AN AUTOMATED EXAMINATION SYSTEM AND METHOD

Abstract

Provided is a system for automatic examination of a body part of a subject, including a support configured to support a subject's body portion including said body part; a measuring subsystem including at least one sensor configured to detect at least one feature of the subject, a mechanical subsystem configured for receiving at least two examination devices and for positioning the at least two examination devices and/or said support in operative positions; and a control unit.

Claims

1. A system for automatic ophthalmological examination of one or both eyes of a subject, comprising: a head support configured to support at least one portion of a head of the subject; a measuring subsystem comprising at least one sensor configured to detect at least one feature of the subject; a mechanical subsystem configured for receiving at least two ophthalmological examination devices and for positioning the at least two ophthalmological examination devices and/or the head support in operative positions; and a control unit configured for: (i) receiving feature data from the measuring subsystem representative of the at least one feature and determining the operative positions based thereon, the operative positions being selected to permit the at least two ophthalmological examination devices to examine one or both eyes of the subject, (ii) outputting instructions to said mechanical subsystem for said positioning of the head support and/or the at least two ophthalmological examination devices in said operative positions, (iii) receiving examination data from the at least two ophthalmological examination devices representative of eye parameters examined thereby, and (iv) outputting the examination data or one or more image representative thereof.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the head support is configured to support a chin and/or a forehead.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one feature is a facial feature.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one feature is measured with respect to at least one reference point or surface.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the at least two ophthalmological examination devices are each positioned in the operative positions based on alignment of an optical axis thereof with an optical axis of an eye of a subject.

6. The system according to claim 1, comprising a plurality of said head supports, and the control unit being configured to position the at least two ophthalmological examination devices and/or the head support in a plurality of operative positions, one for each pair of ophthalmological examination device and said head support.

7. An examination station comprising at least two ophthalmological examination systems according to claim 1, configured for simultaneous examination of at least two subjects.

8. The system or the station according to claim 7, comprising a storage area for the ophthalmological examination devices not in use.

9. A method for automatic ophthalmological examination of a subject, comprising: detecting at least one feature of the subject using at least one sensor in a measuring subsystem; receiving feature data from the measuring subsystem representative of the at least one feature; determining, based on the received feature data, operative positions of at least two ophthalmological examination devices, the operative positions being selected to permit the at least two ophthalmological examination devices to examine one or both eyes of the subject; positioning a head support configured to support at least one portion of a head and/or the at least two ophthalmological examination devices in operative positions, examining at least one eye of the subject using the at least two ophthalmological examination devices; receiving examination data from the at least two ophthalmological examination devices representative of eye parameters examined thereby, and outputting the examination data or one or more image representative thereof.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the head support is configured to support a chin and/or a forehead.

11. The method according to claim 9, wherein the at least one feature is a facial feature.

12. The method according to claim 9, wherein positioning the at least two ophthalmological examination devices in the operative position comprises aligning an optical axis of each of the at least two ophthalmological examination devices with an optical axis of an eye of a subject.

13. The method according to claim 9, comprising examining at least two subjects simultaneously.

14. The method according to claim 9, comprising coordinating allocation of, and guiding, the ophthalmological examination devices to and from operative positions.

15. The method according to claim 9, further comprising storing any of the ophthalmological examination devices not in use.

16. A system for automatic examination of a body part of a subject, comprising: a support configured to support a subject's body portion comprising said body part so as to fix said body part in a fixed examination position, a measuring subsystem comprising at least one sensor configured to detect at least one feature of the subject; a mechanical subsystem configured for receiving at least two examination devices and for positioning the at least two examination devices and/or said support in operative positions; and a control unit configured for: (i) receiving feature data from the measuring subsystem representative of the at least one feature and determining the operative positions based thereon, the operative positions being selected to permit the at the least two examination devices to examine said body part, (ii) outputting instructions to said mechanical subsystem for said positioning of said support and/or the at least two examination devices in said operative positions, (iii) receiving examination data from the at least two examination devices representative of parameters examined thereby, and (iv) outputting the examination data or one or more image representative thereof.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein said body part are teeth, eye or skin portion.

