Ophthalmologic apparatus and jaw receiver height control method

Abstract

To provide an ophthalmologic apparatus and a jaw receiver height control method that allow an input operation of an examiner for acquiring target height position information to be completed in a short time while suppressing a feeling of discomfort and a feeling of unpleasantness given to a subject when executing jaw receiver height control.SOLUTION: An ophthalmologic apparatus A includes a body part 20, a face support part 33, a jaw receiving part 30, and a control part 60. The control part 60 includes a jaw receiver height control part 631 for executing driving control for the jaw receiving part 30 upon receipt of predetermined information from an input part. The input part is a slide lever device 80 for acquiring target height position information on the jaw receiving part 30 as predetermined information received by the jaw receiver height control part 631. When the position of the face of the subject is brought into an adjustment state in which the height position of an eye E to be examined is matched to the position of an eye height line 33a, and the subject's jaw J is separated from the jaw receiving part 30, the slide lever device 80 acquires target height position information by an input operation of the examiner for designating the height position of the subject's jaw J.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an ophthalmic apparatus and a chin rest height control method. [Background technology]

[0002] As a chin rest height control technology for controlling the height of the chin rest before starting auto-alignment, the technology described in Patent Documents 1 to 4 has been proposed, for example. Patent Document 1 describes a technology for realizing highly stable alignment by adjusting the position of the chin rest on which the examinee's chin is placed to match the position of the eye height line. Patent Document 2 describes a technology for providing an ophthalmic device that can perform a smooth examination by driving the chin rest or the measurement unit so that the pupil position of the examinee's eye falls within the possible range of auto-alignment. Patent Document 3 describes a technology for providing an ophthalmic device that easily adjusts the position of the examinee's eye and the ophthalmic examination unit while viewing the anterior segment of the examinee's eye. Patent Document 4 describes a technology for providing an ophthalmic device that can reduce the effort of adjusting the height of the chin rest used to align the examinee's eye and can move the chin rest up and down based on the examiner's intention. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6188338 [Patent Document 2] Patent No. 3935834 [Patent Document 3] Patent No. 4987391 [Patent Document 4] Patent No. 4649218 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The chin rest height control is a control to adjust the positional relationship between the subject's eye and the ophthalmic device so that auto-alignment can be started. This chin rest height control is performed by adjusting the height of the chin rest on which the subject's face is placed so that the height of the subject's eye matches the position of the eye height line provided on the face support part. The eye height lines are provided on both sides of the face support part as a guide for adjusting the subject's eye to an appropriate height position. The eye height lines are aligned with the height center position of the measurement unit opening, which is formed by the objective lens of the main body of the ophthalmic device.

[0005] In contrast, in the prior art chin rest height control in any of Patent Documents 1 to 4, the examinee places the chin (bottom of the mandible) on the chin rest in the default position, and while the chin of the examinee is in contact with the chin rest, the chin rest is driven in the up and down directions to control the chin rest height. Therefore, during the chin rest height control, the examinee's face may be pushed up by the chin rest at an unintended timing, or the face may be lowered unexpectedly as the chin rest is lowered. Therefore, the examinee feels a sense of incongruity or discomfort due to the driving of the chin rest during the chin rest height control. In addition, when adjusting the height of the chin rest by operating a switch, the examiner needs to keep pressing the up switch or the down switch until the height adjustment is completed while monitoring the positional relationship between the examinee's eyes and the eye height line. Therefore, when controlling the chin rest height, the examiner needs to spend a long time operating the switch to adjust the height of the chin rest, and cannot perform other tasks during the height adjustment operation.

[0006] The present invention has been made with attention to the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide an ophthalmic device and a chin rest height control method that enables the examiner to complete input operations to obtain target height position information in a short time while minimizing the discomfort or odd feelings caused to the subject when controlling the chin rest height. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The ophthalmologic apparatus of the present invention includes a main body having an optical system for measuring characteristics of an eye to be examined and photographing the eye, a face support unit provided on the main body and having an eye height line, a chin rest unit provided to be movable in the vertical direction relative to the face support unit, and a control unit for controlling each unit of the apparatus. The control unit has a chin rest height control unit that controls the drive of the chin rest unit when it receives predetermined information from an input unit. The input unit is a target height position input unit that obtains target height position information of the chin rest unit as the predetermined information received by the chin rest height control unit. The target height position input unit obtains the target height position information by an input operation by an examiner that specifies the height position of the chin of the examinee when the position of the face of the examinee is prescribed to be adjusted to a height position of the eye to be examined and the eye height line, and the chin of the examinee is separated from the chin rest unit.

[0008] The ophthalmologic apparatus includes a main body having an optical system for measuring characteristics of the subject's eye and taking an image of the subject's eye, a face support unit provided on the main body and having an eye-height line, a chin rest unit provided to be movable in the up-down direction relative to the face support unit, and a control unit for controlling each unit of the apparatus. The control unit has a chin rest height control unit that controls the drive of the chin rest unit when it receives target height position information from a target height position input unit. The chin rest height control method of the present invention includes a target height position input step and a chin rest height control step. The target height position input step obtains target height position information by an input operation of an examiner that specifies the height position of the subject's chin to the target height position input unit when the position of the subject's face is prescribed to be adjusted to a height position of the subject's eye and the eye-height line, and the chin of the subject is away from the chin rest unit. The chin rest height control step performs drive control to raise the chin rest unit to a target height position when the chin rest height control unit receives the target height position information from the target height position input unit. Effect of the Invention

[0009] The ophthalmic apparatus and chin rest height control method according to the present invention enable the examiner to complete input operations for acquiring target height position information in a short time while minimizing any sense of discomfort or annoyance felt by the subject during chin rest height control. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view showing a state in which an ophthalmologic apparatus according to a first embodiment is placed on an optical table. [Diagram 2] 1 is a front view showing an ophthalmologic apparatus according to a first embodiment as viewed from a subject's side. [Diagram 3] 1 is a side view showing a state in which an eye to be examined is measured / photographed by the ophthalmologic apparatus of the first embodiment. FIG. [Figure 4] 3 is a detailed view showing a slide lever device in the ophthalmologic apparatus of the first embodiment. FIG. [Diagram 5] 2 is a block diagram showing a control system of the ophthalmic apparatus of the first embodiment. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart showing a flow of basic operations when photographing an eye to be examined. [Figure 7] 13 is a flowchart showing a flow of an examiner operation and a chin rest height control process. [Figure 8] 11 is a time chart showing the chin rest drive control action in a high speed mode. [Figure 9] FIG. 11 is a screen diagram showing a screen display input unit in the ophthalmologic apparatus of the second embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 11 is a side view showing another example of the slide lever device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An ophthalmic apparatus and a chin rest height control method according to the present invention will be described below with reference to a first embodiment and a second embodiment shown in the drawings.

[0012] The ophthalmologic apparatus applied to the first and second embodiments is an apparatus that observes, photographs, and records an anterior eye image of the subject's eye, a fundus image of the subject's eye, and a tomographic image of the fundus of the subject's eye, and provides them as electronic images for diagnosis. Note that, in X, Y, and Z in Fig. 1 to Fig. 4, the X-axis indicates the left-right axis in the left-right direction (horizontal direction) when facing the main body of the ophthalmologic apparatus with the subject's eye as a reference, the Y-axis indicates the up-down axis in the up-down direction (vertical direction), and the Z-axis indicates the front-rear axis in the front-rear direction (depth direction) perpendicular to the X-axis and Y-axis. EXAMPLES

[0013] [Overall configuration of the device (Figs. 1 to 3)] As shown in FIG. 1, the ophthalmologic device A includes a stand unit 10, a main body unit 20, a chin rest unit 30, a control panel unit 40, an optical system 50, a control unit 60, an optical table 70, and a slide lever device 80 (target height position input unit).

[0014] The ophthalmic device A includes a fundus camera that captures a fundus image of the subject's eye E, and an OCT (short for "Optical Coherence Tomography") that captures a tomographic image of the fundus of the subject's eye E, and is referred to as a "3D fundus imaging device." Here, the "fundus camera" is a camera that images the fundus condition of the retina, optic nerve, capillaries, etc. at the back of the subject's eye E and captures the fundus image. The "OCT" is an optical coherence tomography that uses the interference of light to image the tomography of the retina at the fundus of the subject's eye E and captures the fundus tomography image.

