Simultaneous, wavelength multiplexed vision screener

An apparatus for generating images of eyes for use in identifying non-refractive and refractive errors, comprising:

• a camera having an objective lens;
• an infrared light source located coaxially with the camera's objective lens;
• a first flash positioned adjacent to the infrared light source and operable to emit a first color of light in a first meridian around the objective lens;
• and
• a second flash positioned adjacent to the infrared light source and operable to emit a second color of light in a second meridian around the objective lens.

A system for generating infrared and wavelength-encoded images of eyes, comprising:

• a camera having an objective lens;
• an infrared light source located coaxially with the objective lens;
• a first flash positioned adjacent to the infrared light source and operable to emit a first color of light in a first meridian around the objective lens;
• and
• a second flash positioned adjacent to the infrared light source and operable to emit a second color of light in a second meridian around the objective lens;
• and
• a control system, in communication with the camera, infrared light source, and flashes, operable to cause the infrared light source to emit infrared light and to cause the camera to capture an infrared image of the eyes using the emitted infrared light, the control system further operable to cause the flashes to fire simultaneously and to cause the camera to capture a wavelength-encoded image of the eyes using the light emitted by the flashes.

A system for identifying non-refractive and refractive errors in eyes, comprising:

• a camera having an objective lens;
• an infrared light source located coaxially with the objective lens;
• a first flash positioned adjacent to the infrared light source and operable to emit a first color of light in a first meridian around the objective lens;
• and
• a second flash positioned adjacent to the infrared light source and operable to emit a second color of light in a second meridian around the objective lens;
• and
• a control system, in communication with the camera, infrared light source, and flashes, operable to cause the camera to record an infrared image of the eyes while illuminated by infrared light and a wavelength-encoded image of the eyes while illuminated with wavelength-encoded light, the control system further operable to process the infrared image to identify non-refractive errors in the eyes and to process the wavelength-encoded image to identify refractive errors in the eyes.

A method for identifying errors in eyes, comprising the steps of:

• generating an infrared image of the eyes;
• identifying non-refractive errors using the infrared image;
• generating a wavelength-encoded image of the eyes;
• decoding the wavelength-encoded image of the eyes into wavelength-decoded images;
• and
• identifying refractive errors using the wavelength-decoded images.