18.-19. (canceled)

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0182] In order to better understand the subject matter that is disclosed herein and to exemplify how it may be carried out in practice, embodiments will now be described, by way of non-limiting example only. with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0183] FIG. 1 shows a top rear perspective view of two apparatuses and. mechanism for it adjustment;

[0184] FIG. 2 shows a front view of the apparatuses and mechanism for heir adjustment as shown in FIG. 1;

[0185] FIG. 3 shows a top front perspective view of one of the apparatuses of is a forehead support;

[0186] FIG. 4 shows a top front perspective view of one of the apparatuses of FIG. 1 which is a chin support;

[0187] FIG. 5A shows a rear view of a toothed rack with sliders;

[0188] FIG. 5B shows a perspective view of a portion of the toothed rack of FIG. 5A;

[0189] FIG. 5C shows a perspective view of one of the sliders of FIG. 5A;

[0190] FIG. 6A shows a top perspective view of a motorized arrangement comprising a glider;

[0191] FIG. 6B shows a top perspective view of the glider of FIG. 6A;

[0192] FIGS. 7A-7D show top perspective views of various cleaning mechanisms for providing a clean contact surface for the forehead support of FIG. 3;

[0193] FIG. 8 shows a plan view of an ophthalmological examination system;

[0194] FIG. 9 shows a top perspective partially cut-away view of the ophthalmological examination system of FIG. 8;

[0195] FIGS. 10A and 10B show a side perspective view of a guiding mechanism for guiding an ophthalmological examination machine to a subject examination area;

[0196] FIGS. 11A and 11B show a plan view of an ophthalmological examination machine being moved in a Y-axis direction, towards and away from a subject examination area;

[0197] FIGS. 11C and 11D show a plan view of an ophthalmological examination machine being moved in an X-axis direction, towards and away from a subject examination area;

[0198] FIGS. 12A and 12B show a rear view of the two apparatuses of FIG. 1 in a subject examination area being adjusted in a Z-axis direction by the mechanism of FIGS. 1-6B;

[0199] FIG. 13 shows a top perspective view of ophthalmological examination system, showing for a particular subject examination area the X, Y and Z-axis directions;

[0200] FIG. 14 shows schematically a system for automatic ophthalmological examination; and

[0201] FIG. 15 shows schematically a method for automatic ophthalmological examination.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0202] With reference to FIG. 14, there, is shown schematically a system for automatic ophthalmological examination. The system, generally designated 300, comprises a head support 320, a measuring subsystem 330, a mechanical subsystem 340 and a control unit 360.

[0203] The head support 320 is configured to support at least one portion of a head 312 of a subject 310 to be examined. The measuring subsystem 330 comprises at least one sensor 332 configured to detect at least one feature of the subject 310, as indicated schematically by dashed arrow 371.

[0204] The mechanical subsystem 340 is configured for receiving at least two ophthalmological examination devices 350a, 350b, and for positioning the at least two ophthalmological examination devices 350a, 350b and/or the head support 320 in operative positions, as indicated schematically by dashed arrows 375a, 375b and 374 respectively. While FIG. 14 shows two ophthalmological examination devices 350a and 350b, the mechanical subsystem 340 is configured for receiving more than two ophthalmological examination devices, for example three, four or more examination devices. If more than two ophthalmological examination devices are present, these would be denoted as 350a, 350b, 350c etc.

[0205] The control unit 360 is configured fir receiving feature data from the measuring subsystem 330, as indicated by dashed. arrow 372. The feature data is representative of the at least one feature detected by the at least one sensor 332. The control unit 360 is further configured for determining the operative positions based on the feature data. The operative positions are selected to permit the at least two ophthalmological examination devices 350a, 350b to examine one or both eyes 314 of the subject 310.

[0206] The control unit is also configured for outputting instructions to said mechanical subsystem 340 for said positioning of the head support 320 and/or the at least two ophthalmological examination devices 350a, 350b. in said operative positions, as indicated schematically by dashed arrow 373.

[0207] The control unit additionally is configured to receive examination data from the at least two ophthalmological examination devices 350a, 350b representative of eye parameters examined thereby, as indicated schematically by dotted arrows 376a, 376b, 377a, 377b. The control unit also is configured for outputting the examination data, or data or one or more image representative of the examination data, as indicated schematically by dotted arrow 378.

[0208] Further optional features of exemplary systems are described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 13.

[0209] With reference to FIG. 15, there is shown schematically a method for automatic ophthalmological examination, generally designated 400. The method comprises, at step 410, detecting at least one feature of a subject to be examined using at least one sensor in a measuring subsystem. Such features may for example be a chin, nose, eyes,

[0210] At step 420, the method comprises receiving feature data from the measuring subsystem representative of the at least one feature. For example, feature data may include data representative of a distance between a subject's eyes, or a distance from a subject's chin to a reference surface such as a floor.

[0211] The method continues at step 430 to determine, based on the received feature data, operative positions of at least two ophthalmological examination devices, the operative positions being selected to permit the at least two ophthalmological examination devices to examine one or both eyes of the subject.

