Abstract:
A hybrid tracking system is configured to combine the advantages of open loop and close loop tracking systems. The hybrid tracking system employs a position-sensing device in an open loop configuration, while the position-sensing device itself is a close loop device. A particular application of this tracking system is to track eye movement in a refractive laser surgery. The hybrid-tracking configuration enables optical and mechanical separation of the position-sensing device from the surgical laser beam. As a result, the position-sensing device can be made as a modular device, and the hybrid eye-tracking system can have a relatively large tracking range even when a curved mark such as the limbus is used as the tracking reference.

Description:
[0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 60/194,170, filed on Apr. 3, 2000. 
     
    
     
       TECHNICAL FIELD  
         [0002]    The present invention relates to an optical tracking system that tracks the lateral displacement of an object. In particularly, the present invention relates to a hybrid optical tracking system that tracks the lateral displacement of a subject&#39;s eye during a laser refractive surgery.  
         BACKGROUND  
         [0003]    In a recent patent application entitled “Optical Tracking Device” and now U.S. Pat. No. 6,179,422, a tracking device is described to employ two scanning beams to scan across a reference mark affixed on an object to be tracked. In an embodiment of eye tracking, the device projects two beams scanning across the limbus at  12  and  3  o&#39;clock positions, respectively.  
           [0004]    Two configurations have been described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,179,422. The first one is of open loop, in which the scanning probe beam does not follow the movement of the eye. The second one is of close loop, in which both the surgical laser beam and the probe beam follow the movement of the tracked eye.  
           [0005]    The advantage of the open loop configuration is its simplicity and its feasibility to separate the position-sensing device from the optical assembly for the surgical laser beam. Its disadvantage is a limited tracking range due to the curved nature of the limbus, which is the tracking mark for the position-sensing device. The movement detection along two orthogonal directions is no longer independent in an open loop configuration when the probe beams have significant displacement with respect to the curved mark such as the limbus.  
           [0006]    In contrast, the close loop configuration can have much larger tracking range while having both the probe beam and the surgical beam deflected via a common beam steering module. The movement detection along the two orthogonal directions is basically independent in a close loop configuration because the probe beams have no significant displacement with respect to the limbus. On the other hand, using a common beam steering module for both the surgical and the probe beams introduces a couple of limitations. First, it requires a more complex optical assembly for the surgical laser beam. Second, it requires a bigger mirror for the common beam steering module, while a bigger mirror means a slower response.  
         SUMMARY  
         [0007]    In this application, a hybrid configuration is contemplated to obtain an eye-tracking system having combined advantages of open loop and close loop configurations. The eye-tracking system with such hybrid configuration has an optical assembly of the position-sensing device separated from the optical assembly of the surgical laser beam. The position-sensing device can thus be made as a modular device and serve as an open loop device with respect to the whole tracking system. Meanwhile, the position-sensing device itself includes a beam steering module to direct the probe beams to follow the eye movement, and it can thus provide a larger tracking range. In term of its feedback mechanism, the position-sensing device itself is, therefore, a close loop device.  
           [0008]    In a preferred embodiment, the hybrid tracking system consists of a position-sensing device, a system computer, and a first beam steering module. The position-sensing device detects the eye movement and produces x-y position signals of the eye. The system computer reads in the position signals and generates a control signal to the first beam steering module. The first beam steering module thus steers a surgical laser beam to follow the eye movement.  
           [0009]    In the preferred embodiment, the position-sensing device comprises a first and a second scanning beam generators, a second beam steering module, an optical assembly, a first and a second photo detectors, a processing electronics, and a control unit. Each scanning beam generator produces a scanning probe beam. The second beam steering module directs the first and second scanning probe beams on to the eye such that the two beams scan repetitively across the limbus at 12 and 3 o&#39;clock positions, respectively. The optical assembly focuses scattered light of the probe beams on to respectively the first and second photo detectors. As each probe beam scans across the limbus, the corresponding detector records a sharp change in the scattered light signal. The timing of this sharp change in the detector signal indicates the relative position between the scanning probe beam and the limbus. The processing electronics measures this timing with respect to a reference time position to produce a delay time Td. The control unit analyzes this delay time Td to generate a driven signal Vd to steer the second beam steering module such that the delay time Td is kept around an initial value Td 0 . By this way, the scanning probe beam follows the movement of the eye, and the position-sensing device works as a close loop device.  
