be projected into a surgical microscope image for visualization.

[0054] Furthermore, the currently projected gonioscopic area can be visualized in the camera image.

[0055] It is also advantageous to visualize the segmented scleral ridges in a virtual view.

[0056] A projected view of Schlemm's canal also offers advantages.

[0057] Static images can be visualized to assess angle structure before and after surgery.

[0058] For the surgical procedure itself or for the assessment of dynamic processes, images can be displayed at a refresh rate that is at best the conventional video frame rate.

[0059] The prerequisites are short exposure times and high spatial scanning density, so that the chamber angle structure can be observed with sufficiently high resolution.

[0060] In order to achieve this goal with current technology, a small volume must be harvested in the corresponding limbal region.

[0061] OCT devices with high equivalent A-scan rates have advantages. In the design of scanning systems, high-speed scanning motion has advantages.

[0062] Advantageously, the relevant scan area is evaluated to control the OCT volume. For example, the limbus can be segmented at a selected angle from the surgical camera image and the scanner of the OCT system can be controlled based on the modality registration information so that only the smallest possible volume area needs to be scanned with a sufficiently high scan density. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0063] Figure 1 A partial cross-sectional view of a human eye is shown;

[0064] Figure 2 A partial cross-sectional view of a human eye with a typical gonioscopic lens is shown, showing the lens optical path and the shadow cast by the external instrument on the actual angle to be examined;

[0065] Figure 3shows a partial cross-sectional view of a human eye into which light from an OCT device is directed in order to record the angle from a virtual camera plane, i.e., a cross-section through the internal structure of the angle and the virtual camera, showing a shadow cast on the iris by an external instrument which is not relevant to the surgery;

[0066] Figure 4 A top view of the anterior structure of the eye is shown, showing possible target volume projections and possible camera plane choices;

[0067] Figure 5 and Figure 6 Shown is two visualizations of the same OCT volume imaging based on two virtual gonioscopy images, each showing a specific part of the chamber angle. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0068] Figure 1 A partial cross-sectional view of a human eye 1 is shown, wherein the cornea 2 and the iris 3 form a structure in the anterior chamber of the eyeball, which is called the angle 4. The aqueous humor can flow out through the angle 4 (indicated by a dotted line in this figure). The so-called Schlemm's canal 5 is distributed in a ring shape in the scleral part (i.e., the dermis) of the angle 4, forming a collecting duct, i.e., a drainage duct for the aqueous humor. Figure 1 The lens 6, trabecular meshwork 7, sclera 8 and ciliary body 9 are shown.

[0069] Figure 2 The gonioscopic lens 10 is shown placed on the cornea 2. Due to the refractive conditions of the cornea 2, the structures in the angle 4 of the eyeball 1 cannot be directly observed without technical assistance. In order to achieve the visualization of these structures, the gonioscopic lens 10 is currently used to directly touch the cornea 2 and bypass the refractive power of the front part of the cornea. At present, the surgery is completed entirely with the help of this gonioscopic lens 10.

[0070] However, the optical path 11 of the gonioscopic lens 10 causes the instrument 12 to cast a shadow on the associated structures of the angle 4, such as Schlemm's canal 5 and the trabecular meshwork 7. To a large extent, the angle 4 itself is located within the shadow of the instrument 12.

[0071] In contrast, Figure 3 It is shown how to use optical coherence tomography (OCT) technology to record a three-dimensional volume 14 of a sample (i.e., a human eye 1) as a raw data set by a gonioscopy device 13, and to generate a virtual gonioscopy image 15a from the raw data set by providing a visualization device 15, the view seemingly being acquired from a virtual camera plane 16 inside the sample (here, the eyeball 1). The virtual gonioscopy image 15a is displayed on a monitor of the device 13.

[0072] The OCT optical path 17 of the device 13 does not cause the instrument 12 to project any shadow on the relevant structures such as Schlemm's canal 5 and trabecular meshwork 7 of the chamber angle 4, but projects the shadow of the instrument 12 onto the iris 3 which is not related to the surgery. Figure 4 and Figure 3 In contrast, instead of a gonioscopic lens 10, a device 13 is used, namely an OCT device.

[0073] The visualization means 15 of the device 13 renders the acquisition of the three-dimensional volume 14, i.e. regards it as a raw data set and generates a virtual gonioscopic map 15a from the raw data set from a virtual camera plane 16. The real camera plane 18 and the virtual camera plane 16 are at an angle 19 in the range of 80° to 140° to each other.

[0074] Figure 4 It is schematically shown that at least one volume segment 14 can be detected along an arc segment, preferably within an angular range 23 of 10° to 120°, using the detection device 20 . Figure 4 The pupil 21, the corneal limbus 22, the circumferential acquisition angle range 23, the virtual camera plane 16 and the camera center 24 are shown. A plurality of blocks 14 can be acquired successively over time and recorded as a raw data set. An arc segment is a portion of a ring segment 25.

[0075] With the aid of the visualization device 14 , external instruments 12 for surgical treatment of the eyeball 1 can be transparently represented in the virtual gonioscopic image 15 a or can be eliminated from the image.

[0076] A tracking device 26 is provided for tracking the light rays for optical coherence tomography of the sample moving volume 14. An adjustment device 27 is also provided for automatically determining the virtual camera plane 16 based on the sample structure. The adjustment device 27 is manually operable so that the position and orientation of the virtual camera plane 16 can be adjusted under user control.

[0077] The volume 14 may be acquired at a refresh rate in the range of 1 Hz to 1 kHz. The display latency of the virtual gonioscopic image 15a may be less than 500 milliseconds.

[0078] The device 13 described herein can perform a virtual gonioscopy method in which the gonioscope 10 is not used, but an optical coherence tomography is performed using the device 13. In this regard, the method described above is performed using a device 13 of the type described above.

