METHOD FOR THE INSPECTION OF AN OPHTHALMIC LENS FOR SEMI-OPAQUE DEFECTS

Abstract

A method for inspecting an ophthalmic lens for the presence of an unacceptable semi-opaque defect in a lens body thereof comprises the steps of: illuminating the lens body with laser light in an area bounded by an edge of the lens body; detecting the intensity of laser light scattered by the illuminated lens body in a predetermined detection direction which is different from a direction of reflection; comparing the detected intensity of the scattered laser light with a predetermined threshold intensity; determining a size of at least one coherent area in which the detected intensity of the scattered laser light is higher than the predetermined threshold intensity; determining whether the size of the at least one coherent area is larger than a predetermined threshold size, and rejecting the ophthalmic lens in case the size of the at least one coherent area is larger than the predetermined threshold size.

Claims

1. A method for inspecting an intraocular lens for an unacceptable semi-opaque defect in a lens body thereof, the method comprising: illuminating the lens body of the intraocular lens with laser light in an area bounded by an edge of the lens body; detecting an intensity of laser light scattered by the illuminated lens body in a predetermined detection direction which is different from a direction of reflection of the illuminating laser light; comparing the detected intensity of the scattered laser light with a predetermined threshold intensity; determining a size of at least one coherent area in which the detected intensity of the scattered laser light is higher than the predetermined threshold intensity; and determining whether the size of the at least one coherent area is larger than a predetermined threshold size, wherein a semi-opaque defect in the lens body is detected if the size of the at least one coherent area is larger than the predetermined threshold size.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein comparing the detected intensity of the scattered laser light with the predetermined threshold intensity comprises: converting the detected intensity of the scattered laser light to a detected grey scale value representative of the detected intensity of the scattered laser light; converting the predetermined threshold intensity to a threshold grey scale value representative of the predetermined threshold intensity; and comparing the detected grey scale value with the threshold grey scale value, wherein determining whether the size of the at least one coherent area is larger than a predetermined threshold size comprises determining the size of at least one coherent area in which the grey scale values are above the threshold grey scale value.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein a laser diode is used for illuminating the lens body of the intraocular lens.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein illuminating the lens body comprises illuminating the lens body with a laser beam impinging on a surface of the lens body only within the bounds of the edge of the lens body, the laser beam having a stationary impingement profile covering an area of at least 80% of the area of the surface of the lens body.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the laser beam is collimated with an evenly distributed intensity, and wherein the stationary impingement profile is a circular profile having a diameter that is 5%-10% smaller than the diameter of the edge bounding the lens body.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein the stationary impingement profile of the laser beam has a shape of a grid with rectangularly arranged grid lines, with an evenly distributed intensity along the grid lines.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein illuminating the lens body comprises: illuminating the lens body with a laser beam having an impingement profile on a surface of the lens body, the impingement profile on the surface of the lens body covering an area of less than 20% of the area of the surface of the lens body; and moving the impingement profile over the surface of the lens body along a predetermined path to sequentially illuminate different portions of the lens body.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the laser beam is focused and the impingement profile is a circular spot, and wherein the circular spot is moved over the surface of the lens body along the predetermined path.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein the impingement profile is a straight line, and wherein the straight line is moved over the surface of the lens body along the predetermined path, the predetermined path being normal to the straight line of the impingement profile.

10. The method according to claim 2, wherein a laser diode is used for illuminating the lens body of the intraocular lens.

11. The method according to claim 2, wherein illuminating the lens body comprises illuminating the lens body with a laser beam impinging on a surface of the lens body only within the bounds of the edge of the lens body, the laser beam having a stationary impingement profile covering an area of at least 80% of the area of the surface of the lens body.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the laser beam is collimated with an evenly distributed intensity, and wherein the stationary impingement profile is a circular profile having a diameter that is 5%-10% smaller than the diameter of the edge bounding the lens body.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein the stationary impingement profile of the laser beam has a shape of a grid with rectangularly arranged grid lines, with an evenly distributed intensity along the grid lines.

14. The method according to claim 3, wherein illuminating the lens body comprises illuminating the lens body with a laser beam impinging on a surface of the lens body only within the bounds of the edge of the lens body, the laser beam having a stationary impingement profile covering an area of at least 80% of the area of the surface of the lens body.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the laser beam is collimated with an evenly distributed intensity, and wherein the stationary impingement profile is a circular profile having a diameter that is 5%-10% smaller than the diameter of the edge bounding the lens body.

16. The method according to claim 14, wherein the stationary impingement profile of the laser beam has a shape of a grid with rectangularly arranged grid lines, with an evenly distributed intensity along the grid lines.

17. The method according to claim 10, wherein illuminating the lens body comprises illuminating the lens body with a laser beam impinging on a surface of the lens body only within the bounds of the edge of the lens body, the laser beam having a stationary impingement profile covering an area of at least 80% of the area of the surface of the lens body.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the laser beam is collimated with an evenly distributed intensity, and wherein the stationary impingement profile is a circular profile having a diameter that is 5%-10% smaller than the diameter of the edge bounding the lens body.

