Light inclining accessory for slit lamp
AssigneeCodman & Shurtleff, Inc.
InventorWerner Mueller, Jr.
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A light inclining accessory for a slit lamp includes a multi-faceted mirror having a top segment for receiving an illumination beam from the slit lamp and directing the illumination beam horizontally toward a focal point coinciding with the eye of a patient and a plurality of additional mirror segments having varying angles relative to each other, and a light directing device pivotally mounted on the slit lamp to be positioned to intercept the illumination beam and selectively adjustable to direct the illumination beam toward the additional mirror segments such that the illumination beam can be directed toward the focal point at various angles of inclination.
Claims22
A light inclining accessory of an ophthalmologic slit lamp having an illumination column providing an essentially vertical illumination beam from an end thereof, a support spaced from that end of the illumination column, and a binocular microscope for viewing a patient's eye, said accessory comprising:
- first means adapted to be mounted on said support for reflecting said illumination beam essentially into the horizontal, said means accomplishing said reflection without converging or diverging the rays of said beam;
- means for intercepting and redirecting said illumination beam, said intercepting and redirecting means being selectively positionable between said illumination column and said illumination beam first reflecting means, said intercepting and redirecting means being adjustable to selectively redirect said beam at one of various angles;
- and
- a plurality of means for reflecting said redirected beam into the eye of a patient at various angles of inclination, each of said redirected beam reflecting means being mounted on said support at varying angles relative to each other and to said illumination beam first reflecting means.
A slit lamp comprising:
- a substantially vertical illumination column having a bottom end for providing an illumination beam;
- mirror means spaced below said bottom end of said illumination column including a top mirror segment directly aligned with said illumination beam and arranged at an angle of 45.degree. to the vertical to bend said illumination beam 90.degree. without converging or diverging the rays of said beam for directing along a horizontal path to a focal point, said mirror means further including at least one additional mirror segment disposed below said top mirror segment;
- and
- light directing means for intercepting said illumination beam and directing said illumination beam without converging or diverging the rays of said beam toward said additional mirror segment, said light directing means being pivotally mounted on said illumination column to be moved from a rest position not interfering with passage of said illumination beam to said top mirror segment to an operative position between said bottom end of said illumination column and said top mirror segment to direct said illumination beam toward said additional mirror segment whereby said illumination beam can be directed toward the focal point at an inclined angle to the horizontal.
A method of providing a beam of light at an angle of incidence from the horizontal in a slit lamp ophthalmologic device having a vertical slit lamp column, a horizontal viewing binocular microscope and a mirror for reflecting the illumination beam from said column essentially in a horizontal plane into a patient's eye, comprising the steps of:
- intercepting said beam before it hits said reflecting mirror;
- reflecting said beam in a horizontal plane above its previous normal plane of reflection from said reflecting mirror;
- redirecting said reflected beam at various angles;
- and
- reflecting said redirected beam into said patient's eye at an angle of incidence with the horizontal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.