           [0010]    When the response speed of the position-sensing device including the second beam steering module is fast enough to follow the eye movement, the driven signal Vd is proportional to the displacement of the eye. This signal Vd can then be used directly as x-y positioning signals of the eye. If the second beam steering module is slower than the involuntary eye movement, the eye displacement with respect to its initial position can be determined by measuring simultaneously the angular position α of the second beam steering mirror and the delay time Td. The control unit analyzes α and Td for the two probe beams and generates x-y positioning signals of the eye.  
           [0011]    The surgical system computer can then use these x-y-positioning signals to guide the surgical laser beam to follow the eye movement. In this way, the position-sensing device feeds one-way signals to the surgical laser system and the system thus works in an open loop configuration.  
           [0012]    Accordingly, an advantage of this hybrid-tracking system is its optical and mechanical separation of its position-sensing device from the other part of the tracking system and thus enables to design the position-sensing device into a modular device.  
           [0013]    Another advantage of this hybrid-tracking system is its close loop configuration in detection, which enables a large tracking range for a moving object with a curved reference.  
           [0014]    A further advantage of this hybrid-tracking system is its position detection scheme, which makes fast eye tracking (i.e., positioning detection) achievable even a relatively slow beam steering module is used in the position-sensing device. 
       
    
    
       [0015]    The preferred embodiment is described in term of tracking a section of limbus as a reference. The disclosed method and apparatus can, however, be used to track other object with a curved reference. The above and other objectives and advantages of the invention will become more apparent in the following drawings, detailed description, and claims.  
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0016]    [0016]FIG. 1 shows an open-loop configuration of a tracking system.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 1 a  shows timing diagrams of the scattered-light signal from the eye and the reference signal generated by a scanning beam generator.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 2 shows a close-loop configuration of a tracking system.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 3 a  is a schematic diagram showing a scanning-beam generator.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 3 b  is a schematic diagram showing another scanning-beam generator.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a processing electronics for the optical monitoring and tracking systems of FIGS. 1 and 2.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 5 a  is a schematic diagram illustrating simultaneous tracking of an eye in two different directions by two scanning probe beams projected on the limbus.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 5 b  shows two scanning probe beams projected on a partially obscured limbus to track the eye movement in two different directions in a LASIK surgery.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 6 is an embodiment of the hybrid tracking system in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0025]    [0025]FIG. 6 is an embodiment of a hybrid tracking system  600  in accordance with the present invention. In comparison, FIG. 1 shows an open-loop configuration of a tracking system  100 , and FIG. 2 shows a close-loop configuration of a tracking system  200 .  
         [0026]    Now refer to FIG. 1. The system  100  implements an open loop configuration that includes a position sensing device  101 , a system computer  80 , and a beam steering module  60  (e.g., a x-y scanner). The position-sensing module  101  projects a scanning probe beam  4  and monitors the position of the eye  10 . The system computer  80  controls the beam steering module  60  to guide a surgical laser beam  62  to a desired position on the eye  10 . As an open loop configuration, the scanning probe beam  4  dose not follow the movement of the eye  10  and only one beam steering module  60  is required.  
         [0027]    For illustration purpose, the position-sensing device  101  shown in FIG. 1 is only a linear positioning device and is for monitoring one-dimensional eye movement only (e.g., along x-direction). To determine the eye&#39;s movement in two dimensions, a second set of linear positioning device is needed to monitor the movement of the eye  10  along a second different direction, e.g., the y-direction orthogonal to the x-direction.  
