Patent Abstract:
An improved eye examination device for use of an eye examination is described herein. The device includes a support device enclosing a chin rest for an eye patient to place their chin in order for an eye professional/technician to examine at least one eye of the eye patient.

Full Description:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
       [0001]    For a more complete understanding of the present invention, including its features and advantages, reference is now made to the detailed description of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which: 
         [0002]      FIG. 1  illustrates a front view of an embodiment of present invention; 
         [0003]      FIG. 2  illustrates a side view of this embodiment of the present invention; 
         [0004]      FIG. 3  is rear/side view of this embodiment of the present invention; 
         [0005]      FIG. 4  is a detailed view of a portion of the present invention; 
         [0006]      FIG. 5  illustrates a front view of another embodiment of present invention; 
         [0007]      FIG. 6  illustrates a side view of this embodiment of the present invention; 
         [0008]      FIG. 7  is top of this embodiment of the present invention; 
         [0009]      FIG. 8  is a top/front view of this embodiment of the present invention; 
         [0010]      FIG. 9  is a top/front view of another embodiment of the present invention; 
         [0011]      FIG. 10  illustrates a front view of another embodiment of present invention; 
         [0012]      FIG. 11  illustrates a rear view of this embodiment of present invention; 
         [0013]      FIGS. 12-13  illustrate other front views of this embodiment of present invention; and 
         [0014]      FIGS. 14-15  illustrate detailed view of the embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0015]    While the making and using of various embodiments of the present invention are discussed in detail below, it should be appreciated that the present invention provides many applicable inventive concepts that may be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. The specific embodiments discussed herein are merely illustrative of specific ways to make and use the invention and do not delimit the scope of the invention. 
         [0016]    An eye examination is a series of tests performed by an ophthalmologist (medical doctor), optometrist, or orthoptist assessing vision and ability to focus on and discern objects, as well as other tests and examinations pertaining to the eyes. Health care professionals often recommend that all people should have periodic and thorough eye examinations as part of routine primary care, especially since many eye diseases are asymptomatic. 
         [0017]    Eye examinations may detect potentially treatable blinding eye diseases, ocular manifestations of systemic disease, or signs of tumours or other anomalies of the brain. 
         [0018]    Ideally, the eye examination consists of an external examination, followed by specific tests for visual acuity, pupil function, extraocular muscle motility, visual fields, intraocular pressure and ophthalmoscopy through a dilated pupil. 
         [0019]    A minimal eye examination consists of tests for visual acuity, pupil function, and extraocular muscle motility, as well as direct ophthalmoscopy through an undilated pupil. 
         [0020]    Close inspection of the anterior eye structures and ocular adnexa are often done with a slit lamp which is a table mounted microscope with a special adjustable illumination source attached. A small beam of light that can be varied in width, height, incident angle, orientation and colour, is passed over the eye. Often, this light beam is narrowed into a vertical “slit”, during slit-lamp examination. The examiner views the illuminated ocular structures, through an optical system that magnifies the image of the eye and the patient is seated while being examined, and the head stabilized by an adjustable chin rest. 
         [0021]    This allows inspection of all the ocular media, from cornea to vitreous, plus magnified view of eyelids, and other external ocular related structures. Fluorescein staining before slit lamp examination may reveal corneal abrasions or herpes simplex infection. 
         [0022]    The binocular slit-lamp examination provides stereoscopic magnified view of the eye structures in striking detail, enabling exact anatomical diagnoses to be made for a variety of eye conditions. 
         [0023]    Also ophthalmoscopy and gonioscopy examinations can also be performed through the slit lamp when combined with special lenses. These lenses include the Goldmann 3-mirror lens, gonioscopy single-mirror/Zeiss 4-mirror lens for (ocular) anterior chamber angle structures and +90D lens, +78D lens, +66D lens &amp; Hruby (−56D) lens, the examination of retinal structures is accomplished. 
         [0024]    Intraocular pressure (TOP) can be measured by Tonometry devices. The eye can be thought of as an enclosed compartment through which there is a constant circulation of fluid that maintains its shape and internal pressure. Tonometry is a method of measuring this pressure using various instruments. The normal range is 10-21 mmHg. 
         [0025]    Some of these types of eye examinations include placing the chin of a patient on a chin rest within a support device and then measuring the eye sight. However, most chin rests within standard support devices do not adequately support larger patients. Thus, this type of patient feels uncomfortable when the chin is placed on the chin rest of the device. For example, bigger patients have to squeeze their upper body into the support device in order to place their chin on the chin rest which can be very uncomfortable to the patient. 
         [0026]    Therefore, a need exists for a chin rest within a support device that is comfortable for larger patients, as well medium sized patients, to place their chin on the chin rest for the eye examination. The present invention has an advantage to solve this need. 
