General Scientific Corporation

Kaiser Optical Systems Inc.

General Scientific Corp. / Surgitel

Other

Environmental Research Institute of Michigan

Kaiser Optical System, Inc.

Byung Jin Chang

Thomas Allen Cummings

David Nowak

James M Tedesco

Donghwan Kim

Harry Owen

Taekwan Yoon

Tom Cummings

Ergonomic prism loupes provide establish deflection angle less than 45 degrees, more preferably around 40 degrees, to improves visual and postural ergonomics. It has been determined that with such a deflection angle, maximum head tilt is less than 20° for the vast majority of procedural configurations. The prism may be a roof prism. The eyepiece portion may include a singlet and a doublet lenses, and the objective portion may include a triplet lens. The objective portion may also include an optical element that establishes a working distance, and different eyepiece or objective portions may be provided for a range of magnifications. The invention further includes a structure for mounting the loupes on eyeglass frames, such as a through-the-lens (TTL) mounting structure, a front-lens mounting (FLM) structure, or a flip-up mounting structure.

Ergonomic loupes with beam-redirecting prisms

LED light

An optical mounting assembly is adapted for use with wrap-around type eyeglass frames of the type that utilize a single sheet of curved lens material to form right and left lenses which may carry through-the-lens or TTL oculars or loupes. The optical mounting assembly may attach to an existing pair of wrap-around type eyeglass frames, or the invention may include the frames. The bridge portion of the frames and the lens material are sandwiched between front and rear components, with a nose pad component coupled to the rear component. The nose pad component may comprise a pair of bendable wire arms covered with, or terminating in, cushioning material. An illuminator or video camera may couple to the front component. The rear component may be adapted to receive an optical accessory such as a light-blocking or light-admitting filter material.

Multifunctional mounting assembly for wrap-around eyeglass frames

Head-mounted accessories for surgeons and medical/dental practitioners are equipped with no-touch, hands-free controls. A voice-activated headlamp includes a controller operative to send a signal to control a light source in accordance with a voice command received through an integrated or remote microphone. The voice command and control may be speaker-dependent or speaker-independent, and the head-mounted unit may include an interface to a computer for voice-command training or other purposes. The head-mounted unit includes a memory for storing the voice commands. The invention may be used to control other medical/dental accessories such as a head-mounted video camera, in which case the controller is further operative to at least turn the video camera ON or OFF. More preferably, a controller is additionally operative to control the focus or zoom of the video camera in accordance with a voice command.

Head-mounted medical/dental accessories with voice-controlled operation

Wrap-around eyeglass frames with bridge mounting structure

An illuminator enables the selection of different color temperatures for different medical, dental or surgical procedures. A first circuit board is moveable with respect to the housing and a second circuit board is fixed within the housing. A plurality of LEDs are mounted on the first circuit board, which receives power from electrical contacts between the two boards. A user control enables a user to move the first circuit board between different positions, wherein, in each position, different LEDs or combinations of the LEDs emit light through the light-transmission window. Movement of the user control may cause the first circuit board to rotate or slide relative the second circuit board. The source of electrical power may be remote or integrated batteries. The rear portion of the housing may include a mount for attaching the illuminator to eyeglass frames, a headband, or other head-mounting apparatus.

Head-mountable illuminators with user-selectable color temperature

An assembly with removable and replaceable wire arms is used to attach different nose pad configurations to eyeglass frames for enhanced versatility. A plate with front and back surfaces and opposing side edges mounts on the bridge portion of the eyeglass frames. Opposing right and left wire members extending downwardly from the side edges of the plate terminate in a coupling mechanism adapted to receive a nose pad. The wire members are manually bendable, enabling a user to independently adjust the distance between the nose pads and the distance of the nose pads from the eyeglass frames. The coupling mechanisms may include holes to receive nose pads with posts, and screws to hold the posts in position, or barbed fins to receive nose pads with slots that engage with the barbed fins. The coupling mechanisms may receive physically separate nose pads or nose pads interconnected through an upper nose rest.

Removable, adjustable wire arms for nose pads

A head-mountable light includes a user-adjustable spot size. Light from an LED travels through beam-forming optical elements supported at the front opening of a housing to form a spot of light at a working distance. An adjustable iris, situated between the LED and the beam forming optical elements, enables a user to adjust the iris and vary the size of the aperture and the spot size of the light at the working distance. The manually operated iris size control may comprise a rotatable ring on the exterior of the housing, and the plurality of beam-forming optical elements may comprise a singlet lens followed by a doublet lens. The light from the LED strikes the beam-dispersing element directly without an intervening condensing optical element (i.e., condensing lens). The assembly further includes a mechanical connector adapted to couple the housing to a pair of eyeglass frames, headband or other head-worn structure.

Head-mounted LED light with integrated, adjustable iris

Pair of removable, adjustable wire arms for nose pads

Head-mounted accessories for surgeons and medical/dental practitioners are equipped with no-touch controls including, in different embodiments, passive and active infrared detection, voice operation, and capacitive proximity control. Compared to infrared, capacitive proximity control may be more omni-directional, whereas IR, particularly active IR, tends to be more effective in a cone of operation. Compared to voice activation, capacitive sensing is less expensive and less prone to false activation based upon ambient noise or other voices. The invention may be used to control other medical/dental accessories such as a head-mounted video camera, in which case the controller is further operative to at least turn the video camera ON or OFF. More preferably, a controller is additionally operative to control the focus or zoom of the video camera in accordance with touch-free commands.

Head-mounted illuminator with capacitive proximity control

A headlight incorporates an infrared sensor enabling the light to be turned ON and OFF without physical contact. The system includes a light source and a mechanism for coupling the light source to eyeglass frames or to a headband. A power supply and control unit is disposed remotely from the light source and is interconnected to the light source through an electrical cable. An infrared (IR) motion sensor is interconnected to the power supply and control unit, and electrical circuitry within the power supply and control unit is operative to turn the light source ON and OFF is response to the detection of a hand or other body part by the sensor. In the preferred embodiment, the light source includes a light-emitting diode (LED), and the IR detector is user-adjustable to set the ON/OFF activation distance in accordance with user preferences.

Medical/dental headlamp with adjustable proximity on/off sensor

An improved illuminator with an adjustable beam pattern to be worn by medical and dental professionals includes a housing, a light-emitting diode (LED) disposed in the housing outputting light through a distal opening in the housing, an achromatic doublet lens mounted in the opening in the housing, and a singlet lens disposed between the LED and the achromatic lens. The distance between the singlet lens and the doublet lens may be adjustable, and/or distance between the LED and the singlet lens may be adjustable, through a threaded connections, for example. In the preferred embodiment, the achromatic doublet lens, the singlet lens, or both the singlet and the doublet lens have a planar surface. A conical mirror may be disposed between the LED and the singlet lens to increase the light collection efficiency of the LED.

Growing community of inventors

Ann Arbor, MI, United States of America

Byung Jin Chang