[0015] The stand 10 is placed on an optical table 70 whose height can be adjusted in the Y-axis direction. The stand 10 supports the main body 20 on its upper surface so as to be movable in three axial directions, the X-axis, the Y-axis, and the Z-axis. The stand 10 is provided with a chin rest 30 on its front surface. The stand 10 is provided with a power switch 11, a power inlet 12, a USB terminal 13, and a LAN terminal 14 on both side surfaces. "USB" is an abbreviation for "Universal Serial Bus," and "LAN" is an abbreviation for "Local Area Network." The USB terminal 13 is a terminal for connecting an external memory, and as shown in FIG. 3, an HDD (abbreviation for "Hard Disk Drive"), a USB memory, or the like is connected to the USB terminal 13. The LAN terminal 14 is connected to a personal computer 16 on which dedicated software or the like is installed via a LAN cable 15.

[0016] 3, the mount unit 10 has a built-in power supply unit 17 and an XYZ drive unit 18. The power supply unit 17 includes a power switch 11, a power inlet 12, a USB terminal 13, a LAN terminal 14, etc. The XYZ drive unit 18 is a motor actuator having a motor and a motor drive circuit that drives the main body unit 20 in three axial directions (three-dimensional directions) of the X, Y and Z axes when moving the main body unit 20 relative to the mount unit 10 in alignment control.

[0017] The main body 20 is provided so as to be movable in the X-axis, Y-axis and Z-axis directions by an XYZ drive unit 18 relative to the stand 10 to which the chin rest 30 is fixed. In the main body 20, an optical system 50 for measuring the ocular characteristics of the subject's eye E is built into a main body cover 21 that covers the entire main body 20 when the subject supports his / her chin in an appropriate positional relationship with respect to the chin rest 30. A control panel unit 40 is disposed at an upper position on the back surface of the main body cover 21 as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. In addition to the optical system 50, a control unit 60 is built into the internal space of the main body cover 21 as shown in Fig. 3.

[0018] 2, the main body cover 21 has, at the center of the front side, an objective lens 51 of the optical system 50 facing the subject's eye E. The objective lens 51 has, at its periphery, an anterior eye stereo camera 22, a peripheral fixation lamp 23, and an anterior eye observation filter 24.

[0019] The anterior eye stereo camera 22 is a camera that captures an anterior eye image by photographing the anterior eye of the subject. The anterior eye stereo camera 22 is composed of two cameras, a right camera 22a and a left camera 22b, which are arranged on both sides of the objective lens 51 with the lens optical axis inclined toward the anterior eye of the subject's eye E, which is the measurement target. The right camera 22a and the left camera 22b capture a right anterior eye image and a left anterior eye image that are cut out from a part of the face of the subject supported by the chin rest 30 according to the selection of the subject's eye E and the angle of view at that time. The anterior eye stereo camera 22 is composed of two cameras, a right camera 22a and a left camera 22b, which are arranged with a determined width dimension in the X-axis direction and a determined angle of view. Therefore, the anterior eye stereo camera 22 can specify the three-dimensional coordinate position of the subject's eye E by calculation processing based on the two anterior eye images from the right camera 22a and the left camera 22b.

[0020] The peripheral fixation lights 23 are fixation lights used to fix the line of sight of the subject's eye E by turning them on, and eight of them are arranged at equal intervals around the outer periphery of the objective lens 51. The anterior segment observation filters 24 are filters used to adjust the amount of light during anterior segment observation or anterior segment OCT, and two of them (four in total) are arranged in the vertical direction outside the right camera 22a and the left camera 22b.

[0021] The chin rest 30 is a member that supports the chin of the subject, and is provided so as to be drivable in the vertical direction relative to the chin rest support 31 (= face support 33) fixed to the pedestal 10, as shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3. The chin rest 30 has a lifting rod 30a that is lifted and lowered by a built-in chin rest drive 32, a chin rest 30b fixed to the upper end position of the lifting rod 30a, and chin rest paper stopper pins 30c provided on both sides of the chin rest 30b. The chin rest drive 32 is a motor actuator having a motor and a motor drive circuit that drives the lifting rod 30a in the Y-axis direction when the chin rest 30 is moved in the Y-axis direction relative to the chin rest support 31 (= pedestal 10) in alignment control.

[0022] As shown in Fig. 2, the chin rest support part 31 has a face support part 33 fixed to both ends of the T-shape, the face support part 33 being shaped to surround the face of the subject with the chin supported by the chin rest part 30 from three directions. The face support part 33 is a member fixed to the pedestal part 10, and has a pair of vertical support parts 331, 332 extending in the Y-axis direction, and a horizontal support part 333 connecting the upper ends of the pair of vertical support parts 331, 332. The pair of vertical support parts 331, 332 are provided with eye height lines 33a, which serve as a guide for adjusting the subject's eye E to an appropriate height position, at positions corresponding to the center position of the height of the measurement part opening by the objective lens 51. The horizontal support part 333 has a detachable forehead rest part 33b made of silicone rubber or the like, at the center position of the surface that comes into contact with the subject's forehead. Furthermore, the horizontal support portion 333 has an arm 34 that can be bent in multiple stages at the central position of the surface opposite to the surface that contacts the subject's forehead, and an external fixation target (not shown) is provided at the tip of the arm 34.

[0023] The control panel unit 40 is disposed at an upper position on the back surface of the main body cover 21, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The control panel unit 40 has a screen 41 that displays in color an anterior eye image of the subject's eye E from the anterior eye stereo camera 22 and an anterior eye observation image of the subject's eye E from the optical system 50. The screen 41 is a touch panel that allows the examiner to input operations to the control unit 60 by touching displayed button images and images with his / her finger. The control panel unit 40 is connected and supported to the main body unit 20 by a connecting support unit 42. The connecting support unit 42 has a combined support structure of bending support and rotation support that allows the screen 41 to be set at any position in the entire circumferential direction relative to the main body unit 20 and also allows the tilt angle of the screen 41 to be freely set.

[0024] The control panel unit 40 is used when the examiner examines the eye characteristics while standing close to the subject. The connecting support unit 42 ensures the function of positioning the screen 41 at a position that is easy for the examiner to operate, regardless of where the examiner is located around the ophthalmic device A. The remote operation tablet 40' shown in FIG. 1 is used when the examiner examines the eye characteristics by remote operation. The remote operation tablet 40' has a touch panel screen 41' and has the same input operation function as the control panel unit 40, as well as a communication function with the main body unit 20.

[0025] The optical system 50 measures the ocular characteristics of the subject's eye E while the subject supports his / her chin on the chin rest 30, and includes a fundus camera unit 52 having an objective lens 51 and an OCT unit 53, as shown in FIG. 3. The fundus camera unit 52 includes an illumination optical system and a photographing optical system, and is a unit constituting a fundus camera that acquires a fundus image of the subject's eye E using a lens, an image sensor, etc. The OCT unit 53 is a unit constituting an OCT that acquires a fundus tomographic image of the subject's eye E using a wavelength-variable light source, a fiber coupler, etc. The optical system 50 has a function of acquiring an anterior eye observation image of the subject's eye E in addition to the function of acquiring a fundus image and a fundus tomographic image of the subject's eye E.

[0026] The control unit 60 controls each part of the device (fundus camera unit 52, OCT unit 53, chin rest unit 30, main body unit 20, etc.) based on various input operations including a touch operation on the screen 41 of the control panel unit 40. The control unit 60 has, as a hardware configuration, a control board 60a, a CPU board 60b, and an image board 60c, as shown in Fig. 3.

[0027] As shown in FIG. 1, the optical table 70 includes a top plate 71 on which the ophthalmic device A is placed, a top plate support 72, a caster support 73, a table lifting mechanism 74, a lifting lever 75, a caster base 76, and a caster 77. The table lifting mechanism 74 is disposed inside the top plate support 72 and the caster support 73, and lifts and lowers the top plate support 72 relative to the caster support 73. The lifting lever 75 is a manual operation unit that manually lifts and lowers the top plate 71 and the top plate support 72 on which the ophthalmic device A is placed. The top plate stroke amount is set to, for example, about 200 mm. Here, the optical table 70 of the embodiment 1 has a height corresponding to a sitting position measurement because the ophthalmic device A is an ophthalmic device A that performs measurement while the subject is sitting (seated position) on a chair 78 with an adjustable seat height. The optical table can also be an ophthalmic device that performs measurements while the subject is standing (standing position). In this case, there is no need to provide a chair 78, and a table having a height suitable for standing measurements is used.

[0028] The slide lever device 80 is a target height position input unit that acquires the target height position information through an input operation by the examiner, in accordance with the information received by a chin rest height control unit 631 (described later) in the control unit 60 being the target height position information of the chin rest unit 30. This slide lever device 80 acquires the target height position information through an input operation by the examiner that specifies the height position of the subject's chin when the position of the subject's face is prescribed to be adjusted to match the height positions of the subject's eye E and the eye height line 33a, and the subject's chin is away from the chin rest unit 30.

