The Lions Eye Institute of Western Australia, Inc.

Robert Henry Eikelboom

Paul Phillip Van Saarloos

Fred Norbert Reinholz

Kanagasingam Yogesan

An apparatus and method for producing a high contrast, real time, three dimensional representation of a scanned object with the use of an additional scanning mechanism to gain information about the third dimension. A light beam is reflected along an input path and is modified, split, scanned in a first direction, scanned in a second direction, and directed through a stereo base producer to provide stereoscopic information by impinging the beam onto the surface from two different directions. It is then reflected onto the surface whereby the light traverses an output path identical to the input path towards a splitter. Some of the reflected light is directed towards a photodetector coupled to a signal processor to produce an image for real time viewing.

Stereo scanning laser ophthalmoscope

The present invention provides an apparatus for producing an image of a surface, including a laser source for producing a beam of light, beam modifying means for modifying the properties of the beam, beam splitting means for splitting the beam, focusing means for focusing the beam, first and second scanning means for scanning the beam in first and second different directions, stereo base producing means for obtaining stereoscopic information concerning the surface by impinging the beam onto the surface from two different positions, and reflecting means, wherein a beam from the laser source may be directing along an input path including being modified with the modifying means and split by the beam splitting means, directed onto the first scanning means to scan the beam in the first direction, directed through the second scanning means to scan the beam in the second direction, directed through the stereo base producing means, and then directed off the reflecting means and onto the surface, whereby reflected light from the surface traverses an output path identical to the input path, towards the beam splitting means, and whereby some of the reflected light is directed towards the photodetecting means coupled to the signal processing means and display means to produce an image for viewing with visualizing means in real time. The present invention also provides a method for scanning a surface with a laser beam to thereby produce an image of the surface, including directing a laser beam along an input path including modifying and then splitting the laser beam, focusing the beam, scanning the beam in a first direction, scanning the beam in a second direction, directing the beam through stereo base producing means to provide stereoscopic information by impinging the beam onto the surface from two different positions, and reflecting the beam onto the surface, whereby reflected light from the surface traverses an output path identical to the input path, splitting the beam and directing a portion of the split beam towards photodetecting means coupled to signal processing means and display means, whereby a resultant image may be viewed with visualizing means in real time.

The present invention provides a system for creating and visualising three-dimensional images of an object, including imaging means for obtaining two images of the same object from different angles, digitizing means for digitizing the images, image processing means for color matching and registering the images, controller means for converting the two images into an interlaced image, display means for displaying the registered interlaced image, and visualizing means for visualizing the image in three dimensions. It also provides a method for creating and visualising three-dimensional images of an object including obtaining two images of the same object from different angles, digitizing the images, color matching and registering the images, converting the two images into an interlaced image, displaying the registered interlaced image for visualizing the image in three dimensions, measuring areas of interest, and calculating desired measurements of the object.

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Brookdale, Australia

Robert Henry Eikelboom