Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 10
Claim 1
Independent Claim
198 words
A specular microscope having wide field scanning for the examination under magnification of a selected generally planar area within the cornea of an eye, said microscope comprising a lens system including a converging lens and an objective lens, observation means, opaque masking means positioned in a plane normal to the optical axis of said microscope between said lens system and said observation means, said masking means including first and second spaced parallel linear slit portions extending therethrough and disposed at opposite sides of said optical axis, means for oscillating said masking means in said plane in a direction normal to the length of said slit portions at a desired rate, illuminating means for directing a beam of light through said first slit portion, said converging lens and said objective lens, to illuminate a narrow elongate area within the cornea of an eye positioned behind said objective lens on one side of said masking means, said observations means being positioned on the other side of said masking means to receive light reflected from said elongate area and passing through said objective and converging lenses and said second slit portion in the direction of said optical axis of said microscope.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
198 words
A specular microscope having wide field scanning for the examination under magnification of a selected generally planar area within the cornea of an eye, said microscope comprising a lens system including a converging lens and an objective lens, observation means, opaque masking means positioned in a plane normal to the optical axis of said microscope between said lens system and said observation means, said masking means including first and second spaced parallel linear slit portions extending therethrough and disposed at opposite sides of said optical axis, means for oscillating said masking means in said plane in a direction normal to the length of said slit portions at a desired rate, illuminating means for directing a beam of light through said first slit portion, said converging lens and said objective lens, to illuminate a narrow elongate area within the cornea of an eye positioned behind said objective lens on one side of said masking means, said observations means being positioned on the other side of said masking means to receive light reflected from said elongate area and passing through said objective and converging lenses and said second slit portion in the direction of said optical axis of said microscope.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
27 words
Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 including means for oscillating said masking means at a rate in excess of the image retention rate of the human eye.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
21 words
Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 and including target screen means for recovering the image passing through said second slit portion.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
15 words
Apparatus in accordance with claim 3 wherein said target screen means comprises a photo-sensitive surface.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
18 words
Apparatus in accordance with claim 4 wherein said photo-sensitive surface comprises the input surface of a photo-intensifier tube.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
20 words
Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 and including means for focusing said microscope at a preselected area within the cornea.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
21 words
Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said mask oscillates at the rate of about 500 cycles or more per second.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
31 words
Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein the width of said first slit is about 1 mm, and the lateral excursion of said slits is between about 5 to 7 millimeters.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
18 words
Apparatus in accordance with claim 8 wherein said slits are spaced apart from about 16 to 20 millimeters.