[0029] [Detailed configuration of the slide lever device (Fig. 4)] The slide lever device 80 is attached to a position below the eye height line 33a with respect to each of the pair of vertical support parts 331, 332. The face support part 33 is fixed to the chin rest support part 31 and has a pair of vertical support parts 331, 332 with the eye height line 33a, and a horizontal support part 333 that connects the upper ends of the pair of vertical support parts 331, 332 and has a forehead rest part 33b against which the subject's forehead F rests.

[0030] The slide lever device 80 is disposed adjacent to the chin rest portion 30, and the sliding direction of the lever portion 81 is parallel to the direction (Y-axis direction) of the ascending and descending movement trajectory of the chin rest portion 30. The chin rest portion 30 is provided so as to be drivable in the up-down direction (Y-axis direction) relative to the chin rest support portion 31 (= face support portion 33).

[0031] The slide lever device 80 has a lever portion 81 and a stroke position sensor portion 82. The lever portion 81 uses the upper surface of the chin rest 30b that receives the chin J of the subject of the chin rest portion 30 as an index. The lever portion 81 slides corresponding to a stroke amount (for example, about 67 mm) from the default position (lowest position) of the chin rest portion 30 to a maximum stroke position that is the upper limit of the chin rest portion 30. The stroke position sensor portion 82 is a sensor portion using a slide potentiometer that outputs a position signal corresponding to the sliding movement or stop when the examiner performs a lever operation to slide the lever portion 81 and stop it at a predetermined position.

[0032] As shown in FIG. 4, when a predetermined condition is satisfied, the examiner operates the lever 81 to adjust the position of the lever to the height of the examinee's chin J, thereby obtaining target height information for the chin rest 30. Here, the "predetermined condition is satisfied" refers to a condition in which the position of the examinee's face is adjusted to the height of the examinee's eye E and the eye height line 33a, and the examinee's chin J is away from the chin rest 30. For example, when one side of the ophthalmic device A is in contact with a wall, one slide lever device 80 may be attached only to the opposite side of the wall where the examiner can operate the lever. When two slide lever devices 80 are attached, the examiner can operate the lever on any one of the slide lever devices to obtain target height information. Furthermore, the lever 81 may be provided to protrude in the Z-axis direction from the end face of the face support 33 facing the ophthalmic device A (measurement unit) (see FIG. 10).

[0033] 4, the slide lever device 80 has a position display unit 83 adjacent to the lever unit 81 that slides in accordance with the stroke amount, which displays information represented by each position of the lever unit 81. The position display unit 83 has markings 83a that display the movable range (e.g., 0 mm to 67 mm) of the chin rest 30 from the default position to the maximum stroke position in units of length as information represented by each position of the lever unit 81. The position display unit 83 also has an LED array display unit 83b adjacent to the markings 83a that displays the double speed range by the number of lights when double speed is set as the lifting drive speed of the chin rest 30.

[0034] The information presented by the position display unit 83 is not limited to the position information of the lever unit 81 by the scale 83a (=target height position information of the chin rest 30) and the double speed region information by the number of lights on the LED array display unit 83b, as long as it is information represented by each position of the lever unit 81. The position display unit 83 may mark, for example, the average chin height position by age range, or may mark the average chin height position when the difference between men and women is added for each age range. The position display unit 83 may light up the average chin height position as the target height position based on the age information and gender information acquired from the ID of the subject, and may use it as guide information input by the examiner to determine the slide position of the lever unit 81 by the examiner, or may use it as temporary target height position information. The LED array display unit 83b may also be used for purposes other than representing the double speed region. For example, if the chin rest 30b to be used as an index is not noticeable, the current position of the chin rest 30b may be displayed by lighting the LED array display unit 83b. Furthermore, when the slide lever device 80 is provided on both sides of the face support section 33, the current position of the chin rest 30b may be highlighted by lighting the LED array display sections 83b on both sides.

[0035] [Control system configuration (Fig. 5)] As shown in FIG. 5, the control system includes a control panel unit 40 (screen 41), an optical system 50 (fundus camera unit 52, OCT unit 53), and a control unit 60.

[0036] The control unit 60 includes a main control unit 61 that controls the fundus camera unit 52 and the OCT unit 53, a storage unit 62 that stores necessary data, and an alignment control unit 63. The alignment control unit 63 acquires anterior segment images by photographing the left and right anterior segments of the subject's face from two different directions using the anterior segment stereo camera 22 (right camera 22a, left camera 22b). The alignment control unit 63 also acquires front anterior segment images and front fundus images by photographing the anterior segments and fundus of the right and left eyes of the subject's eye E using the optical system 50.

[0037] The alignment control unit 63 adjusts the relative positional relationship between the subject's eye E and the objective lens 51 provided in the main body unit 20 by a drive command output to at least one of the XYZ drive unit 18 and the chin rest drive unit 32. Here, the XYZ drive unit 18 and the chin rest drive unit 32 are used in such a way that if the adjustment movement amount is only the XZ axis movement amount, the XYZ drive unit 18 is used. On the other hand, if the adjustment movement amount includes the Y axis movement amount, the Y axis movement allowable range of the chin rest drive unit 32 is wider than the movement allowable range of the XYZ drive unit 18, so the XYZ drive unit 18 and the chin rest drive unit 32 are used in such a way. For example, the chin rest drive unit 32 is used for the Y axis movement in the chin rest height control, and the XYZ drive unit 18 is used for the Y axis movement in the auto alignment or manual alignment.

[0038] As shown in FIG. 5, the alignment control unit 63 has a chin rest height control unit 631, an auto alignment unit 632, and a manual alignment unit 633.

[0039] When the chin rest height control unit 631 receives the target height position information from the slide lever device 80, it performs drive control to raise the chin rest unit 30 to the position of the chin J of the examinee in an adjusted state where the height positions of the eye E and the eye height line 33a are aligned. First, the examiner moves the optical table 70 up and down by operating the lever, and prescribes the height position of the ophthalmic device A to a position in an adjusted state where the height position of the eye height line 33a is aligned with the eye E. Next, the examiner requests that the forehead F of the examinee be pressed against the forehead rest unit 33b. Then, when the prescription of the adjusted state where the height positions of the eye E and the eye height line 33a are aligned is maintained and the chin J of the examinee is separated from the chin rest unit 30, the examiner performs lever operation on the lever unit 81 of the slide lever device 80. The slide lever device 80 acquires the target height position information by the examiner's input that specifies the height position of the chin J of the examinee by the slide position of the lever unit 81. Next, upon receiving the target height position information from the slide lever device 80, the chin rest height control unit 631 performs control to output a drive command to the chin rest drive unit 32 to raise the chin rest 30 to the target height position.

[0040] The auto-alignment unit 632 performs auto-alignment of the pupil based on the anterior eye image acquired by the anterior eye stereo camera 22. The auto-alignment of the pupil is performed by automatically adjusting the photographed eye so that the pupil marks of the two anterior eye images displayed in the video area of ​​the screen 41 are aligned. The automatic adjustment of the photographed eye is a control that automatically adjusts the XYZ axis alignment by driving the XYZ driving unit 18 so that the two pupil marks are positioned so as to overlap at the center position of the anterior eye image.

[0041] The manual alignment unit 633 executes manual alignment of the pupil when the time elapsed from the start of auto alignment has exceeded a preset time limit, or when the examiner actively selects manual operation. For manual alignment of the pupil, tapping the manual mode button displayed on the auto alignment screen stops the automatic adjustment of the photographed eye and transitions to a "manual adjustment mode" in which the photographed eye is adjusted manually. The "manual adjustment mode" is performed by manually adjusting the photographed eye by tapping the pupil marks of the two anterior eye images displayed on the screen 41. This manual adjustment is performed by driving the XYZ drive unit 18 to adjust the XYZ axis alignment so that the two pupil marks are placed overlapping at the center position of the anterior eye image.

[0042] [Photographing and processing images of the subject's eye (Fig. 6)] The photographing process performed by the control unit 60 to photograph an image of the subject's eye (for example, an anterior eye image, a fundus image, or a tomographic image of the fundus) will be described below with reference to Fig. 6. The photographing process starts when the subject is determined by the ophthalmologic apparatus A with the power switch turned on.

[0043] In step S1, the examiner registers the patient (= subject) by using the name and patient ID to identify the patient. Here, the "patient ID" is an identification number for managing personal information related to the subject's ophthalmic examination, and can include age, sex, and past examination information for follow-up.

[0044] Step S2 is a step in which the chin rest height control section 631 of the alignment control section 63 performs chin rest height control. The chin rest height control will be described in detail later.

