Reflectometry instrument and method for measuring macular pigment

A reflectometry instrument for illuminating a macula of a human eye, comprising:

• a light source for emitting an illumination beam, the illumination beam illuminating the macula, a portion of the illumination beam being reflected from the macula and forming a detection beam, the detection beam being indicative of macular pigment in the macula;
• a plurality of mirrors in series for reflecting the illumination beam toward the macula and for reflecting the detection beam from the macula;
• and
• a beam dump in optical alignment with the detection beam for absorbing stray light within the reflectometry instrument,
• wherein the illumination beam and the detection beam reflect off of and remain separated between each mirror of the plurality of mirrors.

A reflectometry instrument to measure macular pigment of a macula of a human eye, comprising:

• an illumination system for generating an illumination beam and directing the illumination beam to the macula, a detection beam being generated as a portion of the illumination beam reflected by the macula;
• a detection system for receiving and measuring the detection beam to determine an amount of the macular pigment in the macula;
• a camera for obtaining a live image of the human eye prior to, during, or after directing the illumination beam to the macula;
• an electronic display for presenting the live image of the human eye to an operator of the reflectometry instrument;
• and
• a series of mirrors, wherein each mirror of the series of mirrors reflects the illumination beam to the macula and reflects the detection beam from the macula.

A reflectometry instrument for illuminating a macula of a human eye, comprising:

• a light source for emitting an illumination beam, the illumination beam illuminating the macula;
• a spectrometer for measuring a detection beam, the detection beam being a portion of the illumination beam being reflected from the macula, the detection beam being indicative of an amount of macular pigment in the macula;
• an afocal mirror relay for reflecting the illumination beam from the light source and toward the macula and for reflecting the detection beam from the macula and toward the spectrometer;
• a series of mirrors for reflecting the illumination beam toward the macula and for reflecting the detection beam from the macula, the series of mirrors including the afocal mirror relay and a first mirror;
• and
• a D-shaped mirror included within the series of mirrors, the D-shaped mirror being arranged relative to the illumination beam to allow the illumination beam to pass by the D-shaped mirror and being arranged relative to the detection beam to reflect the detection beam,
• wherein the illumination beam and the detection beam reflect off each mirror of the afocal mirror relay offset from each other to remain separated after the macula, and an incident ray of the illumination beam and a reflected ray of the detection beam at the first mirror are parallel.