[0212] The method then continues at step 440, to position a head support configured to support at least one portion of a head of a subject to be examined and/or at least two ophthalmological examination devices in operative positions.

[0213] At step 450, the method comprises examining the subject using the at least two ophthalmological examination devices. Such examination may be simultaneous or successive (sequential), and may be used on both eyes or a single eye of a subject, for example.

[0214] At step 460, the method includes receiving examination data from the at least two ophthalmological examination devices representative of eye parameters examined thereby, and at step 470, the method includes outputting the examination data, or data or one or more image representative of the examination data.

[0215] Although not shown in the specific example of FIG. 15, the method may also include constantly monitoring and repositioning the ophthalmological examination devices and/or the head support during examination, i.e. throughout and/or between examinations, to maintain alignment of the subject with the examination machines and thus ensure obtaining accurate examination data.

[0216] As shown in the example of FIG. 1, a head support is provided in the form of two apparatuses 100, which in turn are in the form of a forehead support 120 and a chin support 140. The forehead support comprises a housing 122 from which two rollers 124 partially protrude, and the chin support 140 comprises a housing 142 from which a single roller 144 partially protrudes. Although in this example, the chin support 140 has a single roller 144 and the forehead support has two rollers, it is envisaged that the opposite may be the case, or each support may have one or more rollers. Each housing 122, 142 may comprise two or more portions which are arranged to be connected together to retain the roller or rollers 124, 144 in position.

[0217] Each of the forehead support 120 and a chin support 140 comprises at least one sensor 130 for sensing the presence of a subject to be examined. For example, the at least one sensor 130 may comprise one or more of a camera, infra-red sensor, a pressure sensor, temperature sensor, proximity sensor and light sensor. The at least one sensor 130 may be located at any one or more locations on the respective support, or adjacent to the support.

[0218] Each of the forehead support 120 and a chin support 140 comprises a first end portion 174 for operable connection to a motorized arrangement (described in more detail below), and a second end portion 164 for operable connection to a gear and rack sliding arrangement, which will now be described with reference to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5A-5C.

[0219] Each second end portion 164 houses a toothed gear 165 journaled for rotation about an axis, and protruding from the second end portion 164. Each gear is almost fully enclosed by a slider 166 connected to each end portion 164, with the exception that the slider 166 comprises an aperture 167 arranged to allow a portion of the gear 165 to protrude there through, for engagement with teeth 163 of a rack 162. The sliders 166 are closely fitted to the rack 162 by means of a recessed portion 168 in each slider 166, arranged to allow the rack 162 to pass there through. In operation, the sliders 166 can be translated along the length of the rack 162, with the toothed gears 165 rolling along and engaging with the teeth 163 of the rack, to allow the correct positioning of the chin support 140 and the forehead support 120. The translation of the sliders 166 along the length of the rack 162 is controlled by means of movement of the chin or forehead supports 140, 120 by a motorized arrangement, which will now be described with reference to FIGS. 6.A and 6B.

[0220] Each first end portion 174 is connected to a glider 176 comprising a recessed portion 179 arranged to allow a central shaft 178b to pass therethrough, and four protruding portions 177, each comprising a guide bore 177a arranged to allow a guide shaft 178a to pass there through. The protruding portions 177 are arranged such that the axes of the guide bores 177a of two protruding portions are aligned, i.e. coaxial, such that a single guide shaft 178a passes through two of the guide bores 177a. The guide shafts and guide bores may have a cross sectional shape other than circular, in order to prevent rotation of the guide shaft in the guide bores. For example, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the guide shafts 178a and guide bores 177a may comprise a square cross section. Other polygonal and non-axisymmetric cross sections are envisaged, for example rectangular triangular, pentagonal, hexagonal, oval, star-shaped, etc. Alternatively, the cross sections may be round, with a recessed key in one of the bores and the shafts being arranged to engage with a protruding key in the other of the bores and the shafts.

[0221] The central shaft 178b comprises a worm gear or other screw thread means, capable of engaging with a portion of the glider 176 and arranged to translate the glider 176 along a shaft path 178, which comprises the central and guide shafts 178b, 178a, and which is bounded at both ends by end-stops 180. At one end of the shaft path 178 is a motor 172 arranged to drive the central shaft 178b in order to translate the glider 176. Since the glider is attached to the first end portion 174 of the chin or forehead support 140, 120, translation of the glider causes translation of the chin or forehead support 140, 120, and thus also translation of the slider 166 at the second end 164 of the chin or forehead support 140, 120 along the toothed rack 163. In this manner, the height of, and spacing between, the chin and forehead supports 140, 120 can be adjusted.