[0045] Step S3 is a step in which the examiner selects the type of photography. This selection of photography type is performed by selecting one of the photography modes (anterior eye image photography mode, fundus image photography mode, fundus tomography photography mode, etc.) by touch operation from the photography icon selection screen displayed on the screen 41 of the control panel unit 40. In addition to the selection of the photography type, the eye to be photographed is selected by touch operation of the display button.

[0046] Step S4 is a step in which the auto-alignment unit 632 of the alignment control unit 63 executes auto-alignment (automatic adjustment) for the pupil of the photographed eye. Note that when the auto-alignment time is prolonged or when the examiner actively desires it, the manual alignment unit 633 executes manual alignment (manual adjustment) for the pupil instead of the auto-alignment (automatic adjustment) for the pupil.

[0047] Step S5 is a step in which the main controller 61 performs autofocusing to automatically adjust the focus. In the anterior eye image capturing mode, this autofocusing adjusts the focus to the anterior eye of the subject's eye E, and in the fundus image capturing mode and fundus tomographic image capturing mode, this autofocusing adjusts the focus to the fundus of the subject's eye E.

[0048] Step S6 is a step in which the examiner captures an image of the subject's eye (for example, an anterior eye image, a fundus image, or a tomographic image of the fundus). When the examiner taps the "OK button" on the shooting screen displayed on the screen 41, the current image is captured and the next image is captured. A preview of the captured image is displayed after each image capture.

[0049] In step S7, the examiner checks the preview of the captured image and judges whether the preview check is OK or NG. If it is judged in step S7 that the preview check is OK, the process proceeds to step S8. If it is judged in step S7 that the preview check is NG, the process returns to step S5, where autofocus is performed again, and photographing is attempted in step S6 until it is judged in step S7 that the preview check is OK.

[0050] Step S8 is a step in which the examiner saves the captured image in the storage unit 62. When the examiner taps the "save button" on the shooting screen displayed on the screen 41, the captured image is saved in the storage unit 62, and when the saving is complete, the process proceeds to the end.

[0051] [Chin rest height control processing operation (Fig. 7)] The chin rest height control process operation, which starts when patient registration is completed and is executed in step S2 (chin rest height control) in Fig. 6, will be described below with reference to Fig. 7. Note that steps S201 to S204 in Fig. 7 correspond to the target height position input step, and steps S205 to S217 in Fig. 7 correspond to the chin rest height control step.

[0052] Step S201 is a step in which the examiner urges the examinee to sit in the chair 78, and the examinee sits in the chair 78. When the examiner sits the examinee in the chair 78, the examiner advises the examinee to sit in a comfortable posture that allows the examinee to maintain the same posture.

[0053] Step S202 is a step in which the examiner moves the optical table 70 up and down so that the eye E is aligned with the eye height line 33a. When the eye height line 33a is lower than the eye E, the examiner operates the lift lever 75 of the optical table 70 to face upward, thereby raising the position of the ophthalmic device A, so that the eye height line 33a is aligned with the height of the eye E. When the eye height line 33a is higher than the eye E, the examiner operates the lift lever 75 of the optical table 70 to face downward, thereby lowering the position of the ophthalmic device A, so that the eye height line 33a is aligned with the height of the eye E. Here, the stroke amount of the tabletop is set to, for example, about 200 mm, and the seat height of the chair 78 is adjustable. Therefore, the alignment of the eye height line 33a with the eye E can accommodate subjects from children to adults when the subject is seated on the chair 78 (seated position) for measurement.

[0054] Step S203 is a step in which the examiner requests the subject to place the forehead F against the forehead rest 33b, so that the subject places the forehead F against the forehead rest 33b. When the examiner requests the subject to place the forehead F against the forehead rest 33b, the examiner advises the subject to press the forehead F against the forehead rest 33b to such an extent that the position of the subject's face can be maintained without shifting the state in which the eye height line 33a and the height position of the subject's eye E are aligned.

[0055] Step S204 is a step in which the examiner obtains target chin rest position information from the position of the subject's chin J. The examiner performs a lever operation on the lever portion 81 of the slide lever device 80 when the examiner is prescribed an adjustment state in which the height positions of the subject's eye E and the eye height line 33a are aligned and the subject's chin J is away from the chin rest portion 30. The slide lever device 80 obtains target height position information by the examiner's input that specifies the height position of the subject's chin J by the slide position of the lever portion 81.

[0056] Step S205 is a step in which the chin rest height control unit 631 calculates the movement distance from the current position of the chin rest unit 30 to the target height position based on the target height position information received from the slide lever device 80, and judges whether the movement distance is equal to or greater than the set distance. The set distance is set, for example, to a total distance (=acceleration distance+deceleration distance) that allows the chin rest unit 30 to be accelerated and raised from a stop to double speed, and then decelerated and raised from double speed to single speed. Then, if step S205 judges that the movement distance is equal to or greater than the set distance, the process proceeds to step S206, and if it judges that the movement distance is less than the set distance, the process proceeds to step S213.

[0057] Step S206 is a step in which the chin rest height control unit 631 accelerates and raises the chin rest portion 30 from a stopped state until it reaches twice the normal speed based on a determination that the distance moved in step S205 is equal to or greater than the set distance, thereby causing the chin rest portion 30 to quickly change position.

[0058] Step S207 is a step in which the chin rest height control unit 631 judges whether the movement distance of the chin rest unit 30 is equal to or greater than the first set distance. When it is judged that the movement distance is equal to or greater than the set distance, the first set distance is the distance obtained by subtracting the deceleration distance from the calculated movement distance. In other words, the first set distance is the distance to the position that has the deceleration distance required to decelerate from 2x speed to 1x speed before reaching the target height position. In step S207, while it is judged that the movement distance is less than the first set distance, the process returns to step S206, and when it is judged that the movement distance is equal to or greater than the set distance, the process proceeds to step S208. Here, the movement distance information of the chin rest unit 30 is acquired by the motor actuator constituting the chin rest drive unit 32. The process of repeating the flow from step S205 to step S206 to step S207 corresponds to a chin rest speed control process step.

[0059] Step S208 is a step in which the chin rest height control unit 631, based on a determination that the distance traveled by the chin rest portion 30 is equal to or greater than the first set distance, decelerates the movement of the chin rest portion 30 from twice the normal speed to once the normal speed, so that the chin rest portion 30 slowly changes position.

[0060] Step S209 is a step in which the chin rest height control unit 631 measures the rising speed of the pupil of the subject's eye E. The rising speed of the pupil is measured based on the amount of position change per unit time of the pupil mark of the anterior eye image displayed in the video area of ​​the screen 41.

[0061] Step S210 is a step in which the chin rest height control unit 631 determines whether or not the rising speed of the pupil acquired by measurement is the same as the rising speed of the chin rest unit 30 at that time. That is, step S210 is a step in which it is determined that the chin rest unit 30 has reached the chin J of the subject, utilizing the fact that when the chin rest unit 30 comes into contact with the chin J of the subject and pushes up the chin J of the subject, the rising speed of the pupil and the rising speed of the chin rest unit 30 become the same.

[0062] Step S211 is a step in which the chin rest height control unit 631 judges whether the movement distance of the chin rest unit 30 has reached the target height position. In step S211, while it is judged that the rising speed of the pupil and the rising speed of the chin rest unit 30 are different and the chin rest unit 30 has not reached the target height position, the process returns to step S208, and when it is judged that the chin rest unit 30 has reached the target height position, the upward drive of the chin rest unit 30 is stopped and the process proceeds to the end. Here, the movement distance information of the chin rest unit 30 is acquired by the motor actuator constituting the chin rest drive unit 32.

[0063] Step S212 is a step in which the chin rest height control unit 631 stops the upward drive of the chin rest unit 30 midway and proceeds to END based on the determination that the upward speed of the pupil is the same as the upward speed of the chin rest unit 30. The flow proceeding from step S210 to step S212 corresponds to a safety item processing step in which the chin rest unit 30 is not raised to a height higher than necessary and is kept in an appropriate position.

[0064] Step S213 is a step in which the chin rest height control unit 631 raises the chin rest portion 30 at 1x speed based on a determination that the movement distance of the chin rest portion 30 in step S205 is less than the set distance, so that the chin rest portion 30 slowly changes its position.

[0065] Step S214 is a step in which the chin rest height control unit 631 measures the rising speed of the pupil of the subject's eye E. The rising speed of the pupil is measured based on the amount of position change per unit time of the pupil mark of the anterior eye image displayed in the video area of ​​the screen 41, as in step S209.

[0066] Step S215 is a step in which the chin rest height control section 631 determines whether or not the rising speed of the pupil acquired by measurement is the same as the rising speed of the chin rest section 30 at that time, similarly to step S210.

