US-12622584-B2 - Slit lamp microscope

US12622584B2US 12622584 B2US12622584 B2US 12622584B2US-12622584-B2

Abstract

A slit lamp microscope according to an embodiment example includes a scanner, a first assessing processor, and a controller. The scanner is configured to perform application of a scan to an anterior segment of a subject's eye with slit light to collect an image group. The first assessing processor is configured to execute an assessment of a quality of the image group collected by the scanner. The controller is configured to selectively execute at least two control modes according to a result of the assessment of the quality obtained by the first assessing processor.

Inventors

Hitoshi Shimizu
Kazuhiro Omori
Hisashi Tsukada

Assignees

TOPCON CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20210513
Priority Date: 20200617

Claims (18)

1 . A slit lamp microscope comprising: a scanner configured to perform application of a scan to an anterior segment of a subject's eye with slit light to collect an image group; a first assessing processor configured to execute an assessment of a quality of the image group collected by the scanner; and a controller configured to selectively execute at least two control modes according to a result of the assessment of the quality obtained by the first assessing processor, wherein the first assessing processor is configured to execute the assessment of the quality of the image group collected by the scanner using an inference model constructed by machine learning that uses training data including a plurality of anterior segment images, a label is attached to each of the plurality of anterior segment images included in the training data, the label showing whether interpretation of a corresponding image is possible or impossible, and the inference model is constructed by supervised learning that uses the training data and configured to receive an input of an image obtained by scanning an anterior segment with slit light and output image interpretation possibility.
2 . The slit lamp microscope according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to execute a control of the scanner to apply another scan to the anterior segment if the first assessing processor assesses that the quality of the image group is not satisfactory.
3 . The slit lamp microscope according to claim 2 , further comprising an image set forming processor configured to execute a formation of an image set by selecting a series of images corresponding to a scan area from at least two image groups that include the image group and another image group collected by the another scan.
4 . The slit lamp microscope according to claim 3 , wherein the image set forming processor includes a selecting processor configured to execute selection of an image that satisfies a predetermined condition from the at least two image groups.
5 . The slit lamp microscope according to claim 4 , wherein the selecting processor is configured to execute selection, from the at least two image groups, of an image that includes a reflected image of the slit light projected onto the anterior segment.
6 . The slit lamp microscope according to claim 4 , wherein the selecting processor is configured to execute selection of an image from the at least two image groups by comparing adjacent images.
7 . The slit lamp microscope according to claim 4 , wherein a plurality of positions is determined for the scan area, and the selecting processor is configured to execute image selection to assign at least one image to each of the plurality of positions.
8 . The slit lamp microscope according to claim 4 , wherein the controller is configured to execute a control of the scanner and the selecting processor to alternately execute application of a scan to the anterior segment and selection of an image from an image group collected by a corresponding scan.
9 . The slit lamp microscope according to claim 8 , wherein the selecting processor is configured to execute a formation of a tentative image set by selecting an image from at least one image group collected by at least one scan already performed.
10 . The slit lamp microscope according to claim 9 , wherein the selecting processor is configured to execute an update of the tentative image set by selecting an image from another image group collected by another scan when the another scan is applied after the at least one scan.
11 . The slit lamp microscope according to claim 9 , wherein the controller is configured to execute a control of the scanner and the selecting processor to terminate the application of the scan and the selection of the image when a number of images included in the tentative image set reaches a predetermined number.
12 . The slit lamp microscope according to claim 9 , wherein the controller is configured to execute a control of the scanner and the selecting processor to terminate the application of the scan and the selection of the image when a number of times of alternate execution of the application of the scan and the selection of the image reaches a predetermined number.
13 . The slit lamp microscope according to claim 11 , wherein the image set forming processor is configured to execute a formation of the image set based on the tentative image set acquired until termination of alternate execution of the application of the scan and the selection of the image.
14 . The slit lamp microscope according to claim 3 , further comprising a photography unit configured to perform photography of the anterior segment from a fixed position, wherein the controller is configured to execute a control of the scanner to commence a second scan when the photography unit acquires an image substantially a same as a reference image acquired by the photography unit in response to commencement of a first scan.
15 . The slit lamp microscope according to claim 3 , further comprising a second assessing processor configured to execute an assessment of a quality of the image set formed by the image set forming processor.
