SCHEIMPFLUG ATTACHMENT FOR OPHTHALMOLOGICAL SLITLAMPS

Scheimpflug imaging is a technique suited for the quantification of mi nor opacities of the human eye lens. In the past, several Scheimpflug systems have been developed but being fairly complex and expensive, th ey have not been widely used. At present, only one instrument is on th e market. For these reasons, a new Scheimpflug attachment - to be oper ated in connection with a slitlamp - was developed. The system is of c ompact, light-weight and modular design and consists of commercially a vailable components. The Scheimpflug image, recorded by a CCD camera, is digitized in real time by a PC. It is displayed on a video monitor for on-line alignment. The data obtained are permanently stored on opt ical disk and are available for further analysis. The design of a prot otype instrument is described. The practical applicability of the inst rument and the high quality of the images is demonstrated.