         [0028]    The position-sensing device  101  comprises a scanning beam generator  30 , a collection lens  6 , a photo-detector  7 , and a processing electronics  50 . The limbus  11  of the eye  10  is used as a reference mark  20 . The scanning-beam generator  30  projects a scanning probe beam  4  across the reference mark  20 . The scanning probe beam  4  may repeatedly start from a fixed point and is scanned at a constant speed over a predetermined tracking range. The scanning-beam generator  30  also produces a reference signal  31  to indicate a reference point of the scanning.  
         [0029]    The collection lens  6  is disposed at a proper position relative to the eye  10  to collect the scattered light  5  of the probe beam  4  and focuses the scattered light  5  onto photo-detector  7 . The photo-detector  7  receives and converts the scattered light  5  into an electrical signal, i.e., scattered-light signal  8 . The scattering from the sclera side  13  of the eye  10  is approximately  20  times stronger than that from the transparent cornea side  14 . Hence, the intensity of the scattered light  5  exhibits a significant change when the probe beam  4  scans across the limbus  11 . This intensity change of the scattered light  5 , in turn, generates a sharp step in the scattered-light signal  8 . The timing of this sharp step depends on the position of the eye  10 .  
         [0030]    In one implementation, an infrared laser beam (at 830 nm) of about 100 μW is used as the scanning probe beam  4  and the collection lens  6  having an aperture of about 18 mm is located about 30 cm away from the eye  10 . Detector  7  receives a scattered-light power of about 20 nW when the probe beam  4  is on the sclera side.  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 1 a  shows timing diagrams of the scattered-light signal  8  and the reference signal  31 . The scattered-light signal  8  has a sequence of sharp steps and each sharp step  9  corresponds to a scan of the probe beam  4  across the limbus  11 . The sharp step  9  has a time delay Td with respect to the reference point  31   s  of the scanning. This time delay Td depends on the position of the limbus  11  and varies as the eye  10  moves. The processing electronics  50 , which may include a microprocessor, processes the reference signal  31  and the scattered-light signal  8  to determine this time delay Td for each scan. This time delay Td is then used to determine the position of the limbus  11 . The lines Vth represent the threshold voltage for triggering.  
         [0032]    To operate the tracking system  100 , an initial time delay Td 0  or eye position is first registered and stored in the system computer  80 . The time delay Td of subsequent scans is then compared with the initial time delay Td 0  to calculate a displacement of the eye  10 . With this calculated displacement, the system computer  80  can generate a control signal  81  to drive the beam steering module  60  to steer the surgical laser beam  62  to follow the movement of the eye  10 .  
         [0033]    As an open loop device, the scanning probe beam  4  does not move with the eye  10 . The beam steering module  60  can be used simultaneously to compensate the eye movement and to scan the surgical laser beam  62  on the eye  10 . In this case, the control signal  81  may consist of a scanning signal and an offset signal. The scanning signal scans the surgical laser beam  62  in a predetermined pattern while the offset signal offsets the scanning to compensate for the eye movement. This open-loop tracking system  100  is relatively simple and is good for tracking small movement of the eye  10 .  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a close-loop tracking system  200 . In the close-loop configuration, both the scanning beam  4  and the surgical beam  62  are steered to the eye  10  by a common steering module  60 . Consequently, both the scanning probe beam  4  and the surgical laser beam  62  follow the movement of the eye  10 .  
         [0035]    In implementation, the scanning probe beam  4  is directed into the first beam steering module  60  and reflected onto the reference mark  20  (i.e. the limbus  11 ). A dichromatic mirror  70  is placed in the path of the scanning probe beam  4  to couple the surgical laser beam  62  into the first beam steering module  60 . The dichromatic mirror  70  reflects light at the wavelength of the surgical laser beam  62  but transmits light at the wavelength of the scanning probe beam  4 . The surgical laser beam  62  is reflected from the first beam steering module  60  and projected onto the eye  10 .  
         [0036]    Again, the scattered light  5  from the reference mark  20  is collected by a lens  6  and detected by a photo-detector  7 , which produces an output of scattered-light signal  8 . Similar to the open loop system  100 , the scatted-light signal  8  has a sharp step  9  corresponding to each scan of the probe beam  4  across the boundary of the reference mark  20 . The sharp step  9  has a time delay Td with respect to the reference point  31   s  of corresponding scan. A processing electronics  50  determines this time delay Td for each scan.  