16 . The slit lamp microscope according to claim 15 , further comprising a moving image acquisition unit configured to perform acquisition of a moving image of the anterior segment from a fixed position in parallel with application of a scan to the anterior segment, wherein the second assessing processor is configured to execute the assessment of the quality based on the moving image acquired by the moving image acquisition unit.
17 . The slit lamp microscope according to claim 1 , wherein the first assessing processor includes a three dimensional image constructing processor configured to execute construction of a three dimensional image from the image group collected by the scanner, and a comparing processor configured to execute a comparison between at least one predetermined reference three dimensional image and the three dimensional image, wherein the first assessing processor is configured to execute the assessment of the quality of the image group based on a result of the comparison obtained by the comparing processor.
18 . The slit lamp microscope according to claim 1 , wherein the first assessing processor includes an assessment data generating processor configured to execute generation of image quality assessment data from an image included in the image group collected by the scanner, wherein the first assessing processor is configured to execute the assessment of the quality of the image group based on the image quality assessment data.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a national stage (under 35 U.S.C. 371) of International Patent Application No. PCT/JP2021/018134, filed May 13, 2021, claiming priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-104223, filed Jun. 17, 2020, both of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety. FIELD The present disclosure relates to a slit lamp microscope. BACKGROUND Diagnostic imaging serves an important role in the field of ophthalmology. Diagnostic imaging uses various kinds of ophthalmic imaging apparatuses. Types of examples of ophthalmic imaging apparatuses include a slit lamp microscope, a fundus camera, a scanning laser ophthalmoscope (SLO), an optical coherence tomography (OCT) apparatus, and so forth. A slit lamp microscope is the most widely and frequently utilized apparatuses among such various kinds of ophthalmic apparatuses. A slit lamp microscope is used for illuminating a subject's eye with slit light and observing and/or photographing the illuminated cross section from an oblique or side position with a microscope (see, for example, following Patent Documents 1 and 2). One of the main uses of a slit lamp microscope is observation of anterior eye segments. When observing an anterior eye segment, a doctor observes an entire anterior eye segment while moving the focal position and the area illuminated by slit light, thereby determining the presence or absence of abnormality. Further, a slit lamp microscope may also be used for prescription of vision correction devices such as for checking of a fitting state of a contact lens. In addition, a slit lamp microscope may also be used by a person, such as an optometrist, allied health professional, or a clerk in an optician's store, who is not a medical doctor in order to conduct screening for eye diseases or the like. Recent advances in information and communication technology have been enhancing the progress of research and development related to telemedicine. Telemedicine is the act of using communication networks such as the Internet to provide medical care (diagnosis, treatment) to patients in remote places. Techniques for operating a slit lamp microscope from a remote location are disclosed in the following Patent Documents 3 and 4. [PATENT DOCUMENT 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2016-159073[PATENT DOCUMENT 2] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2016-179004[PATENT DOCUMENT 3] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-116732[PATENT DOCUMENT 4] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-284273 BRIEF SUMMARY In general, acquisition of an appropriate image using a slit lamp microscope requires fine and complicated operations such as illumination angle adjustment and photographing angle adjustment. The techniques disclosed in Patent Documents 3 and 4 require an examiner, who is at a remote place, to conduct operations that are difficult even in the case where the examiner is observing the eyes of a subject face to face. This causes problems such as prolongation of examination time length and impossibility of acquisition of good images. While slit lamp microscopes are useful and effective for screening and other examinations as described above, a current problem is that shortage of persons who are skilled in operating slit lamp microscopes makes it impossible for high quality slit lamp microscope examinations to be provided to many people. Furthermore, in telemedicine and screening, it is often the case that the doctor who conducts image interpretation (image diagnosis) is not present at the location where photography is performed. If this is the case, there is a possibility (risk) that the doctor may be provided with an image that is not suitable for image interpretation. Considering the difficulty of operation and the long length of time required for photographing, it is supposed that this problem is more likely to occur with slit lamp microscopes. An object of the present disclosure is to make it possible to widely provide high quality slit lamp microscope examinations. A slit lamp microscope according to some aspect examples of the present disclosure includes: a scanner configured to perform application of a scan to an anterior segment of a subject's eye with slit light to collect an image group; a first assessing processor configured to execute an assessment of a quality of the image group collected by the scanner; and a controller configured to selectively execute at least two control modes according to a result of the assessment of the quality obtained by the first assessing processor. The aspect examples according to the present disclosure is capable of widely providing high quality slit lamp microscope examinations. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a slit lamp microscope according to an aspect example. FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram for desc