Method and apparatus for improving vision and the resolution of retinal images

Apparatus for use in performing surgery on a living eye, said apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of lenslets which form a lenslet array for receiving a reflected point source of the retina of said living eye and for creating an image of the retinal point source;
• a camera located adjacent to said lenslet array for viewing said image of said retinal point source formed on each of said plurality of lenslets of said lenslet array;
• a digital data processor connected to receive output signals from said camera and for converting said output signals to digital signals representative of said retinal point source images, said digital data processor further calculating wave aberrations of said eye using said representative digital signals;
• and
• surgical equipment connected to receive said calculated wave aberrations from said digital data processor for use in performing surgery on said living eye.

Apparatus for fabricating contact or intraocular lenses for correcting for wave aberrations of the living eye, comprising:

• means for generating a reflected point source image of a retina of said living eye;
• means for receiving said reflected point source image and for converting said point source image to corresponding digital signals;
• a digital data processor for calculating wave aberrations of the eye using said digital signals;
• and
• at least one of a contact lens and intraocular fabrication system connected to receive the calculated wave aberrations from said digital data processor for fabricating at least one contact or intraocular lens to provide wavefront compensation for wave aberrations of said living eye.

Apparatus for use in detecting wave aberrations of a living eye and for fabricating a lens to correct said aberrations, the apparatus comprising:

• means for generating a reflected point source image of a retina of said living eye;
• means for receiving said reflected point source image and for converting said reflected point source image to corresponding digital signals;
• a digital data processor for (i) calculating the wave aberrations of the eye, using said digital signals, and (ii) producing a control signal representing the calculated wave aberrations;
• and
• means connected to receive the control signal from said digital data processor for fabricating said lens to correct said wave aberrations.

Apparatus for use in performing surgery on the living eye, said apparatus comprising:

• means for generating a reflected point source image of said retina of said living eye;
• an optical device for receiving said reflected point source image of said retina and for converting said reflected point source image to corresponding digital signals;
• a digital data processor for receiving said corresponding digital signals for calculating wave aberrations of the eye using said digital signals and for generating a correction signal representative of said calculated wave aberrations;
• a compensating optical device for reflecting an image of said retina and for receiving said correction signal, said compensating optical device being adjusted using said correction signal such that wavefront correction for said calculated wave aberrations is provided for said living eye;
• and
• means connected to receive the calculated wave aberrations from said digital data processor for performing surgery of said living eye.

Apparatus for use in detecting wave aberrations of a living eye and for fabricating a lens to correct said wave aberrations, said apparatus comprising:

• an optical system, comprising a plurality of lenslets which form a lenslet array, for receiving a reflected point source image of said retina and for creating an image of the retinal point source;
• a camera located adjacent to said lenslet array for viewing said image of the retinal point source formed on each of said plurality of lenslets of said lenslet array to form output signals;
• and
• a digital data processor connected to receive said output signals from said camera, said digital data processor further (i) calculating said wave aberrations of the eye, using said output signals, and (ii) producing a control signal representing the calculated wave aberrations;
• and
• means connected to receive the control signal from said digital data processor for fabricating said lens.

Apparatus for generating high resolution images of the retina of the living eye, said apparatus comprising:

• means for generating a reflected point source image of said retina of said living eye;
• an optical device for receiving said reflected point source image of said retina and for converting said reflected point source image to corresponding digital signals;
• a digital data processor for receiving said corresponding digital signals for calculating wave aberrations of the eye using said digital signals and for generating a correction signal representative of said calculated wave aberrations;
• a compensating optical device for reflecting an image of said retina and for receiving said correction signal, said compensating optical device being adjusted using said correction signal such that wavefront correction for said calculated wave aberrations is provided for said living eye;
• and
• means for receiving said reflected image of said retina from said compensating optical device after said compensating optical device has corrected said image of said retina for said calculated wave aberrations.

An optical instrument for performing refractions of the living eye, comprising:

• means for generating a reflected point source image of the retina of said living eye;
• means for receiving said reflected point source image and for converting said point source image to corresponding digital signals;
• a digital data processor for calculating wave aberrations of the eye so as to include at least fifth order modes, using said digital signals;
• and
• means connected to receive the calculated wave aberrations from said digital data processor for performing refraction of said living eye.