[0067] Step S216 is a step in which the chin rest height control unit 631 determines whether the movement distance of the chin rest unit 30 has reached the target height position, similarly to step S211. In step S216, while it is determined that the rising speed of the pupil and the rising speed of the chin rest unit 30 are different and the chin rest unit 30 has not reached the target height position, the process returns to step S213, and when it is determined that the chin rest unit 30 has reached the target height position, the process stops the upward drive of the chin rest unit 30 and proceeds to the end. Here, the movement distance information of the chin rest unit 30 is acquired by the motor actuator constituting the chin rest drive unit 32.

[0068] In step S217, the chin rest height control unit 631 stops the upward drive of the chin rest unit 30 midway and proceeds to END based on the determination that the upward speed of the pupil is the same as that of the chin rest unit 30, similar to step S212. Note that the flow proceeding from step S215 to step S217 corresponds to a safety item processing step in which the chin rest unit 30 is not raised to a height higher than necessary and is kept in an appropriate position.

[0069] [Acquisition of target height position information (Fig. 4, Fig. 7)] The action of acquiring target height position information, which is executed by the examiner's operation, is performed by the processing operations in the target height position input step (steps S201 to S204) in Figure 7, and will be described as follows with reference to Figures 4 and 7.

[0070] 7, when a condition for starting acquisition of target height position information used in chin rest height control is satisfied, the process proceeds from step S201 to step S202 to step S203 to step S204. In step S201, the examiner urges the subject to sit on the chair 78, thereby making the subject sit on the chair 78. In step S202, the examiner moves the optical table 70 up and down so that the subject's eye E is aligned with the eye height line 33a. In step S203, the examiner requests the subject to place his / her forehead F against the forehead rest 33b, so that the subject's forehead F is placed against the forehead rest 33b. In step S204, the examiner performs an input operation on the slide lever device 80, thereby acquiring target chin rest position information from the position of the subject's chin J.

[0071] The examiner's input operation on the slide lever device 80 starts with the establishment of condition 1, in which the examination is prescribed to adjust the height of the subject's eye E to match the eye height line 33a, and condition 2, in which the subject's forehead F is pressed against the forehead rest 33b, as shown in Fig. 4. Condition 1 is established by moving the optical table 70 up and down to adjust the table height so that the height of the subject's eye E matches the eye height line 33a. Condition 2 is established by the subject placing his or her forehead F against the forehead rest 33b in response to a request from the examiner.

[0072] When the start condition is satisfied, the subject's face maintains an adjusted state in which the height positions of the subject's eye E and the eye height line 33a are aligned, as shown in FIG. 4, by pressing the subject's forehead F against the forehead support portion 33b. At this time, the positional relationship between the subject's chin J and the chin rest portion 30 is such that the subject's chin J is separated from the chin rest portion 30, as shown in FIG. 4. Therefore, the examiner performs a lever operation to slide the lever portion 81 of the slide lever device 80 from the default position shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 4 in the direction of the arrow S in FIG. 4 and stop it at the height position of the subject's chin J shown by the solid line in FIG. 4. This lever operation is an operation to specify the height position of the subject's chin J by the slide position of the lever portion 81, and target height position information is acquired by an electric signal (voltage value or current value) from the stroke position sensor portion 82 of the slide lever device 80.

[0073] In the current chin rest height adjustment, the examinee places the chin on the chin rest, and while the chin is in contact with the chin rest, the chin rest is driven by operating the up switch or down switch to adjust the height of the examinee's eyes to the height of the eye height line. Therefore, during the chin rest height control, the examinee's face may be pushed up by the chin rest at an unintended timing, or the face may be lowered unexpectedly as the chin rest is lowered. Therefore, the examinee feels a sense of incongruity or discomfort due to the driving of the chin rest during the chin rest height control. In addition, the examiner must keep pressing the up switch or down switch until the height adjustment is completed while monitoring the positional relationship between the examinee's eyes and the eye height line. Therefore, when adjusting the chin rest height, the examiner must spend a long time operating the switch to adjust the height of the chin rest, and cannot do other work during the height adjustment operation.

[0074] Thus, in the current chin rest height adjustment, the height position of the subject's eye is adjusted to the height position of the eye height line at the end of the chin rest height adjustment, so it is necessary to keep the subject's chin on the chin rest from the beginning. In contrast, the inventors have noticed that if the order is reversed and the height position of the subject's eye is adjusted to the height position of the eye height line first, the chin rest and the chin can be kept out of contact until the chin rest comes into contact with the subject's chin at the end.

[0075] The slide lever device 80 based on the above-mentioned focus point acquires target height position information when the position of the subject's face is prescribed to be in an adjusted state where the height positions of the subject's eye E and the eye height line 33a are aligned, and the subject's chin J is away from the chin rest portion 30. Therefore, the chin rest portion 30 is away from the subject's chin J from the start timing of acquiring the target height position information to the timing immediately before the end of the chin rest height control. Therefore, when acquiring the target height position information, the discomfort and annoyance felt by the subject from the chin rest portion 30 is suppressed. Also, the slide lever device 80 acquires target height position information by the examiner's input operation to specify the height position of the subject's chin J. Therefore, when acquiring the target height position information, the examiner can acquire the target height position information by simply performing the input operation to specify the height position of the subject's chin J. Therefore, when acquiring the target height position information, the input operation is completed in a short time, and the examiner can perform other tasks with the spare time.

[0076] The target height position input unit in the first embodiment is a slide lever device 80 having a lever portion 81 that slides corresponding to the stroke amount from the default position to the maximum stroke position, and a stroke position sensor portion 82 that detects the position of the lever portion 81. Therefore, the target height position information is acquired by the examiner's lever operation to align and specify the position of the lever portion 81 of the slide lever device 80 to the height position of the chin J of the examinee.

[0077] The slide lever device 80 is attached to at least one of the pair of vertical support parts 331, 332, and is disposed adjacent to the chin rest part 30 such that the sliding direction of the lever part 81 is parallel to the direction of the upward and downward movement trajectory of the chin rest part 30. Therefore, the examiner operates the lever part 81 to slide along the direction of the upward and downward movement trajectory of the chin rest part 30, in which the amount of sliding matches the amount of movement of the chin rest part 30.

[0078] The stroke position sensor unit 82 is a sensor unit using a slide potentiometer that outputs a position signal according to the sliding movement or stopping when the examiner operates the lever unit 81 to slide and stop it at a predetermined position. Therefore, the slide lever device 80 outputs a position signal according to the sliding movement or stopping of the lever unit 81 as target height position information.

[0079] The slide lever device 80 has a position display unit 83 adjacent to the lever unit 81 that slides in accordance with the stroke amount, which displays information representing each position of the lever unit 81. Therefore, when the examiner looks at the position display unit 83 before operating the lever, he or she can recognize information that serves as a guide for the amount of movement when sliding the lever unit 81. Furthermore, when the examiner looks at the position display unit 83 after operating the lever, he or she can recognize information representing the lever stop position.

[0080] The position display unit 83 marks a scale 83a which indicates the movable range of the chin rest 30 from the default position to the maximum stroke position in units of length as information represented by each position of the lever unit 81. Therefore, when the examiner looks at the scale 83a on the position display unit 83 before operating the lever, the examiner can recognize length information which is a guide to the amount of movement when sliding the lever unit 81. Furthermore, when the examiner looks at the scale 83a on the position display unit 83 after operating the lever, the examiner can recognize length information represented by the stop position of the lever unit 81 relative to the movable range.

[0081] [Chin rest height control function (Fig. 7, Fig. 8)] The chin rest height control action executed by the chin rest height control unit 631 is performed by the processing operations in the chin rest height control step (steps S205 to S217) in FIG. 7, and will be described below with reference to FIG. 7 and FIG. 8.

[0082] 7, when the chin rest height control unit 631 receives target height position information from the slide lever device 80, the process proceeds from step S204 to step S205. In step S205, the chin rest height control unit 631 calculates the movement distance from the current position of the chin rest unit 30 to the target height position based on the target height position information received from the slide lever device 80, and determines whether the movement distance is equal to or greater than a set distance. Then, in the process of FIG. 7, if it is determined in step S205 that the movement distance is equal to or greater than the set distance, the process proceeds to step S206 and thereafter, and chin rest height control of the chin rest unit 30 in high-speed mode is executed.

[0083] 7, when the process proceeds from step S205 to step S206 to step S207, the flow of proceeding from step S206 to step S207 is repeated while it is determined in step S207 that the movement distance is less than the first set distance. Based on the determination in step S205 that the movement distance is equal to or greater than the set distance, the chin rest height control unit 631 accelerates and raises the chin rest portion 30 from a stop to twice the speed in step S206, quickly changing the position of the chin rest portion 30. In step S207, the chin rest height control unit 631 determines whether the movement distance of the chin rest portion 30 has become equal to or greater than the first set distance.

