Surgical microscope with movable beam deflector, method for operating the same and retrofit-kit

Abstract

A surgical microscope, a method for observing an object in an observation area during surgery, and a retrofit-kit for a surgical microscope are provided. The surgical microscope includes at least one optical carrier for variably deflecting an observation axis of an optical observation assembly into an optical viewing axis directed towards the observation area. The optical carrier includes at least one optical beam deflector and is arranged between the optical observation assembly and the observation area. The optical carrier further includes a movable range-setting system for supporting the at least one optical beam deflector and for positioning the at least one optical beam deflector at a variable distance from the optical observation assembly.

Claims

1. A surgical microscope for observing an object in an observation area during surgery, comprising: an optical observation assembly having an observation axis; and at least one optical carrier for variably deflecting the observation axis into an optical viewing axis directed towards the observation area, wherein the optical carrier comprises at least one optical beam deflector and is arranged between the optical observation assembly and the observation area; wherein the optical carrier comprises a moveable range-setting support system for supporting the at least one optical beam deflector of the optical carrier and for positioning the at least one optical beam deflector at a variable distance from the optical observation assembly.

2. The surgical microscope according to claim 1, wherein the at least one optical beam deflector is moveable with respect to the optical observation assembly with regard to at least one of tilt and distance.

3. The surgical microscope according to claim 2, further comprising a drive system for moving and/or tilting the at least one optical beam deflector.

4. The surgical microscope according to claim 3, further comprising a controller module having at least one control data input terminal for inputting control data and having at least one driving data output terminal connected to the drive system for providing driving data to the drive system.

5. The surgical microscope according to claim 1, wherein the optical carrier comprises a pair of optical beam deflectors, wherein at least one of the pair of optical beam deflectors is tiltable and/or moveable with respect to the other of the pair of optical beam deflectors.

6. The surgical microscope according to claim 1, wherein the optical carrier comprises a rotational support assembly for supporting the at least one optical beam deflector of the optical carrier, the rotational support assembly being rotatable around a rotational axis.

7. The surgical microscope according to claim 6, wherein the rotational axis coincides with the observation axis of the optical observation assembly.

8. The surgical microscope according to claim 1, wherein the optical carrier comprises a rotational support assembly for supporting the at least one optical beam deflector of the optical carrier, the rotational support assembly being rotatable around a rotational axis, and wherein the range-setting support system is supported by the rotational support assembly.

9. The surgical microscope according to claim 8, wherein the range-setting support system is a radial range-setting support system which is rotatable around a support system axis, wherein the rotation of the radial range-setting support system is synchronized with the rotation of the rotational support assembly.

10. The surgical microscope according to claim 1, further comprising a light source arrangement for providing illumination light and/or excitation light to the observation area.

11. The surgical microscope according to claim 10, wherein the illumination light and/or the excitation light propagates at least in portions essentially coaxially with the optical viewing axis.

12. The surgical microscope according to claim 1, wherein the range-setting support system comprises a through-hole for providing access to the at least one optical beam deflector from the observation area.

13. A method for observing an object in an observation area during surgery, comprising the steps of: variably deflecting an observation axis of an optical observation assembly via at least one optical carrier into an optical viewing axis directed towards the observation area, wherein the optical carrier comprises at least one beam deflector and is arranged between the optical observation assembly and the observation area; and propagating light stemming from the observation area essentially along the optical viewing axis and the observation axis and imaging said light via an optical observation assembly; wherein the optical carrier comprises a moveable range-setting support system for supporting the at least one optical beam deflector of the optical carrier and for positioning the at least one optical beam deflector at a variable distance from the optical observation assembly.

14. A retrofit-kit for a surgical microscope, comprising at least one coupling with at least one optical beam deflector, and an optical input axis which is variably deflected into an optical output axis by the at least one optical beam deflector, wherein the coupling is adapted to be mounted to a surgical microscope, such that the optical input axis corresponds to the observation axis of an optical observation assembly of the surgical microscope; wherein a moveable range-setting support system supports the at least one optical beam deflector and positions the at least one optical beam deflector at a variable distance from the optical observation assembly.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING VIEWS

(1) The figures show:

(2) FIG. 1: a surgical microscope of the art;

(3) FIG. 2: a surgical microscope of the art with a retrofit-kit according to the invention;

(4) FIG. 3: a first embodiment of the inventive surgical microscope;

(5) FIG. 4: a first embodiment of an inventive rotational support assembly with a range-setting support assembly; and

(6) FIG. 5: a second embodiment of the inventive rotational support assembly with a range-setting support assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(7) In FIG. 1 a surgical microscope 1 of the art is shown in a perspective view. The surgical microscope 1 is applied for observing an object 3 in an observation area 5 during a surgery and is shown in a perspective view.