A method for performing laser surgery on the living eye to correct for aberrations of the living eye, comprising:

• generating a reflected point source image of the retina of said living eye;
• receiving said reflected point source image and converting said point source image to corresponding digital signals;
• calculating wave aberrations of the eye, using said digital signals;
• and
• receiving the calculated wave aberrations for performing laser surgery of said living eye.

A method for performing surgery on a living eye, said method comprising the steps of:

• providing a plurality of lenslets which form a lenslet array for receiving a reflected point source of the retina of said living eye and for creating an image of the retinal point source;
• locating a camera adjacent to said lenslet array for viewing said image of said retinal point source formed on each of said plurality of lenslets of said lenslet array;
• receiving output signals from said camera and converting said output signals to digital signals representative of said retinal point source images, and further calculating wave aberrations of said eye using said representative digital signals;
• and
• connecting surgical equipment to receive said calculated wave aberrations for use in performing surgery on said living eye.

A method for fabricating contact or intraocular lenses for correcting for wave aberrations of the living eye, comprising:

• generating a reflected point source image of a retina of said living eye;
• receiving said reflected point source image and converting said point source image to corresponding digital signals;
• calculating wave aberrations of the eye using said digital signals;
• and
• connecting at least one of a contact and intraocular lens fabrication system to receive the calculated wave aberrations for fabricating at least one contact and intraocular lens to provide wavefront compensation for wave aberrations of said living eye.

A method for detecting wave aberrations of a living eye and for fabricating a lens to correct said aberrations, comprising the steps of:

• generating a reflected point source image of a retina of said living eye;
• receiving said reflected point source image and converting said reflected point source image to corresponding digital signals;
• (i) calculating the wave aberrations of the eye, using said digital signals, and (ii) producing a control signal representing the calculated wave aberrations;
• and
• receiving the control signal for fabricating said lens to correct for said wave aberrations.

A method for performing surgery on the living eye, said method comprising:

• generating a reflected point source image of said retina of said living eye;
• receiving said reflected point source image of said retina and converting said reflected point source image to corresponding digital signals;
• receiving said corresponding digital signals for calculating wave aberrations of the eye using said digital signals and generating a correction signal representative of said calculated wave aberrations;
• providing a compensating optical device for reflecting an image of said retina and for receiving said correction signal, and adjusting said compensating optical device using said correction signal such that wavefront correction for said calculated wave aberrations is provided for said living eye;
• and
• receiving the calculated wave aberrations for performing surgery of said living eye.

A method for detecting wave aberrations of a living eye and fabricating a lens to correct said wave aberrations, said method comprising:

• providing an optical system, comprising a plurality of lenslets which form a lenslet array, for receiving a reflected point source image of said retina and for creating an image of the retinal point source;
• locating a camera adjacent to said lenslet array for viewing said image of the retinal point source formed on each of said plurality of lenslets of said lenslet array to form output signals;
• and
• receiving said output signals from said camera, and (i) calculating said wave aberrations of the eye, using said output signals, and (ii) producing a control signal representing the calculated wave aberrations;
• and
• receiving the control signal for fabricating said lens.

A method for generating high resolution images of the retina of the living eye, said method comprising:

• generating a reflected point source image of said retina of said living eye;
• receiving said reflected point source image of said retina and for converting said reflected point source image to corresponding digital signals;
• receiving said corresponding digital signals for calculating wave aberrations of the eye using said digital signals and generating a correction signal representative of said calculated wave aberrations;
• providing a compensating optical device for reflecting an image of said retina and for receiving said correction signal, said compensating optical device being adjusted using said correction signal such that wavefront correction for said calculated wave aberrations is provided for said living eye;
• and
• receiving said reflected image of said retina from said compensating optical device after said compensating optical device has corrected said image of said retina for said calculated wave aberrations.

A method for performing refractions of the living eye, comprising:

• generating a reflected point source image of the retina of said living eye;
• receiving said reflected point source image and converting said point source image to corresponding digital signals;
• calculating wave aberrations of the eye so as to include at least fifth order modes, using said digital signals;
• and
• receiving the calculated wave aberrations from said digital data processor for performing refraction of said living eye.