[0084] In the process of FIG. 7, when it is determined in step S207 that the moving distance of the chin rest 30 is equal to or greater than the first set distance, the process proceeds from step S207 to step S208, step S209, step S210, and step S211. In step S208, the chin rest height control unit 631 decelerates and raises the chin rest 30 from 2x speed to 1x speed, slowly changing the position of the chin rest 30. In step S209, the chin rest height control unit 631 measures the rising speed of the pupil of the subject's eye E. In step S210, the chin rest height control unit 631 determines whether the rising speed of the pupil acquired by measurement is the same as the rising speed of the chin rest 30 at that time. In step S211, the chin rest height control unit 631 determines whether the chin rest 30 has reached the target height position.

[0085] In the process of Fig. 7, while it is determined in step S210 that the rising speed of the pupil and the rising speed of the chin rest 30 are different, and it is determined in step S211 that the chin rest 30 has not reached the target height position, the process returns to step S208. Then, in the process of Fig. 7, the flow of proceeding from step S208 to step S209 to step S210 to step S211 is repeated. When it is determined in step S211 that the chin rest 30 has reached the target height position, the chin rest height control unit 631 proceeds to the end. Also, when it is determined in step S210 that the rising speed of the pupil and the rising speed of the chin rest 30 are the same, the chin rest height control unit 631 proceeds to step S212, where the chin rest 30 is stopped, and proceeds to the end.

[0086] On the other hand, in the process of FIG. 7, if it is determined in step S205 that the movement distance is less than the set distance, the process proceeds to step S213 and subsequent steps, and the chin rest height control of the chin rest portion 30 is executed in the low speed mode.

[0087] The process of FIG. 7 proceeds from step S205 to step S213, step S214, step S215, and step S216. In step S213, the chin rest height control unit 631 raises the chin rest 30 at 1x speed, slowly changing the position of the chin rest 30. In step S214, the chin rest height control unit 631 measures the rising speed of the pupil of the subject's eye E. In step S215, the chin rest height control unit 631 determines whether the rising speed of the pupil acquired by measurement is the same as the rising speed of the chin rest 30 at that time. In step S216, the chin rest height control unit 631 determines whether the chin rest 30 has reached the target height position.

[0088] In the process of Fig. 7, while it is determined in step S215 that the rising speed of the pupil is different from the rising speed of the chin rest 30 and it is determined in step S216 that the chin rest 30 has not reached the target height position, the process returns to step S213. Then, in the process of Fig. 7, the flow of proceeding from step S213 to step S214 to step S215 to step S216 is repeated. When it is determined in step S216 that the chin rest 30 has reached the target height position, the chin rest height control unit 631 proceeds to the end. Also, when it is determined in step S215 that the rising speed of the pupil is the same as the rising speed of the chin rest 30, the chin rest height control unit 631 proceeds to step S217, where the chin rest 30 is stopped, and proceeds to the end.

[0089] The chin rest height control step (S205 to S217) includes safety item processing steps (S210 to S212, S215 to S217) in which the chin rest 30 does not rise to a height higher than necessary and maintains an appropriate position. That is, the chin rest 30 during the chin rest height drive control rises to a position away from the chin J of the subject in principle, so the pupil of the subject's eye E does not move and stops. However, when the rising chin rest 30 contacts the subject's chin J and pushes up the subject's face, the pupil of the subject's eye E rises at the same speed as the rising speed of the chin rest 30. Therefore, the chin rest 30 during the chin rest height drive control is immediately stopped when it is determined that the rising speed of the pupil and the rising speed of the chin rest 30 are the same. Therefore, the subject's chin J is prevented from being pushed up more than necessary by the chin rest 30 rising toward the target height position.

[0090] The chin rest height control step (S205 to S217) includes a chin rest speed control process step (steps S205 to S207) in high speed mode when the movement distance from the chin rest portion 30 to the target height position is equal to or greater than the set distance. The chin rest speed in high speed mode is set to a faster ascent speed up to a first set distance, which is lower than the target height position, than the ascent speed in low speed mode when the movement distance is less than the set distance.

[0091] That is, as shown by the solid line characteristic in FIG. 8, the chin rest speed characteristic in the high-speed mode reaches double speed in the section from time t0 to time t2, and maintains double speed in the section from time t2 to time t3 when the first set distance is reached. The chin rest speed characteristic in the high-speed mode decelerates from double speed to single speed in the section from time t3 to time t4, and the chin rest part 30 reaches the target height position at the timing of time t4 when the speed becomes single speed. In contrast, when the moving distance from the chin rest part 30 to the target height position is equal to or greater than the set distance, the chin rest speed control is performed in the low-speed mode instead of the high-speed mode. As shown by the dashed line characteristic in FIG. 8, the chin rest speed characteristic in the low-speed mode reaches single speed in the section from time t0 to time t1, maintains single speed in the section from time t1 to time t5, and the chin rest part 30 reaches the target height position at the timing of time t5. Therefore, the time to reach the target height position is time t4 in the high-speed mode and time t5 in the low-speed mode, and the high-speed mode is selected to reduce the time compared to the low-speed mode. This time reduction amount Δt is the time obtained by subtracting time t4 from time t5, and when the high-speed mode is selected, the chin rest height control is completed in a short time. In addition, as shown in the solid line characteristic of FIG. 8, the chin rest speed characteristic of the high-speed mode is that the rising speed of the chin rest 30 at time t4 when the chin rest 30 reaches the target height position is 1x speed, and is decelerated to the same rising speed as in the low-speed mode. Therefore, when the moving distance of the chin rest 30 is equal to or greater than the set distance, the discomfort of the chin rest 30 contacting the chin J of the subject is reduced. Note that the "1x speed" is an extremely low speed rising speed that suppresses discomfort to the subject, and is, for example, about the rising speed adopted in the current chin rest height adjustment.

[0092] [Effects of Ophthalmic Device A and Chin Rest Height Control Method] (1) The ophthalmic device A includes a main body 20 incorporating an optical system 50 for measuring characteristics of and photographing the subject's eye E, a face support unit 33 provided in the main body 20 and having an eye height line 33a, a chin rest unit 30 provided so as to be movable in the up and down directions relative to the face support unit 33, and a control unit 60 for controlling each unit of the device. The control unit 60 includes a chin rest height control unit 631 that controls the drive of the chin rest unit 30 when it receives predetermined information from the input unit. The input unit is a target height position input unit (slide lever device 80) that acquires target height position information of the chin rest unit 30 as the predetermined information received by the chin rest height control unit 631. The target height position input unit acquires target height position information by an input operation by the examiner that specifies the height position of the subject's chin J when the position of the subject's face is prescribed to be adjusted to a height position of the subject's eye E and the eye height line 33a and the subject's chin J is away from the chin rest unit 30. The present invention can provide an ophthalmologic apparatus A that allows the examiner to complete input operations for acquiring target height position information in a short time while suppressing discomfort or an unpleasant feeling caused to the examinee during chin rest height control.

[0093] (2) The target height position input unit is a slide lever device 80 having a lever portion 81 that slides corresponding to the stroke amount from the default position of the chin rest portion 30 to the maximum stroke position, which is the upward limit of the chin rest portion 30, and a stroke position sensor portion 82 that detects the position of the lever portion 81. In this invention, when operating the lever, the examiner can obtain target height position information for the chin rest portion 30 by simply operating the lever portion 81 to match the height position of the chin J of the examinee.

[0094] (3) The face support portion 33 has a pair of vertical support portions 331, 332 and a horizontal support portion 333 connecting the upper ends of the pair of vertical support portions 331, 332. The slide lever device 80 is attached to at least one of the pair of vertical support portions 331, 332 and is disposed adjacent to the chin rest portion 30 such that the sliding direction of the lever portion 81 is parallel to the direction of the ascending and descending movement trajectory of the chin rest portion 30. In this invention, when operating the lever, the examiner can perform the lever operation by a sliding amount that matches the amount of movement of the chin rest portion 30 along the direction of the upward and downward movement locus of the chin rest portion 30.

[0095] (4) The stroke position sensor unit 82 of the slide lever device 80 is a sensor unit using a slide potentiometer that outputs a position signal corresponding to the slide movement or stop when the examiner operates the lever unit 81 to slide and stop it at a predetermined position. In this invention, when an examiner operates the lever by sliding or stopping the lever portion 81 of the slide lever device 80, a position signal corresponding to the lever operation can be output.