19. The method according to claim 2, wherein illuminating the lens body comprises: illuminating the lens body with a laser beam having an impingement profile on a surface of the lens body, the impingement profile on the surface of the lens body covering an area of less than 20% of the area of the surface of the lens body; and moving the impingement profile over the surface of the lens body along a predetermined path to sequentially illuminate different portions of the lens body.

20. The method according to claim 3, wherein illuminating the lens body comprises: illuminating the lens body with a laser beam having an impingement profile on a surface of the lens body, the impingement profile on the surface of the lens body covering an area of less than 20% of the area of the surface of the lens body; and moving the impingement profile over the surface of the lens body along a predetermined path to sequentially illuminate different portions of the lens body.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] Further advantageous aspects of the systems and methods of the present disclosure may become apparent from the following description of embodiments with the aid of the schematic drawings in which:

[0025] FIG. 1 shows an arrangement for performing the methods of the present disclosure, with a semi-opaque defect being contained in the lens body of the ophthalmic lens inspected, according to certain embodiments.

[0026] FIG. 2 shows an ophthalmic lens during inspection, with a stationary circular impingement profile of the laser beam impinging on the surface of the lens body, according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0027] FIG. 3 shows an ophthalmic lens during inspection, with a stationary impingement profile of the laser beam having the shape of a grid, according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0028] FIG. 4 shows an ophthalmic lens containing a semi-opaque defect in the lens body during inspection, with an impingement profile in the form of a circular spot which is moved over the surface of the lens body, according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0029] FIG. 5 show an ophthalmic lens during inspection, with an impingement profile in the form of a straight line which is moved over the surface of the lens body, according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0030] FIG. 6 shows an image of an inspected ophthalmic lens, with the lens body containing a semi-opaque defect (haze), according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0031] FIG. 7 shows an image of an ophthalmic lens inspected, with the lens body not containing a semi-opaque defect, according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] FIG. 1 shows an arrangement for performing the method according certain embodiments of the present disclosure. As can be seen, an ophthalmic lens 1 to be examined, in the instant case an intraocular lens, comprises a lens body 10 and two haptics 11, as is well-known in the art. As can further be seen, the lens body 10 contains a semi-opaque defect 12 schematically indicated in FIG. 1. Lens body 10 is bounded by a circumferentially running circular edge 100 (as can also be seen in FIG. 2-FIG. 5). Lens body 10 is illuminated with laser light 20 emitted by a laser diode 2, and a camera 3 comprising a sensor (e.g. a CCD array) is arranged in a predetermined detection direction (pointing towards the camera 3) which is different from a direction of reflection (indicated by the dashed line 22) of the illuminating laser light 20. The intensity of the laser light emitted by laser diode 2 may generally be in the range of 0.5 mW/cm.sup.2 to 5 mW/cm.sup.2, and may in particular be about 1 mW/cm.sup.2. The wavelength may generally be within the range of 400 nm to 700 nm, and may in particular be about 670 nm. A suitable laser diode may be a laser diode of the type L670VH1 available from the company Thorlabs GmbH, Münchner Weg 1, 85232 Bergkirchen, Germany.

[0033] The arrangement shown in FIG. 1 is known as a dark-field illumination configuration, only structures scattering present in lens body 10 that scatter the illuminating laser light 20 towards camera 3 appear as bright structures in an image of lens body 10, otherwise the image of lens body 10 captured by camera 3 is dark. This means, that laser light entering into lens body 10 and being scattered by the semi-opaque defect 12 contained in lens body 10 in the predetermined detection direction (i.e. towards camera 3) can be detected by camera 3. The intensity of this scattered laser light 21 can be measured. Since the scattered laser light 21 propagating in the predetermined detection direction towards camera 3 is only a small fraction of the light scattered by semi-opaque defect 12, the intensity of this scattered laser light 21 is still comparatively low (as can be seen in FIG. 6 in the area circumscribed by the ellipse within the lens body). This scattered laser light 21 is indicative of the presence of semi-opaque defect 12.

[0034] The semi-opaque defect 12 shown is haze, with haze being a defect that is not present at the surface but is contained within the bulk material of lens body 10. Other semi-opaque defects (e.g. orange peel defects) may be present at the surface. The intensity of the scattered laser light 21 is detected by the sensor of camera 3 (e.g. CCD array), and is compared with a pre-set (predetermined) threshold intensity.

[0035] From the point of view of the sensor of camera 3 (e.g. CCD array) semi-opaque defect 12 (as shown, this defect is haze which is a volumetric defect, as it is contained in the bulk material) manifests itself as a coherent area 120 in which the detected intensity of the scattered laser light 21 is higher than the threshold intensity (see FIG. 4). And if the size of this coherent area 120 is larger than a predetermined threshold size, the ophthalmic lens 1 is rejected due to containing a semi-opaque defect. In case more than one semi-opaque defect 12 is contained in lens body 10, the sizes of the individual coherent areas 120 in which the intensity of the scattered laser light 21 is above the threshold intensity (thus being indicative of the individual semi-opaque defects 12) are summed up, and if the sum of the sizes of the individual coherent areas 120 is above the threshold size, the ophthalmic lens 1 is rejected, too.