[0079] Refer to the following Figures 3 to 6 The above method is schematically described. The method comprises the following steps:

[0080] By optical coherence tomography, the eyeball 1 is illuminated from a real camera plane 18, and a three-dimensional volume 14 of the eyeball 1 is recorded from the real camera plane 18 as an original data set;

[0081] generating a virtual gonioscopic image 15 a from the original data set, the virtual gonioscopic image 15 a coming from a virtual camera plane 16 inside the eyeball 1 , allowing a top view of the structure of the eyeball 1 to be presented;

[0082] In the virtual gonioscopic view 15 a , the structure of the chamber angle 4 of the eyeball 1 appears.

[0083] Figure 5 and Figure 6 Two visualizations of the same OCT volume acquisition of volume 14 are shown. In both figures, corresponding cross-sections of angle 4 are observed. When viewing these two visualizations, it should be noted that the cross-sectional images are those that are viewed exactly through the mechanical axis of instrument 12. In the frontal gonioscopic view, only part of the view is obscured by the shadow cast by instrument 12.

[0084] The structures include Schlemm's canal 5, the ciliary ligament, the scleral ligament, the trabecular meshwork 7 and / or the anterior limiting line.

[0085] The volume 14 is projected onto a virtual camera plane 16 such that the projected image resembles the view through the gonioscopic image 10 forming a virtual gonioscopic image 15a.

[0086] like Figure 4 As shown in the schematic diagram of FIG. 2 , the volume 14 is collected along the direction of the corneal limbus 22 within an angular range 23 of 10° to 120°.

[0087] The above methods are performed intraoperatively, especially during glaucoma surgery.

[0088] Reference numerals

[0089] 1 Eyeball

[0090] 2 Cornea

[0091] 3 Iris

[0092] 4. Room angle

[0093] 5 Schlemm's canal

[0094] 6 Lens

[0095] 7 Trabecular meshwork

[0096] 8 Sclera

[0097] 9 Ciliary body

[0098] 10 Gonioscopy

[0099] 11 Gonioscope Optical Path

[0100] 12 Instruments

[0101] 13 Equipment

[0102] 14 Eye Block

[0103] 15 Visualization Installation

[0104] 15a Virtual gonioscopy

[0105] 16 Virtual Camera Plane

[0106] 17 Equipment OCT optical path

[0107] 18 Real Camera Plane

[0108] 19 Angle

[0109] 20 Detection device

[0110] 21 Pupil

[0111] 22 Limb

[0112] 23 Angle range

[0113] 24 Camera Center

[0114] 25 Ring Segment

[0115] 26 Tracking Device

[0116] 27 Adjustment device

Claims

1. A device (13) for performing gonioscopy, for recording a three-dimensional volume (14) of a sample as a raw data set by optical coherence tomography, It is characterized in that Visualization means (15) are provided for generating, from the raw data set, a virtual gonioscopic image (15a) that appears to be acquired from a virtual camera plane (16) inside the sample.

2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that The visualization device (15) renders the acquisition of the three-dimensional volume (14), i.e., regards it as a raw data set and generates the virtual anterior chamber gonioscopic image (15a) from the virtual camera plane (16) based on the raw data set.

3. The device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The real camera plane (18) and the virtual camera plane (16) are at an angle (19) in the range of 80° to 140° to each other; preferably, the two camera planes (16, 18) are oriented orthogonally to each other.

4. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that At least one volume block (14) is acquired along an arc segment by means of a detection device (20), preferably within an angular range (23) of 10° to 120°.

5. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that A plurality of volume blocks (14) are acquired sequentially over time and recorded as a raw data set.

6. The device according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that The arc segment is a portion of a ring segment (25) or a portion of a spiral, in particular a portion of an elliptical spiral.

7. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that With the aid of the visualization device (15), external instruments (12) used for surgical treatment of the specimen can be transparently imaged in the virtual gonioscopic image (15a) or can be eliminated from the image.

8. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that A tracking device (26) is provided for tracking the light used for optical coherence tomography scanning of a moving volume (14) of the sample.

9. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that A calibration device (27) is provided for automatically measuring and determining the virtual camera plane (16) based on the sample structure; and / or the calibration device (27) can be manually operated to adjust the position and orientation of the virtual camera plane (16) under user control.

10. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that The volume block (14) is collected at a refresh rate ranging from 1 Hz to 1 kHz; and / or the display delay of the virtual anterior chamber gonioscope image (15a) is less than 500 milliseconds.

11. A method for performing virtual gonioscopy, wherein instead of a gonioscope (10) an optical coherence tomography device (13) is used, in particular a device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, comprising the following steps: By means of optical coherence tomography, the eyeball (1) is illuminated from a real camera plane (18), and a three-dimensional volume (14) of the eyeball (1) is recorded from the real camera plane (18) as an original data set; A virtual anterior chamber gonioscopic image (15a) is generated according to the original data set, wherein: The virtual gonioscopic image (15a) is derived from a virtual camera plane (16) within the eyeball (1), allowing a top view of the structure of the eyeball (1) to be presented; The structure of the chamber angle (4) of the eyeball (1) appears in the virtual anterior chamber gonioscopic image (15a).

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The structures include Schlemm's canal (5), ciliary ligaments, scleral ligaments, trabecular meshwork (7) and / or the anterior limiting line.

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that: The volume (14) is collected along the curve of the corneal limbus (22) within an angle range (23) of 10° to 120°.

14. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, characterized in that The volume (14) is projected onto the virtual camera plane (16) such that the projected image resembles the view through the gonioscopic lens (10) to form a virtual gonioscopic image (15a).

15. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 14, characterized in that The method is performed intraoperatively, particularly during glaucoma surgery.

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