Slit Lamp Background Illuminator for Eye Exam Glaring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ophthalmoscope devices, such as slit lamps, face limitations in eye examination due to intense visible light causing eye glaring, which prevents patients from keeping their eyes open constantly during examinations and can make treatments painful.
Innovation Solution
The integration or addition of background illuminators that provide infrared (IR) light beams, visible light beams, or combinations thereof, to the slit lamp illumination module, allowing for improved background illumination and image quality without the need for intense visible light.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If intense visible light is used to illuminate the target tissue, then the image brightness is improved, but eye glaring occurs which prevents the patient from keeping eyes open constantly and makes treatment painful
Solution Approach 1:
The illumination system is segmented into two distinct components: a main illuminator that provides intense visible light for bright imaging, and a background illuminator that provides diffuse background illumination. This segmentation allows each component to serve its specific function without causing the harmful effects of the other, resolving the contradiction between image brightness and eye glaring.
Solution Approach 2:
The background illuminator acts as an intermediary element that provides a diffuse illumination field between the main illuminator and the patient's eye. This intermediary lighting source reduces the contrast between the bright slit lamp illumination and the surrounding darkness, thereby reducing eye glaring while maintaining image brightness.
2Measurement precision
If background illuminators are added to the slit lamp, then image quality and anatomical detail are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The background illuminator is designed with multi-functionality: it can be integrated into existing slit lamp systems, works with both visible and infrared imaging modes, and can be optionally added or removed. This universal design minimizes the increase in device complexity while maximizing the improvement in image quality and diagnostic capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The background illuminator can be implemented as an add-on module or accessory that can be easily attached to or detached from the main slit lamp system. This modular approach allows the system to gain enhanced imaging capabilities without permanently increasing the complexity of the core device, and the background illuminator itself can be a simpler, more affordable component.
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
The use of background illuminators enhances image quality by increasing contrast and anatomical detail, facilitating earlier detection of conditions like diabetic retinopathy and choroidal neovascularization, while also reducing the need for pupil dilation and minimizing discomfort for patients.
Implementation Method 1
The background illuminator(s) provide background illumination beam(s). The background illumination beam(s) are at least one of an infrared (IR) light beam, a visible light beam, and a combination of an IR light beam and a visible light beam.
Implementation Method 2
The background illuminator comprises an array of light emitting diodes (LEDs)
Implementation Method 3
The associated light-directing element reflects at least one of the IR light beam, the visible light beam, and the combination of the IR light beam and the visible light beam on the object.
Data Source
AI summary
A background illuminator for a slit lamp and method of providing background illumination for an eye. The background illuminator provides a background light beam comprising at least one of an infrared (IR) light beam, a visible light beam, and a combination of the IR light beam and the visible light beam. The background illuminator is configured to emit the background light beam on a human eye placed at a focal plane of interest of the slit lamp.