[0096] (5) The slide lever device 80 has a position indicator 83 that indicates information represented by each position of the lever portion 81, adjacent to the lever portion 81 that slides in accordance with the stroke amount. In this invention, when starting the lever operation, the examiner can see information indicating the amount of movement by sliding the lever portion 81 by looking at the position display portion 83. Furthermore, in this invention, when ending the lever operation, the examiner can see information indicating the lever stop position by looking at the position display portion 83.

[0097] (6) The position display unit 83 has graduations 83a which indicate the movable range of the chin rest 30 from the default position to the maximum stroke position in units of length as information representing each position of the lever unit 81. In this invention, when starting the lever operation, the examiner looks at the graduations 83a of the position display unit 83 and can recognize length information that serves as a guide for the amount of movement when sliding the lever unit 81. Furthermore, in this invention, when finishing the lever operation, the examiner looks at the graduations 83a of the position display unit 83 after the lever operation and can recognize length information represented by the stopping position of the lever unit 81 relative to the movable range.

[0098] (7) The ophthalmic apparatus A includes a main body 20 incorporating an optical system 50 for measuring characteristics of and photographing an eye E, a face support unit 33 provided on the main body 20 and having an eye height line 33a, a chin rest unit 30 provided so as to be movable in the up and down directions relative to the face support unit 33, and a control unit 60 for controlling each unit of the apparatus. The control unit 60 includes a chin rest height control unit 631 that controls the drive of the chin rest unit 30 upon receiving target height position information from a target height position input unit (slide lever device 80). The chin rest height control method includes a target height position input step (steps S201 to S204) and a chin rest height control step (steps S205 to S217). In the target height position input step, when the position of the subject's face is prescribed to be in an adjusted state where the height positions of the subject's eye E and the eye height line 33a are aligned and the subject's chin J is away from the chin rest portion 30, the examiner inputs target height position information by specifying the height position of the subject's chin J to the target height position input portion. In the chin rest height control step, when the chin rest height control portion 631 receives the target height position information from the target height position input portion, it performs drive control to raise the chin rest portion 30 to the target height position. The present invention can provide a chin rest height control method that enables the examiner to complete input operations to obtain target height position information in a short time while minimizing the discomfort or odd sensation caused to the subject when controlling the chin rest height.

[0099] (8) The ophthalmic apparatus A is placed on the optical table 70 whose height can be adjusted in the vertical direction. In the target height position input steps (steps S201 to S204), when the subject is in an examination posture facing the ophthalmic apparatus A, the examiner moves the optical table 70 in the vertical direction so that the position of the eye height line 33a provided on the face support part 33 matches the height position of the subject's eye E, and prescribes an adjustment state. In this invention, the examiner can adjust the height of the eye E to the eye height line 33a by moving the optical table 70 up and down.

[0100] (9) The face support unit 33 has a forehead support unit 33b against which the subject's forehead F rests. In the target height position input steps (steps S201 to S204), when the face support unit 33 is in the adjusted position and the subject is placing the forehead F against the forehead support unit 33b, the examiner performs an input operation to specify the height position of the subject's chin J to the target height position input unit (slide lever device 80). In this invention, when inputting the target height position, the examiner can input the target height position in a stable state with the examinee's face fixed. Incidentally, the examinee places his / her forehead F on the forehead support 33b, so that the face is stably fixed in an adjusted state in which the height positions of the examinee's eye E and the eye height line 33a are aligned.

[0101] (10) The chin rest height control steps (S205 to S217) include safety item processing steps (S210→S212, S215→S217) for preventing the chin rest portion 30 from rising to a height higher than necessary and maintaining an appropriate position. In this invention, when controlling the chin rest height, the chin rest portion 30 rising toward the target height position can prevent the chin J of the subject from being pushed up more than necessary.

[0102] (11) The chin rest height control step (S205 to S217) includes a chin rest speed control process step (steps S205 to S207) in high speed mode when the movement distance from the chin rest portion 30 to the target height position is equal to or greater than the set distance. The chin rest speed in high speed mode is set to a faster ascent speed up to a first set distance below the target height position than the ascent speed in low speed mode when the movement distance is less than the set distance. In this invention, during chin rest height control in which the movement distance of the chin rest portion 30 is equal to or greater than a set distance, the chin rest portion 30 can be raised in a short time while reducing the discomfort felt when the chin rest portion 30 comes into contact with the subject's chin J. EXAMPLES

[0103] The second embodiment is an example in which the target height position input unit is a screen display input unit 84 displayed on the screen 41 of the control panel unit 40. Note that the overall configuration of the device (FIGS. 1 to 3), the control system configuration (FIG. 5), the photographing process operation of the image of the subject's eye (FIG. 6), and the chin rest height control process operation (FIG. 7) of the second embodiment are similar to those of the first embodiment, and therefore illustrations and explanations thereof will be omitted.

[0104] [Detailed configuration of the screen display input section (Fig. 9)] The detailed configuration of the screen display input unit 84 will be described below with reference to FIG.

[0105] The second embodiment includes a camera that captures an image including the face support unit 33, the chin rest unit 30, and the subject's face, and a control panel unit 40 (operation control unit) having a screen 41 that displays the image from the camera. Here, the camera may also be the anterior eye stereo camera 22 of the first embodiment, or may be a camera newly provided at a position that captures the face support unit 33, the chin rest unit 30, and the subject's face, in addition to the anterior eye stereo camera 22. When the anterior eye stereo camera 22 is used for both purposes, it is a camera with a zoom lens that can capture images from wide angle to narrow angle.

[0106] 9, the screen display input unit 84 is provided in the video area 41a that displays a camera image showing the face of the subject fixed to the face support part 33 displayed on the screen 41. The screen display input unit 84 is displayed at a position in the video area 41a that corresponds to the stroke amount from the default position of the chin rest part 30 displayed on the screen 41 to the maximum stroke position to which the chin rest part 30 rises. The screen display input unit 84 is configured by a plurality of display elements arranged vertically and turned on by a touch operation.

[0107] The screen 41 of the control panel unit 40 displays an input start button 41b, a set button 41c, an up switch 41d, a down switch 41e, and a cancel button 41f in addition to the video area 41a. These buttons 41b, 41c, 41f, the up switch 41d, and the down switch 41e are operated by touch operation. The up switch 41d and the down switch 41e are set so that the current height of the chin rest 30 can be adjusted by manual operation as necessary. The cancel button 41f is a switch for canceling an operation or canceling control when the input operation of the target height position or the drive control for raising the chin rest 30 does not go as expected.

[0108] The screen display input unit 84 acquires target height position information of the chin rest 30 by a touch operation on the screen 41 by the examiner to specify the height position of the subject's chin J. To acquire the target height position information, the examiner touches the input start button 41b, and then touches and lights up a display element corresponding to the height position of the subject's chin J from among the multiple display elements of the screen display input unit 84. After confirming that the height position of the display element that is lit up by this touch operation corresponds to the height position of the subject's chin J, the set button 41c is touched to acquire the target height position information. The chin rest height control action executed by the chin rest height control unit 631 that has received the target height position information is the same as in the first embodiment.

[0109] The ophthalmic apparatus A and the chin rest height control method of the second embodiment have the following advantages in addition to the advantages (1) and (7) to (11) of the first embodiment. (12) The apparatus includes a camera (anterior eye stereo camera 22) for acquiring an image including the face support unit 33, the chin rest unit 30, and the face of the subject, and an operation control unit (control panel unit 40) having a screen 41 for displaying the image from the camera. The target height position input unit corresponds to the stroke amount from the default position of the chin rest unit 30 to the maximum stroke position to which the chin rest unit 30 rises, and is a screen display input unit 84 displayed on the screen 41 of the operation control unit. The screen display input unit 84 acquires target height position information of the chin rest unit 30 by a touch operation on the screen 41 by the examiner to specify the height position of the chin J of the subject. In this invention, when performing a touch operation on the screen display input unit 84, the examiner can obtain target height position information for the chin rest 30 by a simple touch operation of the examiner specifying the touch position in accordance with the height position of the examinee's chin J. Furthermore, in the case where the target height position input unit is the screen display input unit 84 that can be performed by a touch operation on the screen 41, this invention can accommodate remote examination by remote operation from a tablet or the like.

[0110] The ophthalmic apparatus A and the chin rest height control method of the embodiment 1 and embodiment 2 have been described above with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configurations of the ophthalmic apparatus and the chin rest height control method of the present invention are not limited to the embodiment 1 and embodiment 2, and design changes and additions are permitted as long as they do not deviate from the gist of the invention according to each claim of the claims.