         [0037]    To operate the tracking system  200 , an initial time delay Td 0  or eye position is first registered and stored by the system computer  80 . The time delay Td of later scans is then compared with the initial time delay Td 0 . Any deviation of Td from Td 0  is used as an error signal to drive the first beam steering module  60  such that to bring the error signal toward zero. Through this process, the first beam steering module  60  deflects the scanning probe beam  4  to follow the movement of the eye  10 . Seeing the same deflection as the scanning probe beam  4 , the surgical laser beam  62  can thus impinge on any predetermined position of the eye  10  as if the eye remains stationary.  
         [0038]    As a close loop device, the relative position between the trace of the scanning probe beam  4  and the reference mark  20  is kept constant during the operation. The first beam steering module  60  is thus used solely for compensating the eye movement. A second beam steering module  90  is required to scan the surgical laser beam  62  on the eye  10  for surgery purpose. In this case, the control signal  81  to first beam steering module  60  is simply the driving signal to compensate the eye movement. The control signal  82  to second beam steering module  90  is simply the programmable signal to scan the surgical laser beam  62 . The close loop device  200  is relatively more complicate but it can track a relative large displacement of the eye  10 .  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 3 a  shows a scanning-beam generator  30   a  that produces a scanning probe beam  4   a . The generator  30   a  includes an infrared-light source  32   a , which produces an infrared-light beam  33   a  projected onto a rotating blade  35   a . The blade  35   a  has a set of pinholes  36   a  evenly distributed on a circle. A motor  34   a  drives the blade  35   a  at a constant rotation speed. The pinholes  36   a  are thus scanned across the infrared-light beam  33   a  at a constant speed.  
         [0040]    A lens  37   a  focuses onto a reference ring  20  (i.e. the reference mark) the infrared-light beam  38   a  that is transmitted through the pinhole  36   a . As the pinhole  36   a  is scanned across the infrared beam  33   a , the image of the pinhole  36   a  is scanned across the reference ring  20 . Thus, the transmitted infrared beam  38   a  may serve as the scanning probe beam  4  of FIG. 1.  
         [0041]    A beam splitter  39 a directs a small portion of the beam  38   a  onto a reference photo-detector  40   a . This reference photo-detector  40   a  has a tiny light-sensitive area and the detected signal is thus a sequence of spikes as the split beam scans across the reference detector repetitively. The output signal from the photo-detector  40   a  defines a reference point of the scanning and serves as the reference signal  31  of FIG. 1.  
         [0042]    In this embodiment, the infrared-light source  32   a  can be simply a light emitted diode. The repetition rate of the scanning probe beam  4  can be up to the kilohertz range. For example, the motor  34   a  may run at 100 rotation per second and the blade  35   a  may have 10 pinholes  36   a  on it. FIG. 3 b  shows another scanning-beam generator  30   b  producing a scanning probe beam  4 . The generator  30   b  includes an infrared-light source  32   b , which produces an infrared-light beam  33   b  directed onto a disk  35   b . The disk  35   b  holds a set of identical lenses  36   b  evenly distributed on a circle. A motor  34   b  rotates the disk  35   b  and the lenses  36   b  are scanned across the infrared-light beam  33   b  at a constant speed.  
         [0043]    The infrared-light beam  38   b  transmitted through a lens  36   b  is focused onto a reference ring  20 . As the lens  36   b  is scanned across the infrared-light beam  33   b , the focused beam  38   b  is scanned across the reference ring  20 . Thus, the focused infrared-light beam  38   b  may serve as the scanning probe beam  4  of FIG. 1.  
         [0044]    Again, a beam splitter  39   b  directs a small portion of the beam  38   b  onto a reference photo-detector  40   b . The output signal from the photo-detector  40   b  defines a reference point of the scanning and serves as the reference signal  31  of FIG. 1. In this embodiment, the infrared-light source  32   b  is preferably either a pre-focused beam or a point source.  