[0222] In some embodiments, the chin and forehead supports 140, 120 can be adjusted roughly before a subject places his head against them, and can be finely adjusted to the correct alignment after the subject places his head against them. For at least this purpose, there may be a camera and/or other sensor on or near the chin and/or forehead supports, to ascertain where the subject to be examined is located. The exact positioning of the subject can be useful in enabling an examination machine to be correctly aligned and achieve the correct focus on the portion of the subject to be examined.

[0223] Various cleaning mechanisms with regard to the rollers 124 of the forehead support 120 will now be described, with reference to FIGS. 7A-D. The rollers 124 comprise a circumferential outer cylindrical surface, i.e. a contact surface 125, arranged to contact a part of a subject to be examined, i.e. a forehead. Since only a portion of the rollers 124 protrudes from the housing 122, the rollers 124 effectively comprise more than one contact surface 125, i.e. a contact surface 125 protruding from the housing 122 in contact with a subject, and at least another contact surface 125 contained within the housing 122 and arranged to be cleaned either by self-cleaning means such as surface coatings and textures, or by a cleaning mechanism which contacts the surface such as a brush, sponge or liquid, and/or by suction means which clean the contact surface.

[0224] In the example of FIG. 7A, the cleaning mechanism includes a rotating cleaning brush roller 126a moveable by a moving mechanism 127a to clean the rollers 125 in a car-wash style arrangement. In this arrangement, one or more actuation devices (not shown) are provided, which drive the moving mechanism 127a to bring at least one of the cleaning brush roller 126a or non-metallic cleaning scrapers 128a into frictional contact with the rollers 124 as they rotate. In the example of FIG. 7B, the cleaning mechanism includes four straight brushes 126b, each arranged on one side of a roller 124 to contact the roller 124 as it rotates past the brush 126b. Although four straight brushes 126b are shown, other numbers of brushes are envisaged. For example, at a minimum, only two straight brushes 126b are necessary, namely one straight brush 126b for each roller. In the example of FIG. 7C, the cleaning mechanism includes two cylindrical rotating brushes 126c (only one is shown), rotating about axes parallel to the axes of the rollers 124, each cleaning one of the rollers 124 as it rotates past the brush 126c. In the example of FIG. 7D, the cleaning mechanism includes two cylindrical rotating brushes 126d (only one is shown), rotating about axes perpendicular to the axes of the rollers 124, each cleaning one of the rollers 124 as it rotates past the brush 126d.

[0225] Although not shown in any of FIGS. 7A-7D, in any or all of the above examples, a fluid may be applied additionally to the rollers 124, and may optionally be removed by suction. The fluid may comprise an antiseptic component.

[0226] The cleaning mechanism cleans the contact surface 125 automatically, without the need for any human operator input, in response to at least one sensor 130 located in or on, or connected. operably to, each apparatus 100 (i.e. chin or forehead support 140, 120) sensing a change in the presence of a subject. The at least one sensor 130 may comprise one or more of a camera, infra-red sensor, a pressure sensor, temperature sensor, proximity sensor and light sensor. For example, the sensor may sense a new subject to be examined approaching, such as with a pressure sensor under the floor, a temperature sensor proximate to the apparatus, an infra-red beam being broken, a camera detecting movement, etc. At this point, in the examples of FIGS. 7A-7D, the rollers 124 on the forehead support 120 and roller 144 on the chin support 140 is rotated past the brushes, so as to provide a clean contact surface 125 of the rollers 124, 144 for contacting the forehead and chin of the subject to be examined respectively.

[0227] FIG. 8 depicts an exemplary system 200 comprising a plurality of subject examination areas 220 (in this example eight subject examination areas 220), arranged around a central area 240 comprising a plurality of ophthalmological machines 260, stored on a central rotating platform 250. Each examination area 220 comprises a head support. As shown more clearly in the cut-away section of FIG. 9, the central rotating platform 250 comprises a lower tier 252 and an upper tier 254, each comprising four slots 256 such that there is a capacity for storing up to eight ophthalmological examination machines 260 on the rotating platform 250.

[0228] The central rotating platform 250 is configured to be rotated until a desired ophthalmological examination machine 260 is radially aligned with a selected one of the subject examination areas 220. This is controlled by a central controller (not shown). Once this radial alignment is achieved, a guiding mechanism is used to move the desired ophthalmological examination machine 260 to the selected one of the subject examination areas 220. This may involve both vertical movement in a Z-axis direction, and horizontal movement, i.e. in a radial direction and in a tangential direction which is orthogonal to the radial direction. Thus, for each fixed subject examination areas 220, a radial direction between the subject examination area 220 and the center of the rotating platform 250 is defined as a Y-axis direction, and a tangential direction which is orthogonal to the Y-axis direction is defined as an X-axis direction.

