# US 2019/0167090 A1 · Methods and apparatus for making a determination about an eye in ambient lighting conditions

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- Number: US 2019/0167090 A1
- Document ID: US20190167090A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 16/250,592
- Filed: 2019-01-17
- Published: 2019-06-06
- Earliest claimed: 2014-11-07
- Assignees: Ohio State Innovation Foundation
- Applicants: Ohio State Innovation Foundation
- Inventors: Melissa D. Bailey
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20190167090A1

## CPC

- A61B 3/0025: {characterised by electronic signal processing, e.g. eye models}
- A61B 3/12: for looking at the eye fundus, e.g. ophthalmoscopes (A61B3/13 takes precedence)
- A61B 3/156: {for blocking}
- A61B 3/158: {of corneal reflection}
- A61B 3/103: for determining refraction, e.g. refractometers or skiascopes
- A61B 3/1035: {for measuring astigmatism (testing astigmatism A61B3/036)}
- A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D)

## Abstract

Disclosed herein are methods and apparatus for making a determination about an eye in ambient lighting conditions comprising detecting ambient light reflected out of an eye of a subject from a retina of the eye of the subject and making a determination about the eye of the subject based upon the reflected ambient light.

## Claims

### Claim at position 1

1-31. (canceled)

### Claim 32

A method comprising:
capturing, using an image capture device, an image of an eye of a subject, wherein said image is captured using only ambient lighting conditions and wherein non-relevant reflections from a cornea and a lens of the eye of the subject are managed while capturing the image;
determining, using a computing device, an overall intensity of light from a plurality of pixels located within at least a portion of a pupil captured in the image, wherein the plurality of pixels comprise red, green, and blue pixels;
determining, using the computing device, an average red intensity from the plurality of pixels located within the at least a portion of the pupil captured in the image;
determining, using the computing device, an average blue intensity from the plurality of pixels located within the at least a portion of a pupil captured in the image; and
determining, by the computing device, using the average red intensity , the average blue intensity and the determined overall intensity an optical quality of the eye.

### Claim 33 (depends on 32)

The method of claim 32, wherein the determined optical quality of the eye comprises an autorefraction or photorefraction measurement.

### Claim 34 (depends on 32)

The method of claim 32, wherein capturing, using the image capture device, an image of the eye of the subject comprises capturing a first image using only ambient lighting conditions with the image capture device through a spectacle lens or a contact lens while the subject is wearing the spectacle lens or the contact lens over the eye and capturing a second image using only ambient lighting conditions with the image capture device while the subject is not wearing the spectacle lens or the contact lens over the eye and the first image is compared to the second image and the determined optical quality of the eye is based on the comparison and comprises an estimated prescription for the spectacle lens or the contact lens.

### Claim 35 (depends on 32)

The method of claim 32, wherein the average red intensity is brighter relative to the average blue intensity and the overall intensity is relatively brighter, and the determined optical quality of the eye is a positive value or hyperopia.

### Claim 36 (depends on 32)

The method of claim 32, wherein the average red intensity is dimmer relative to the average blue intensity and the overall intensity is relatively dimmer, and the determined optical quality of the eye is a negative value or myopia.

### Claim 37 (depends on 32)

The method of claim 32, wherein the method further comprises:
making a first determined optical quality about the eye of the subject based upon the reflected ambient light from a first plurality of pixels located within the at least a portion of the pupil of the eye of the subject captured in the image;
making a second determined optical quality about the eye from a second plurality of pixels located within the at least a portion of the pupil of the eye of the subject captured in the image, wherein the second plurality of pixels are a subset of the first plurality of pixels;
making a third determined optical quality about the eye from a third plurality of pixels located within the at least a portion of the pupil of the eye of the subject captured in the image, wherein the third plurality of pixels are a subset of the first plurality of pixels and are separate from the second plurality of pixels; and
comparing the first determined optical quality, the second determined optical quality and the third determined optical quality to make the determined optical quality about the eye of the subject based upon the reflected ambient light.

### Claim 38 (depends on 37)

The method of claim 37, wherein comparing the determined optical quality, the second determined optical quality and the third determined optical quality to make the determination about the eye of the subject based upon the reflected ambient light comprises one or more of determining a standard deviation of the first determination to the second determination, a standard deviation of the first determination to the second determined optical quality, or a standard deviation of the second determined optical quality to the third determined optical quality, wherein the determined standard deviation indicates the determined optical quality about the eye of the subject based upon the reflected ambient light.

### Claim 39 (depends on 37)

The method of claim 37, wherein the determined optical quality of the eye is a presence or an absence of astigmatism.

### Claim 40 (depends on 39)

The method of claim 39, wherein the presence of astigmatism is detected and an amount of astigmatism is determined by comparing the overall intensity and the average red intensity or the average blue intensity of various regions of the pupil.

### Claim 41 (depends on 40)

The method of claim 40, wherein the amount of astigmatism is determined by measuring one or more of hyperopia or myopia at the various regions of the pupil.

### Claim 42 (depends on 32)

The method of claim 32, wherein managing non-relevant reflections from the cornea and the lens of the eye of the subject while capturing the image comprises placing a polarizing filter over a lens of the image capture device or between the image capture device and the eye of the subject.

### Claim 43 (depends on 32)

The method of claim 32, wherein managing non-relevant reflections from the cornea and the lens of the eye of the subject while capturing the image comprises blocking light that would lead to reflections from a corneal surface or the lens of the eye.

### Claim 44 (depends on 43)

The method of claim 43, wherein the image capture device further comprises a surface having a black matte finish and wherein blocking light that would lead to reflections from a corneal surface or the lens of the eye comprises the surface absorbing light or preventing reflections from the corneal surface or the lens of the eye caused by the ambient lighting conditions.

### Claim 45 (depends on 44)

The method of claim 44, wherein the surface comprises at least a portion of a case that houses the image capture device.

### Claim 46

The method of 32, wherein the image capture device comprises a smart phone or other mobile computing device having a camera.

### Claim 47 (depends on 32)

The method of claim 32, wherein the image capture device captures a still image or a video of the eye of the subject.

### Claim 48 (depends on 32)

The method of claim 32, wherein the subject's pupil has a diameter of approximately 2 mm or less.

### Claim 49 (depends on 32)

The method of claim 32, wherein the subject's pupil is a natural pupil.

### Claim 50 (depends on 32)

The method of claim 32, wherein the subject's pupil is an artificial pupil.

### Claim 51 (depends on 32)

The method of claim 32, wherein the eye of the subject is the subject's left eye or right eye.

### Claim 52 (depends on 32)

The method of claim 32, wherein the eye of the subject is the subject's left eye and right eye.

### Claim 53 (depends on 32)

The method of claim 32, further comprising detecting an intensity for the ambient light conditions and providing an indication if the ambient light conditions are too low for the image capture device to capture the image of the eye of the subject.

### Claim at position 24

54-84. (canceled)