         [0045]    [0045]FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the processing electronics  50 . This processing electronics  50  includes a first trigger circuit  52 , a second trigger circuit  54 , and a microprocessor  58 . The reference signal  31  from the scanning beam generator  30  is fed into the first trigger circuit  52  to produce a TTL output signal  53  carrying the timing of the reference signal  31 . The scattered-light signal  8  from the photo-detector  7  is fed into the second trigger circuit  54  to produce a TTL output signal  55  carrying the timing of the scattered-light signal  8 .  
         [0046]    The microprocessor  58  reads in the signal  53  and signal  55  to calculate a time delay Td between the two signals. This time delay Td indicates the relative position of the reference mark  20  to the scanning probe beam  4 . This delay Td can be compared with an initial delay Td 0  registered and stored by the system computer  80  at the very beginning of the tracking.  
         [0047]    For an open loop system  100 , any change of the delay Td from its initial value Td 0  can be used to determine a displacement of the eye  10  from its initial position. The determined displacement can then be converted into an offset signal combined in the control signal  81  to deflect the surgical laser beam  62  to follow the movement of the eye  10 .  
         [0048]    For a close loop system  200 , any deviation of the delay Td from its initial value Td 0  is used as an error signal to drive the first beam steering module  60  such that to bring the error signal toward zero. The first beam steering module  60  thus deflects both of the scanning probe beam  4  and the surgical laser beam  62  to follow the movement of the eye  10 .  
         [0049]    The above-described operation of the processing electronics  50  is repetitively for every scan of the probe beam  4 . The first trigger circuit  52  and the second trigger circuit  54  should be reset automatically after the signal  53  and signal  55  are read by the microprocessor  58 .  
         [0050]    The processing electronics  50  shown in FIG. 4 is for one axis tracking. To track the two-dimensional movement of the eye  10 , another pair of the trigger circuit should be used.  
         [0051]    [0051]FIG. 5 a  shows schematically two scanning probe beams  4   x  and  4   y  projected on a reference ring  20  (the limbus  11 ) for two-dimension positioning detection. The two scanning probe beams  4   x  and  4   y  are set along two approximately perpendicular directions and occupy about one quart of the limbus  11 .  
         [0052]    [0052]FIG. 5 b  shows how the present tracking systems remain fill performance for LASIK. In a LASIK surgery, a disk shape flap is laminated from the cornea and about one quart of the perimeter is uncut to maintain the flap attached to the cornea. The flap is folded over during the surgery to allow laser ablation on the corneal bed. The folded flap  15  covers about one third of the limbus  11  and may disable those eye tracking devices which rely on the whole limbus as the reference. The corneal bed after the flap is folded becomes less smooth and the scattered light from the corneal bed may disturb those tracking devices that use the pupil as a reference.  
         [0053]    As illustrated in FIG. 5 b , the two scanning beams  4   x  and  4   y  use only the limbus section that is not covered by the cornea flap  15 . Therefore, the limbus  11  remains as a good reference for the present tracking systems.  
         [0054]    [0054]FIG. 6 is an embodiment of the hybrid tracking system  600  in accordance with the present invention. The system  600  has a hybrid configuration of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 and combines the advantages of open loop and close-loop configurations.  
         [0055]    The hybrid tracking system  600  implements an open loop configuration that includes a position sensing device  601 , a system computer  80 , and a first beam steering module  60 . The position sensing device  601  itself is, however, a close-loop device. The device  601  projects two scanning probe beams  4   x  and  4   y  as shown in FIG. 4 and monitors the position of the eye  10 . As a close loop device, the scanning probe beams  4   x  and  4   y  follow the movement of eye  10 .  
         [0056]    For illustration purpose, the position-sensing device  601  shown in FIG. 6 is only a linear positioning device and is for monitoring one-dimensional eye movement only (e.g., along x-direction). To determine the eye&#39;s movement in two dimensions, a second set of linear positioning device is needed to monitor the movement of the eye  10  along a second different direction, e.g., the y-direction orthogonal to the x-direction.  