[0229] As shown in FIGS. 9, 10A and 10B, the exemplary guiding mechanism is separate for each subject examination area 220, and comprises a platform 270 which may be raised and lowered by the support of two side-posts 272, and which may be moved in the Y-axis direction by means of telescoping arms (see FIGS. 11A and 11B, showing the desired ophthalmological examination machine 260 being spaced further from and closer to the subject examination area 220 respectively), and may be adjusted in an X-axis direction (see FIGS. 11C and 11D) by means of rollers or the like, for example.

[0230] For ophthalmological examination, it is required. to stabilize the individual and specifically the eye position using a chair, a table and at least one support. Conventionally, an operator (eye healthcare professional) would manually adapt the ergonomic settings of the head support, the table top and the seat to the patient's morphology so that the eye or eyes of the subject would be in the correct position.

[0231] In the present example, within each subject examination area 220, various adjustment can be made to automatically accommodate the shape and form of each particular subject. The ophthalmological examination system 200 may comprise a data receiver (not shown) for receiving anthropometric data about a subject located in the subject examination area 220, and an ergonomic adjustment mechanism for automatically aligning at least one of the subject and a part of the subject examination area 220 in response to the received data, so that a portion of the subject to be examined is aligned with an examination location of the subject examination area 220 in response to the received data. By anthropometric data, what is meant is the proportions of the subject to be examined (for example, height when seated, size of head, position of eyes in the head, i.e. distance from chin and forehead, spacing between the eyes, etc.). The data receiver may receive any one or more of the following: data extracted from a photograph or image of the subject taken before the subject arrives at the subject examination area, for example from the subject's mobile communication device; data used during a previous examination of the same subject; data stored in a database related to the subject, e.g. data entered by the subject when booking an examination appointment; data based. on statistics appropriate to one or more of the gender, age, height, weight and ethnicity of the subject; or data captured when the subject arrives at the examination area using a sensor. The sensor may be any one or more sensors capable of sensing anthropometric data about a. subject to be examined. For example, the sensor may comprise one or more of a camera, infra-red sensor, pressure sensor, temperature sensor, proximity sensor and light sensor.

[0232] The ergonomic adjustment mechanism in this example comprises a chair or seat 222 which can move up and down, forwards and backwards (Y-axis direction), from side to side (X-axis direction) and/or rotate, and/or may include a moving portion of the floor of the subject examination area 220 which is suitable for the same adjustments, for use by subjects in wheelchairs. The ergonomic adjustment mechanism thus ensures that a portion of the subject to be examined—i.e. the eye or eyes—is correctly aligned with the examination area so that the placement is correct for examination.

[0233] In this exemplary system, each of the subject examination areas comprises two apparatuses 100, namely a forehead support 120 and a chin support 140 as described above. As shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B, the ergonomic adjustment mechanism using the received data, e.g. relating to the size and height of the face of the subject to be examined, can adjust the height of, and spacing between, the chin support 140 and the forehead support 120 by moving these up and down, such as with the motorized system and rack, gear and sliders described above with reference to FIGS. 1-6B.

[0234] As shown in FIG. 13, the subject examination area may comprise a security panel 224 for preventing a subject moving too close to the examination machinery 260 and moving parts. This panel 224 may be provided with an aperture or opening 226 to allow placement of just the portion of the subject to be examined, in this case the face, in position on the apparatuses. The panel can be adjusted so that the opening is at the correct height and/or lateral location for the particular subject, based on anthropometric data gathered. Thus the panel may slide up and down or laterally, and/or may comprise a number of openings which may be selectively opened and closed to enlarge or reduce the size of the aperture 226.

[0235] Additionally, a table or surface on which a subject may lean during the course of the examination may be raised or lowered by the ergonomic adjustment mechanism, based on the patient's anthropometric data received by the data receiver.

[0236] Although not shown in the specific examples, it is envisaged that the sensor which detects features of a subject, in conjunction with the measurement subsystem, can define a safety zone in which features of the subject lie. This safety zone can constitute an invisible boundary which the controller communicates to the mechanical subsystem. In this way, the at least two examination devices can be positioned in such a manner which avoids collisions between the examination devices and the subject to be examined. The safety zone may additionally include the head support, such that collisions can also be avoided with the head support.