(8) Surgical microscopes 1 of the art comprise an optical observation assembly 7 which comprises an eyepiece 9, also referred to as ocular 11, and an objective assembly 13 which is merely indicated by a dashed line.

(9) The surgical microscope 1 may be mounted on a gimbal mount 15 which comprises three joints 17 in the embodiment shown. The surgical microscope 1 is rotatable about three rotational axes 18. A first rotation 21 is around a vertical axis 19, a second rotation 23 around a first horizontal axis 25 and a third rotation 27 around a second horizontal axis 29. The rotational axes 19, 25, 29 are oriented essentially perpendicular to each other.

(10) The first 21, the second 23 and the third rotation 27 result in a tilt 31 of an observation axis 33 of the optical observation assembly 7. In the figure, three positions 32 of the observation axis 33 are indicated. These rotations 21, 23, 27, however, also result in a tilt 31 of the optical observation assembly 7 and consequently also of the eyepiece 9. A surgeon 35 therefore has to follow the tilt 31 of the optical observation assembly 7 and to change his or her observation position 37. This may interrupt the flow of the surgery.

(11) The observation axis 33 is centered in the observation area 5, wherein the latter is defined by a field of view 39 being a characteristic of the optical observation assembly 7 (which may e.g. be determined by the numerical aperture of optical components (not shown) of the optical observation assembly 7).

(12) It is to be noted that different embodiments of the prior art may comprise only one or two rotational axes 18 and may comprise a mounting system different than the gimbal mount 15 shown in FIG. 1.

(13) FIG. 2 is a side view of a surgical microscope 1 of the art and a retrofit-kit 41 according to the invention, wherein the retrofit-kit 41 is partially cut, i.e. an interior 43 comprised within a housing 45 is shown. The retrofit-kit 41 is mounted to the surgical microscope 1 by a coupling 46 which is ring-shaped and which may support the at least one beam deflector in another embodiment.

(14) The surgical microscope 1 comprises an optical carrier 47 shown in a partially cut portion. Said optical carrier 47 supports optical elements (not shown) of the surgical microscope 1.

(15) In the interior 43 of the retrofit-kit, a further optical carrier 48 is schematically indicated with a dashed line, wherein reference is made to FIGS. 4 and 5 in which two specific embodiments of the optical carrier 47 (in case of an inventive surgical microscope; or the further optical carrier 48, if a retrofit-kit 41 is used) are shown.

(16) The further optical carrier 48 comprises two optical beam deflectors 49, i.e. a pair 50 of beam deflectors 49, which are mirrors 51 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2. In different embodiments of the inventive retrofit-kit 41 the optical beam deflectors 49 may be embodied as refractive elements like prisms or catadioptric elements (not shown). A similar set-up may be provided in an inventive surgical microscope 1 (this specific embodiment is not shown), wherein in such a case at least one of the above-mentioned elements is provided on or at the optical carrier 47.

(17) Instead of tilting the entire surgical microscope 1, a first optical beam deflector 49a may perform the first rotation 21 and the second rotation 23. The third rotation 27 is not envisaged in the embodiment shown but may be provided in another embodiment of the inventive retrofit-kit 41. The surgical microscope 1 therefore remains at a fixed position and there is no need for the surgeon 35 to readjust his or her observation position 37.

(18) Additionally or alternatively, also a second optical beam deflector 49b may be tiltable. The observation axis 33 corresponds to an optical input axis 33a of the retrofit-kit 41. This observation axis 33 is deflected by the optical beam deflectors 49 (or by a single optical beam deflector 49 in another embodiment of the invention) into an optical viewing axis 53 which is directed towards the observation area 5 of the object 3 and which may consequently comprise a variable tilt 31 introduced by the optical beam deflectors 49. Also in FIG. 2, three positions 32 of the optical viewing axis 53 are shown. The optical viewing axis 53 corresponds to an optical output axis 54 of the retrofit-kit 41.

