Contact Glass Centering Using Reflected Eye Pattern Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for centering a contact glass on a patient's eye during refractive surgical treatments suffer from high uncertainty and require manual, non-logged fine positioning, leading to inconsistent and error-prone results.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that utilize a fixation light and image processing to assist in precisely centering the contact glass, involving a light pattern reflection on the eye's surface, overlaid virtual markings, and automated or semi-automated positioning to minimize distance between markings, allowing for reliable and reproducible centering.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual fine positioning is used by the physician, then flexibility in positioning is maintained, but positioning precision and reliability deteriorate due to high uncertainty and operator dependency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical positioning with an automated optical measurement and control system. The system uses a light source to project a light pattern onto the eye, captures images of the reflected pattern, and automatically calculates contact glass position based on image analysis, eliminating reliance on physician manual positioning skills while maintaining positioning flexibility through software control.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates an optical copy (light pattern reflection) of the contact glass position on the eye surface and captures this copy via imaging. By analyzing the reflected light pattern image, the system determines the actual contact glass position and provides feedback for precise alignment, enabling accurate positioning without direct visual estimation by the physician.
2Measurement precision
If multiple positioning attempts are made, then positioning accuracy may improve, but treatment time increases and productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements real-time feedback by continuously capturing images of the light pattern reflection, calculating the contact glass position relative to the eye, and displaying alignment status to the physician. This immediate feedback allows single-attempt or minimal-attempt positioning with high accuracy, eliminating the need for multiple trial positioning attempts and significantly reducing treatment time.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary positioning assistance by projecting the light pattern and providing visual alignment guidance before the actual treatment begins. The physician can make minor adjustments based on the displayed alignment information, ensuring accurate positioning is achieved before suction is applied, thereby avoiding the need for repositioning attempts later.
3Measurement precision
If quantitative assessment and logging of centering is implemented, then measurement precision and reliability improve, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-measurement by automatically capturing images of the light pattern reflection, calculating the contact glass position and centering accuracy, and logging the results without requiring external manual measurement tools or complex additional hardware. The existing imaging and processing components serve dual purposes: treatment guidance and quantitative assessment/logging.
4Reliability
If automated positioning assistance is provided, then positioning reliability improves, but ease of operation may deteriorate due to increased system complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces a simple visual intermediary (light pattern projection and image display) that mediates between the complex automated measurement system and the physician. The physician interacts with the system through simple visual cues displayed on the screen, maintaining ease of operation while the complex image processing and position calculation occur automatically in the background.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables reliable, reproducible, and automated centering of the contact glass, reducing user skill requirements and error risk, while allowing for logging and verification of the centering process.
Implementation Method 1
a capture of an image representation of a light pattern provided by a light source with a fixed spatial relationship relative to the contact glass, with the imaging of the light pattern being implemented via a reflection on the surface of the eye
Data Source
AI summary
A method for centering a contact glass relative to a patient's eye includes a) providing a fixation light through a contact glass to align the patient's eye by fixating on the fixation light; b) detecting an image of light pattern that is imaged on the eye's surface; c) presenting the image over the eye with the contact glass with overlaying of virtual markings, wherein a first marking identifies the central axis of the contact glass and a second marking identifies a reference marking, which is derived from the image of the light pattern as lying on the central axis of the contact glass; d) laterally positioning the contact glass such that a distance between the markings is minimized; and e) establishing the position of the eye at which the second marking is located when the markings adopt the minimized distance and registering the position of the vertex.