| Patent application number | Description | Published |
| 20080218691 | Short-Coherence Interferometeric Measurement of Length on the Eye - Two problems arise when measuring length at the eye by short-coherence interferometry. First, the measurement focus and coherence window usually do not coincide. Second, the scanning process along the eye axis is time-consuming. Both result in poor signal quality and inaccurate measurements. The present application is directed to a short-coherence interferometer in which a right-angle mirror and focusing optics jointly carry out a periodic back-and-forth movement in such a way that the measurement beam focus which is generated by the focusing optics and imaged on the eye by relay optics is moved synchronously with the coherence window from the cornea along the optic axis of the eye to the fovea centralis. Further, different path lengths are generated in the measurement beam path and reference beam path by means of a plurality of reflectors, so that the scanning process is limited to distances which are smaller than the optical length of the eye. The present invention is advantageously implemented using on a fiber-optic interferometer. According to the invention, the reference interferometer arm and measurement interferometer arm are combined with the arms of a fiber-optic interferometer. | 09-11-2008 |
| 20080284981 | Fourier-Domain Oct Ray-Tracing On The Eye - The present invention is directed to an ophthalmologic measurement method which can depict three-dimensional structures of the interfaces of an eye by short-coherence interferometry based on reference points. For this purpose, the pupil is illuminated at a plurality of points by a short-coherence illumination source. The measurement beam reflected at these points by the interfaces and surfaces of the eye is superimposed with a reference beam. The measurement data which are generated in this way are spectrally split by a diffraction grating, imaged on a two-dimensional detector array and conveyed to a control unit which determines a three-dimensional structure of all intraocular interfaces and surfaces of the eye. In the suggested Fourier domain OCT method, the depiction of three-dimensional structures is preferably carried out by spline surfaces or polygon surfaces. In doing so, it is possible to determine the depth positions of the measurement beams in many points of the pupil with a single recording of the array camera in that the pupils are illuminated by a diaphragm grid and the reference mirror contains a periodic phase grid. | 11-20-2008 |
| 20080285043 | Interferometric Sample Measurement - A device for the interferometric measurement of a sample, in particular the eye, including an interferometer arrangement with a first measurement beam path, through which a measurement beam falls onto the sample, and a first reference beam path, through which a reference beam runs, which is applied to the measuring beam for interference. The interferometer arrangement includes a second measuring beam path and/or second reference beam path. The optical path lengths of the second measuring beam path and/or second reference beam path are different from one of the first beam paths. The wave length difference is selected according to a distance of two measuring areas which are arranged at a distance in the depth direction of the sample. | 11-20-2008 |