The present invention relates to an eye examination apparatus comprising an illuminator adapted to project a light beam to illuminate the retina of an eye; an image sensor adapted to receive light reflected by the retina and to acquire images of the retina; scanning means adapted to perform optical scans of the retina moving the light beam projected on the retina along a scanning direction; separation means of the light beams adapted to separate the projected light from the light reflected by the retina and directed toward said image sensor; and a control unit to control the operation of said scanning apparatus. During the operation of said apparatus, in order to acquire each single image of a region of the retina to be framed, said image sensor integrates light reflected by the retina during at least two complete optical scans of said region of the retina by said scanning means.

An ophthalmoscope (10) comprising a light source (12), a first scanner (14), a first scan transfer element (16), a second scanner (18), and a second scan transfer element (20), which provide a two-dimensional scan of incident light from an apparent point source at a pupillary point of an eye (22) onto the fundus of the eye, and which descan a two-dimensional scan of return light from the fundus of the eye to provide return light from an apparent point source at the first scanner, wherein the first scan transfer element comprises a free-form element which has a shape defined to provide aberration correction of the return light from the fundus of the eye.

In a method for interferometrically capturing measurement points of a region of an eye, a plurality of measurement points are captured by a measurement beam along a trajectory, wherein the same trajectory is passed over by the measurement beam in the region during at least a first iteration and a second iteration. The trajectory of the first iteration is rotated through an angle and/or displaced by a distance in relation to the trajectory of the second iteration in order to obtain a more homogeneous measurement point distribution.

The ophthalmologic apparatus includes: a scanning unit that scans a fundus of an eye to be inspected with measurement light; a selecting unit that selects one imaging mode out of a first imaging mode and a second imaging mode which is different from the first imaging mode; an acquiring unit that acquires information which indicates a movement amount of the eye to be inspected, based on a plurality of planer images of the fundus; and a correcting unit that corrects a scanning position of the measurement light in an initial scan which is executed after the information indicating the movement amount has been acquired, in the first imaging mode, and corrects the scanning position of the measurement light in an initial scan included in an initial scanning group which is executed after the information indicating the movement amount has been acquired, in the second imaging mode.

Provided is an imaging method for correcting aberration generated when imaging an object to be inspected. The imaging method includes: irradiating an imaging area with a first light beam which is scanned by a scan unit and taking an image of the object to be inspected based on return light of the first light beam; detecting a moving amount of the object to be inspected; comparing the detected moving amount with a predetermined threshold value; and adjusting the imaging area to be irradiated with the first light beam. The adjusting includes determining in accordance with a result of the comparison to change the imaging area by at least one of: using the scan unit, and using an aberration correcting unit.

The present invention is directed to a software algorithm that measures the number of corneal nerve fibers in images captured by microscopy including images from patients obtained by in vivo corneal confocal microscopy, a noninvasive technique. The present invention solves a complicated segmentation problem, by exploiting the piece wise linear nature of the nerve fibers—i.e., the nerves are made up of a lot of straight line segments. The image is split into sub-regions, where each sub-region contains nerves mostly running in the same, straight direction. Having the nerves all in straight-lines within a single 2d image region dramatically simplifies the segmentation problem. The image intensities are summed in the direction of the nerves to reduce the 2d representation to a 1d signal having pronounced peaks where the nerves are located.

An eye examination apparatus comprises an illuminator adapted to project a light beam on an optical illumination path along a first optical axis to illuminate the retina of an eye, said illuminator comprising a light source and a projection diaphragm adapted to shape the light beam, during the operation of said examination apparatus said projection diaphragm being optically conjugated with the retina. Acquisition means receive light reflected by the retina and acquire images of the retina. Scanning means move the light beam projected on the surface of the retina along a scanning direction. Separation means of the beams separate the light projected by said illuminator from the light reflected by the retina. The projection diaphragm comprises a projection opening having an elongated shape and variable width, said projection opening comprising a portion having a width larger than the width of said projection opening at the first optical axis.

A scanning perimeter as disclosed herein comprises a first projection means projecting a first projection beam to uniformly illuminate a portion of a retina, said first projection beam passing through the pupil of the eye at a second separation region between a first crossing region, at which said illumination beam passes through the pupil, and a second crossing region of the pupil, at which light reflected by the retina passes through the pupil. A second projection means projects a second projection beam to project at least a fixation target on the retina, said second projection beam passing through the pupil at said first crossing region or said second crossing region. A third projection means projects a third projection beam to project at least a light stimulus on the retina, said third projection beam passing through the pupil at said first crossing region or said second crossing region.

Ophthalmic imaging systems, particularly slit-scanning ophthalmo-scopes, are capable of characterizing refraction over the entire field of view of the system. Light from the light source of the system illuminates a region of the eye and the returning light is measured on a detector. The deviation of the location of the returning light from a predetermined location on the detector is measured. The deviation corresponds to the mismatch between the refractions of the imaging system and the eye. The light can be scanned across the full field of view to characterize the entire field. A second illumination source traveling along a second illumination path can be used to improve the characterization. The characterization can be of use for optimizing the focus of the instrument and for assessing the condition of the eye, including assessing myopia and astigmatism in the periphery.

An image processing method includes acquiring a first direction fundus image imaged in a state in which an examined eye is directed in a first direction, and a second direction fundus image imaged in a state in which the examined eye is directed in a second direction different to the first direction, generating a combined image for analyzing a fundus-peripheral portion of the examined eye by combining the first direction fundus image and the second direction fundus image, and outputting the combined image.