Surgical headlamp with dual aperture control

A method of projecting a beam of light from a fiber optic source, comprising the steps of

• positioning said fiber optic source so that said beam of light is emitted from said fiber optic source along a predetermined optical path, wherein said beam of light has a central region surrounded by a penumbral region;
• controlling the size of said beam of light by passing said beam of light through a first optical diaphragm having an adjustable aperture;
• and
• obstructing said penumbral region of said beam of light of a given size by passing said beam of light through a second optical diaphragm sized to permit only said central region of said beam of light therethrough, wherein said controlling the size and obstructing said penumbral region of said beam of light is performed simultaneously.

In an optical system where light is projected from a fiber optic conduit onto a target region, wherein the projected light of a given diameter contains a uniform central region and a surrounding uniform penumbral region, a method of eliminating the penumbral region comprising the steps of:

• passing the projected light transmitted from said fiber optic conduit directly into a first adjustable optical diaphragm to selectively control the diameter of the projected light impinging upon said target region;
• passing the projected light through a second adjustable optical diaphragm having an aperture sized to obstruct at least the penumbral region of the projected light, thereby enabling only light from the uniform central region to impinge upon said target region;
• means for simultaneously adjusting said first and second adjustable optical diaphragms in order to simultaneously control both the diameter and eliminate the penumbral region of the projected light;
• and
• focusing the projected light onto said target region by passing the projected light through a focusing lens arrangement after the projected light has passed through said second optical diaphragm.