[0111] In the first embodiment, a slide lever device 80 is used as the target height position input unit, and in the second embodiment, a screen display input unit 84 is used as the target height position input unit. However, the target height position input unit is not limited to the slide lever device 80 or the screen display input unit 84. For example, a slide touch device that specifies a position by touching and moving a finger, or an input unit using a display form other than the screen display input unit 84 shown in FIG. 9 (for example, an image of the subject's face viewed from the side as shown in FIG. 4) may be used. The target height position input unit may be any unit that acquires target height position information by an input operation by an examiner that specifies the height position of the subject's chin when the position of the subject's face is prescribed to be adjusted to a height position of the subject's eye and the eye height line, and the subject's chin is separated from the chin rest.

[0112] In the first embodiment, an example was shown in which the slide lever device 80 has a stroke position sensor unit 82 using a slide potentiometer. However, the slide lever device is not limited to the example having a slide potentiometer. For example, the slide lever device may be a slide touch sensor, a LIDAR finger position input device, a line tact switch, or the like.

[0113] In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the slide lever device 80 is provided with a lever portion 81 protruding in the X-axis direction. However, the slide lever device 80 is not limited to the configuration of the first embodiment. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, the slide lever device 80 may be provided with a lever portion 81 protruding in the Z-axis direction (depth direction) from an end face facing the ophthalmic device A. In this way, when the lever portion 81 is provided protruding in the Z-axis direction from an end face facing the ophthalmic device A, the lever portion 81 when the height position of the chin J of the examinee is specified and the chin rest portion 30 in the default position are arranged in a vertical positional relationship parallel to each other in a side view. For this reason, the slide lever device 80 shown in FIG. 10 allows the examiner to easily operate the lever to specify the height position, and also allows the examiner to easily recognize the mutual positional relationship in which the position specified by the lever portion 81 becomes the target stop position of the chin rest portion 30 after being driven upward.

[0114] In the first and second embodiments, the safety item processing steps (S210→S212, S215→S217) for preventing the chin rest portion 30 from rising to a height higher than necessary and maintaining an appropriate position have been described, in which the chin rest portion 30 is stopped when the rising speed of the pupil becomes equal to that of the chin rest portion 30. However, the safety item processing steps are not limited to these, and may be any of the examples described in (a) to (e) below. (a) A chin rest camera is provided to monitor and judge the condition of the chin rest and the jaw based on images. (b) A main body camera and an external camera are installed, and monitoring and judgment are performed by whole-body camera alignment. (c) The chin rest is linked to the optical table to prevent the chin rest from rising more than necessary. (d) By linking with the current descent switch, it is possible to prevent the chin rest from rising more than necessary. (e) A contact sensor is provided between the chin rest and the chin, and the ascent of the chin rest is stopped upon detection of the contact.

[0115] In the first and second embodiments, an application example to an ophthalmic apparatus A that observes, photographs, and records an anterior segment image of a subject's eye, a fundus image of the subject's eye, and a tomographic image of the fundus of the subject's eye, and provides them as electronic images for diagnosis, has been shown. However, the application of the ophthalmic apparatus is not limited to the ophthalmic apparatus A. In other words, the alignment control technology of the present invention can be applied to various ophthalmic apparatuses, regardless of whether they are subjective or objective ophthalmic apparatuses, as long as the ophthalmic apparatus requires alignment control for controlling the adjustment of the relative positional relationship between the subject's eye and the apparatus main body. [Explanation of symbols]

[0116] A Ophthalmology equipment 20 Main body 30 Chin rest 32 Chin rest drive unit 33 Face support 33a Eye Height Line 33b Forehead support 40 Control panel section (operation control section) 41 screens 50 Optical system 60 Control section 631 Chin rest height control unit 80 Slide lever device (target height position input unit) 81 Lever section 82 Stroke position sensor part 83 Position display section 83a Scale 84 Screen display input section (target height position input section) E. Examined eye J. Jaw F amount

Claims

1. An ophthalmologic apparatus comprising: a main body portion incorporating an optical system for measuring characteristics of an eye to be examined and photographing the eye; a face support portion provided on the main body portion and having an eye height line; a chin rest portion provided so as to be movable in a vertical direction relative to the face support portion; and a control portion for controlling each portion of the apparatus, the control unit has a chin rest height control unit that performs drive control of the chin rest unit when receiving predetermined information from the input unit, the input unit is a target height position input unit that acquires target height position information of the chin rest as predetermined information received by the chin rest height control unit, The target height position input unit acquires the target height position information by an input operation by an examiner that specifies the height position of the chin of the examinee when the position of the face of the examinee is prescribed to be in an adjusted state in which the height positions of the eyes to be examined and the eye height line are aligned and the chin of the examinee is separated from the chin rest portion. An ophthalmic device comprising:

2. 2. The ophthalmic apparatus according to claim 1, The target height position input unit is a slide lever device having a lever unit that slides in response to a stroke amount from a default position of the chin rest to a maximum stroke position that is a lift limit of the chin rest, and a stroke position sensor unit that detects the position of the lever unit. An ophthalmic apparatus comprising:

3. 3. The ophthalmic apparatus according to claim 2, The face support portion has a pair of vertical support portions and a horizontal support portion connecting upper ends of the pair of vertical support portions, The slide lever device is attached to at least one of the pair of vertical support parts, and is disposed adjacent to the chin rest part such that the sliding direction of the lever part is parallel to the direction of the ascending and descending movement trajectory of the chin rest part. An ophthalmic apparatus comprising:

4. 4. The ophthalmic apparatus according to claim 3, The stroke position sensor unit of the slide lever device is a sensor unit using a slide potentiometer that outputs a position signal corresponding to the slide movement or stop when the examiner slides the lever unit and stops it at a predetermined position. An ophthalmic apparatus comprising:

5. The ophthalmic apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 4, The slide lever device has a position display unit that displays information representing each position of the lever unit at a position adjacent to the lever unit that slides in accordance with the stroke amount. An ophthalmic apparatus comprising:

6. 6. The ophthalmic apparatus according to claim 5, The position display unit has a scale that displays a movable range of the chin rest unit from a default position to a maximum stroke position in units of length as information representing each position of the lever unit. An ophthalmic apparatus comprising:

7. 2. The ophthalmic apparatus according to claim 1, a camera for acquiring an image including the face support unit, the chin rest unit, and the face of the subject, and an operation control unit having a screen for displaying the image from the camera; the target height position input unit corresponds to a stroke amount from a default position of the chin rest to a maximum stroke position to which the chin rest is raised, and is a screen display input unit displayed on a screen of the operation control unit, The screen display input unit acquires target height position information of the chin rest portion by a touch operation on the screen by the examiner to specify a height position of the chin of the subject. An ophthalmic apparatus comprising:

8. The ophthalmologic apparatus includes a main body incorporating an optical system for measuring characteristics of an eye to be examined and photographing the eye, a face support provided on the main body and having an eye height line, a chin rest provided so as to be movable in a vertical direction relative to the face support, and a control unit for controlling each unit of the apparatus, The control unit receives target height position information from a target height position input unit, and then controls a chin rest height control unit to drive the chin rest unit. a target height position input step of acquiring target height position information by an examiner's input operation to specify the height position of the chin of the examinee to the target height position input unit when the position of the face of the examinee is prescribed to be in an adjusted state in which the height positions of the eye to be examined and the eye height line are aligned and the chin of the examinee is separated from the chin rest portion; a chin rest height control step of performing drive control to raise the chin rest to the target height position when the chin rest height control unit receives the target height position information from the target height position input unit. A chin rest height control method comprising:

9. 9. The chin rest height control method according to claim 8, the ophthalmologic apparatus is placed on an optical table whose height can be adjusted in a vertical direction; In the target height position input step, when the subject is in an examination posture facing the ophthalmologic apparatus, an examiner moves the optical table in a vertical direction so that a position of an eye height line provided on the face support unit matches a height position of the subject's eye, and prescribes the adjustment state. A chin rest height control method comprising:

10. 10. The chin rest height control method according to claim 9, The face support portion has a forehead support portion that supports the forehead of the subject, The target height position input step includes an input operation in which the examiner performs an input operation for specifying a chin height position of the examinee to the target height position input unit when the examinee is in the adjusted state and has his / her forehead placed on the forehead rest. A chin rest height control method comprising:

11. The chin rest height control method according to claim 10, The chin rest height control step includes a safety item processing step for preventing the chin rest from rising to a height higher than necessary and maintaining an appropriate position. A chin rest height control method comprising the steps of:

12. The chin rest height control method according to any one of claims 8 to 11, the chin rest height control step includes a chin rest speed control processing step for a high speed mode when a moving distance from the chin rest portion to the target height position is equal to or greater than a set distance, The chin rest speed in the high-speed mode is set so that the speed of ascent to a first set distance below the target height position is faster than the speed of ascent in the low-speed mode when the movement distance is less than the set distance. A chin rest height control method comprising the steps of:

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