(19) The housing 45 of the retrofit-kit 41 comprises a through-hole 55 which provides access to the at least one optical beam deflector 49 from the observation area 5.

(20) The inventive retrofit-kit 41 of FIG. 2 may be improved by providing a beam combiner and a light source. Those elements are shown in FIG. 3 for the inventive surgical microscope 1.

(21) FIG. 3 shows a first embodiment of the inventive surgical microscope 1, wherein the schematic drawing is shown partially cut for revealing the interior 43 of the inventive surgical microscope 1. The optical carrier 47, to which the pair 50 of the two optical beam deflectors 49 is attached, is merely indicated.

(22) In comparison to the inventive retrofit-kit 41 shown in FIG. 2, the inventive surgical microscope 1 of FIG. 3 has a fixed first optical beam deflector 49a, wherein the second optical beam deflector 49b is tiltable. Said second optical beam deflector 49b is furthermore movable along a trajectory 57 which indicates a linear movement of the second optical beam deflector 49b with respect to the first optical beam deflector 49a. In other embodiments of the invention, also the first optical beam deflector 49a or both beam deflectors 49 may be movable.

(23) The embodiment shown in FIG. 3 therefore allows changing the tilt 31 of the optical viewing axis 53 as well as a distance 59 between the first optical beam deflector 49a and the second optical beam deflector 49b.

(24) By changing said distance 59, an origin 61 of the optical viewing axis 53 may be relocated for changing the viewing perspective. This is exemplarily indicated by an example origin 61a indicated by a cross, from which example origin 61a and example optical viewing axis 53a may be set by a surgeon 35 (not shown). Thus, FIG. 3 shows four positions 32 of the optical viewing axis 53. Such an oblique example optical viewing axis 53a may, in combination with a repositioning of the object 3, allow for observation of a portion 63 in an undercut area 65. Said portion 63 is exemplarily shown in the figure.

(25) A limitation of the movement of the second optical beam deflector 49b is determined by the tilt 31 of said deflector 49b, by the maximum change of the distance 59 and by the size of the through-hole 55.

(26) The origin 61 is to be understood as the point at which a deflected observation axis 67 is incident on the second optical beam deflector 49b (or on the at least one optical beam deflector 49 if only one such element is applied).

(27) As shown in a rectangle 69 in FIG. 3, the surgical microscope 1 may comprise a light source arrangement 71 which may comprise at least one light source 73. In the rectangle 69 a first light source 73a and a second light source 73b are indicated, wherein any arbitrary number of light sources 73 may be provided. The light sources 73a, 73b may operate in different wavelength ranges and may be pulsed light sources (not shown) or continuous light sources (not shown).

(28) In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the first light source 73a emits illumination light 75 which is indicated by a dashed line. The second light source 73b emits excitation light 77 indicated by a dotted line.

(29) The first optical beam deflector 49a is a beam combiner 79, in particular a first beam combiner 79a, which is reflective for observation light 81 propagating from the observation area towards the eyepiece 9. The first beam combiner 79a is in particular reflective for the observation light 81 at a specific, predetermined angle, here approximately 45°. The first beam combiner 79a is furthermore highly transparent for the illumination light 75 and the excitation light 77.

(30) The embodiment of the inventive surgical microscope 1 shown in FIG. 3 furthermore comprises a second beam combiner 79b which is highly transparent for at least the excitation light 77 and reflective for the illumination light 75, in particular at an angle of incidence of approximately 45°.

(31) The arrangement of the first 79a and the second beam combiner 79b allow concurrent overlapping of the illumination light 75 and/or the excitation light 77 with the deflected observation axis 67 (solid line). Only for the sake of visibility, the illumination light 75, the excitation light 77 and the deflected observation axis 67 are drawn spaced apart from each other.

(32) The embodiment of the inventive surgical microscope 1 shown in FIG. 3 furthermore comprises a controller module 83 with at least one control data input terminal 85 for inputting control data 87 which is indicated by a single rectangular pulse 89.