         [0057]    The position-sensing device  601  comprises a scanning beam generator  30 , a second beam steering module  690 , a collection lens  6 , a photo-detector  7 , a processing electronics  50 , and a control unit  650 . The scanning-beam generator  30  generates a scanning probe beam  4 . The probe beam  4  is directed to the second beam steering module  690  and then projected across the reference mark  20 . The scanning probe-beam  4  scans repeatedly at a substantially constant speed. The scanning-beam generator  30  also produces a reference signal  31  to indicate a reference point of the scanning.  
         [0058]    Once again, the scattered light  5  from the reference mark  20  is collected by the collect lens  6  and detected by the photo-detector  7 , which produces an output of scattered-light signal  8 . Similar to the open loop system  100 , the scatted-light signal  8  has a sharp step  9  corresponding to each scan of the probe beam  4  across the boundary of the reference mark  20 . The sharp step  9  has a time delay Td with respect to the reference point  31   s  of corresponding scan. The processing electronics  50  determines this time delay Td for each scan.  
         [0059]    To operate the position-sensing device  601 , an initial time delay Td 0  or eye position is first registered and stored by the control unit  650 . The time delay Td of later scans is then compared with the initial time delay Td 0 . Any deviation of Td from Td 0  is used as an error signal. This error signal is integrated by the control unit  650  to produce a driven signal  652  to drive the beam steering module  690  such that to bring the error signal toward zero. Through this process, the second beam steering module  690  deflects the scanning probe beam  4  to follow the movement of the eye  10 .  
         [0060]    As a close loop device, position-sensing device  601  thus keeps substantially a constant position of the scanning probe beam  4  with respect to the reference mark  20  during the operation. By this way, the detection along the two orthogonal directions is basically independent and large tracking range can be obtained.  
         [0061]    As an open loop configuration, the tracking system  600  has a position-sensing device  601  independent from the optical assembly of the surgical laser beam  62 . The position-sensing device  601  can thus be assembled as a separated unit or a module.  
         [0062]    The driven signal  652  is to drive beam steering module  690  to steer probe beam  4  to follow the eye movement. The beam steering module  690  can be a pair of galvanometers or a translatable lens. The driven signal  652  itself is thus a measure of the displacement of the tracked eye  10  from its initial position.  
         [0063]    When the response speed of the position-sensing device  601  including the second beam steering module  690  is fast enough to follow the eye movement, the driven signal  652  is proportional to the displacement of the eye. This signal  652  can then be used directly as x-y positioning signals  651  of the eye. If the beam steering module  690  is slower than the involuntary eye movement, the eye displacement with respect to its initial position can be determined by measuring simultaneously the angular position α of the mirror of the second beam steering module  690  and the delay time Td. The control unit analyzes α and Td for the two probe beams and generates x-y positioning signals  651  of the eye.  
         [0064]    The surgical system computer can then use these x-y-positioning signals  651  as an offset signal to the first beam steering module  60  to direct the surgical laser beam  62  to follow the eye movement. In this way, the position-sensing device  601  feeds one-way signals  651  to the surgical laser system and the system thus works in an open loop configuration.  
         [0065]    The surgical laser beam  62  has a wavelength around 200 nm or 3 micron for refractive surgery. Obviously, this hybrid tracking system can be used for other eye surgery and diagnosis applications. For other eye surgery application, the surgical laser beam  62  is replaced with a laser beam of other wavelength and intensity.  
         [0066]    For diagnosis application, the surgical laser beam  62  in FIG. 6 is replaced with a probe beam or an observation beam path to the eye  10 . With this hybrid tracking system, the probe beam or observation beam path follows the eye movement and eye diagnosis can be done as if the eye is steady still.  
         [0067]    Although the above embodiment is described with a specific reference to eye tracking, the techniques can be generally used to track lateral movement of other object with curved reference mark. Various modifications can be made without departing from the scopes of the appended claims.