[0036] In one embodiment, the detected intensity of the scattered laser light 21 as well as the predetermined threshold intensity are converted to grey scale values, respectively, i.e. to a detected grey scale value representative of the detected intensity of the scattered laser light 21 as well as to a threshold grey scale value representative of the predetermined threshold intensity. The determination whether the size of the coherent area representing the semi-opaque defect 12 exceeds the predetermined threshold size can then be performed by comparing the detected grey scale values with the threshold grey scale value.

[0037] In the following various different options are discussed how the ophthalmic lens 1 to be inspected, or more precisely the lens body 10 thereof, may be illuminated with laser light 20. Generally, these options can be sub-divided into options in which lens body 10 is illuminated with a laser beam that has a stationary impingement profile (i.e. a profile that does not move) and options in which lens body 10 is illuminated with an impingement profile that is moved over the surface of lens body 10. These options are discussed in the following with the aid of FIG. 2-FIG. 5.

[0038] In FIG. 2 an example is shown in which the laser light illuminates the lens body 10 only within the bounds of the circular edge 100 bounding the lens body 10, i.e. the circular edge 100 itself is not illuminated as the edge 100 is known to generate quite a lot of unwanted stray light (and the semi-opaque defect 12 is not present at the edge), according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure. In this example, the laser light 20 illuminating lens body 10 is a collimated laser beam with an evenly (i.e. uniformly) distributed intensity, with the laser beam impinging on the surface of lens body 10 having a stationary circular impingement profile 200. The circular impingement profile 200 has a diameter D2 that is 5% to 10% smaller than the diameter D1 of the edge 100 bounding lens body 10. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the diameter D2 of the circular impingement profile 200 is about 80% of the diameter D1 of the circular edge 100 of lens body 10. Illuminating the lens body in this manner allows the measurement of the intensities of the scattered light to be performed in a single measurement run.

[0039] FIG. 3 shows an example in which the laser light illuminates the lens body 10 again only within the bounds of the circular edge 100 bounding the lens body 10, according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure. However, different from the example shown in FIG. 2, the impingement profile 201 of the laser beam has the shape of a grid with rectangularly arranged grid lines 2010, 2011. Impingement profiles 201 in the form of a grid can be easily generated with the aid of diaphragms or similar components which may even be an integral part of the laser diode 2 (FIG. 1). The rectangularly arranged grid lines 2010, 2011 define a mesh with a small size of the individual cells of the mesh bounded by the grid lines 2010, 2011, in order to also allow the measurement of the intensities of the scattered laser light to be performed in a single measurement run.

[0040] Generally, the stationary impingement profile 200, 201 (regardless of whether being circular or being a grid) covers an area of at least 80% of the area of the surface of the lens body 10 in order to obtain a reliable determination as to the presence (or absence of a semi-opaque defect 12).

[0041] In FIG. 4 an example is shown in which the laser light illuminates the lens body 10 with a beam that is focused such that the impingement profile 202 is a circular spot covering an area on the surface of lens body 10 that has a size which is about one sixteenth of the size of the area of the whole surface (front or back, whichever is facing the laser beam) of lens body 10, according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure. The circular spot is moved over the surface of the lens body along a predetermined path 2020 indicated by a dashed circle in FIG. 4, whereupon the circular spot may additionally be moved along a further circle interior of and concentric with the dashed circle shown in FIG. 4, so as to cover an area of at least 80% of the area of the surface of lens body 10. In this embodiment, the measurements of the intensities of the scattered laser light are performed sequentially as the circular spot moves along the predetermined path 2020. Alternatively, the predetermined path may have the shape of a spiral, or may have any other suitable shape to cover the said area of the surface of lens body 10.

[0042] FIG. 5 shows an example in which the laser light illuminates the lens body 10 with a beam that has an impingement profile 203 which is a straight line, according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure. This straight line is moved over the surface of the lens body 10 along a predetermined path 2030 which is normal to the straight line 203, as indicated by the dashed line in FIG. 5, very similar to a scanning line that is moved over the surface of an object to be scanned. Here, too, the measurements of the intensities of the scattered laser light are performed sequentially as the impingement profile 203 moves along the predetermined path 2030.

[0043] FIG. 6 shows a (dark-field) image of an ophthalmic lens—here: an intraocular lens—that comprises a semi-opaque defect (haze) in the lens body, the haze being visible within the area circumscribed by the ellipse drawn into the image, according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure. Even though laser light is used, the haze is hardly visible in the lens body but at least allows for being detected. In comparison thereto, FIG. 7 shows a (dark-field) image of an intraocular lens not containing any haze, according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0044] Various embodiments have been described with the aid of embodiments shown in the drawings. However, the present disclosure is to be understood as not being limited to the embodiments shown and described, since various modifications can be made to the embodiments without departing from the teaching underlying the instant disclosure. Therefore, the scope of protection is defined by the appended claims.