(33) The controller module 83 also comprises at least one driving data output terminal 91 for providing driving data 93 which is indicated by a pulse sequence 95. Said driving data 93 is provided to a drive system 97 which is provided at a post 99 which supports the second optical beam deflector 49b. The drive system 97 allows moving and/or tilting of the at least one optical beam deflector 49, in the embodiment shown the second optical beam deflector 49b is moved and/or tilted. The drive system 97 may thus comprise linear actuators (not shown) and rotational actuators (not shown).

(34) FIGS. 4 and 5 show different embodiments of an inventive rotational support assembly 101 and a range-setting support assembly 103. Both assemblies 101, 103 may be attached to or supported by the optical carrier 47 of the inventive surgical microscope 1 or the further optical carrier 48 of the inventive retrofit-kit 41. The viewing direction of the lower panel of both figures is from the observation area 5 along the optical viewing axis 53 towards the at least one optical beam deflector 49. The upper panel of both figures shows a side view of the inventive rotational support assemblies 125.

(35) In the embodiment of the rotational support assembly 101 shown in FIG. 4, the first optical beam deflector 49a and the second optical beam deflector 49b are attached via posts 99 to a rotation base 105, which may perform a rotation 107 around the rotational axis 18 of the rotational support assembly 101. The rotational axis 18 corresponds to the observation axis 33. A rotation 107 of the rotational support assembly 101 therefore does not change the relative position between the first optical beam deflector 49a and the second optical beam deflector 49b.

(36) This embodiment furthermore comprises the range-setting support assembly 103 which comprises a guiding slot 109, along which the post 99 supporting the second optical beam deflector 49b may be moved following the linear trajectory 57. FIGS. 4 and 5 do not show a drive system 97 for moving and/or tilting of the optical beam deflectors 49.

(37) FIG. 5 shows a further embodiment of the inventive rotational support assembly 101, wherein the range-setting support assembly 103 is embodied as a radial range-setting support system 111. In this embodiment, the first optical beam deflector 49a is supported by the rotation base 105 and rotatable around the rotational axis 18. The radial range-setting support system 111 of this embodiment does not perform a linear movement but a rotation 107 around a support system axis 113 which is essentially parallelly offset from the rotational axis 18.

(38) The second optical beam deflector 49b is supported by a post 99 and attached to a support system base 115 of the radial range-setting support system 111.

(39) The rotational support assembly 101 and the radial range-setting support system 111 may be rotated either independently of each other or in a synchronized manner.

(40) In particular, a combination of the rotation 107 of the rotational support assembly 101 and the (off-center) rotation 107 of the radial range-setting support system 111 may change the distance 59 between the first optical beam deflector 49a and the second optical beam deflector 49b.

(41) In order to maintain an optical path 117 on the first optical beam deflector 49a on the second optical beam deflector 49b, the optical beam deflectors 49 may also be rotatable in themselves, i.e. around a rotational axis through the corresponding beam deflector 49 and in particular relative to the rotational support assembly 101 and/or to the radial range-setting support system 111.

REFERENCE SIGNS

(42) 1 surgical microscope 3 object 5 observation area 7 optical observation assembly 9 eyepiece 11 ocular 13 objective assembly 15 gimbal mount 17 joint 18 rotational axis 19 vertical axis 21 first rotation 23 second rotation 25 first horizontal axis 27 third rotation 29 second horizontal axis 31 tilt 32 position 33 observation axis 33a optical input axis 35 surgeon 37 observation position 39 field of view 41 retrofit-kit 43 interior 45 housing 46 coupling 47 optical carrier 48 further optical carrier 49 optical beam deflector 49a first optical beam deflector 49b second optical beam deflector 50 pair 51 mirror 53 optical viewing axis 53a example optical viewing axis 54 optical output axis 55 through-hole 57 trajectory 59 distance 61 origin 61a example origin 63 portion 65 undercut area 67 deflected observation axis 69 angle 71 light source arrangement 73 light source 75 illumination light 77 excitation light 79 beam combiner 79a first beam combiner 79b second beam combiner 81 observation light 83 controller module 85 control data input terminal 87 control data 89 rectangular pulse 91 driving data output terminal 93 driving data 95 pulse sequence 97 drive system 99 port 101 rotational support assembly 103 range-setting support assembly 105 rotational base 107 rotation 109 guiding slot 111 radial range-setting support system 113 support system axis 115 support system base 117 optical path