         [0027]    Now turning to  FIG. 1 , an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. In this embodiment, a chin rest and head support system  100  is shown attached to table  102 . In turn, a support level  104  is attached to the table  102  along with a medical eye testing device  106 . The eye testing device  106  is positioned adjacent to the support system  100  in order to allow an eye professional/technician to exam a patient. The support system  100  includes a left support bar  108  as well as a right support bar  110 . Also shown in this figure, is a left handle  112  near the bottom of the left support bar  108 . Similarly, a right handle  114  near the bottom of the right support bar  110  is shown. 
         [0028]    Also shown in this figure is a chin rest  116  attached near the center of curved chin bar  118 . The curved chin bar  118  is attached to the right support bar  110  as well as the left support bar  108 . At the juncture where the curved chin bar  118  is attached to the right support bar  108 , a mechanism  120  allows the curved chin bar  118  to adjust vertically as may be required for the comfort of the patient to be examined. In addition, the head rest  122  is shown attached to the right support bar  110  as well as the left support bar  108 . Moreover a handle  124  is shown that may be used to grip the support system  100  in order to reposition or move the support system  100 . 
         [0029]      FIG. 2  illustrates the support system  100  from a side view. In this figure, the grip  124  is shown attached to the right support bar  110  which includes the adjustment mechanism  120  and the right handle  114 . In addition, the head rest  122 , the chin rest  116  and curved chin bar  118  along with the eye testing device  106  and the support level  104  are shown. 
         [0030]      FIG. 3  illustrates a different perspective of the support system  100  from a rear/side view. In this figure, a chin rest and head support system  100  is shown attached to table  102 , which in turn is on top of an additional table  126 . However, in other embodiments, the table  102  and the additional table  126  can be combined as well as other configurations of similar supports can be utilized. 
         [0031]    Moreover, a support level  104  is attached to the table  102  along with an eye testing device  106 . Similar to  FIG. 2 , the eye testing device  106  is positioned adjacent to the support system  100  in order to allow an eye professional/technician to exam a patient. Additionally, the support system  100  includes the left support bar  108  as well as a right support bar  110 . Also shown in this figure, is the left handle  112  near the bottom of the left support bar  108  Likewise, the right handle  114  near the bottom of the right support bar  110  is shown. 
         [0032]    Also shown in this figure is the chin rest  116  attached near the center of the curved chin bar  118 . The curved chin bar  118  is attached to the right support bar  110  as well as the left support bar  108 . At the juncture where the curved chin bar  118  is attached to the right support bar  108 , the adjustment mechanism  120  allows the curved chin bar  118  to adjust vertically as shown in  FIG. 1 . In addition, the head rest  122  is shown attached to the right support bar  110  as well as the left support bar  108 . Moreover the handle  124  is shown that may be used to grip the support system  100  in order to reposition or move the support system  100 . 
         [0033]      FIG. 4  illustrates a detailed view of the adjustment mechanism  120  that allows the chin rest  116  and the curved chin bar  118  vertically adjust as desired by the eye professional/technician and/or the patient. In this figure, the head rest  122 , the right support bar  110 , as well as the eye testing device  106  are shown. 
         [0034]      FIG. 5  illustrates another embodiment of the invention. Similar to the first embodiment, the support system  100  includes the left support bar  108 , the right support bar  110 , the curved chin bar  118 , the chin rest  116 , the left handle  112 , the right handle  114 , the head rest  122  and the handle  124 . In this embodiment, similarly to  FIG. 3 , the support system  100  is shown attached to table  102 , which in turn is on top of an additional table  126 . However, in other embodiments, the table  102  and the additional table  126  can be combined as well as other configurations of similar supports can be utilized. In addition, this embodiment includes an adjustment bar  128  which elevates the chin rest  116  as desired by the eye professional/technician and/or the patient. 
         [0035]      FIG. 6  illustrates a side view of embodiment of  FIG. 5 . Similar to the first embodiment, the support system  100  includes the right support bar  110 , the curved chin bar  118 , the chin rest  116 , the right handle  114 , the head rest  122  and the handle  124 . In this embodiment, similarly to  FIG. 5 , the support system  100  is shown attached to table  102 , which in turn is on top of an additional table  126 . Moreover, although not shown, this embodiment includes the adjustment bar  128  which elevates the chin rest  116  as desired by the eye professional/technician and/or the patient. 
         [0036]      FIG. 7  illustrates a top view of embodiment of  FIG. 5 . This figure illustrates the support system  100  which includes the right support bar  110 , the left support bar  112 , the curved chin bar  118 , the chin rest  116 , the right handle  114 , the left handle  112  the head rest  122  and the handle  124 . Additionally, the support system  100  is shown attached to table  102 , which in turn is on top of an additional table  126 . Moreover, although not shown, this embodiment includes the adjustment bar  128  which elevates the chin rest  116  as desired by the eye professional/technician and/or the patient. 
         [0037]      FIG. 8  illustrates another perspective of this embodiment from a top/front view. In this figure, the support system  100  includes the left support bar  108 , the right support bar  110 , the curved chin bar  118 , the chin rest  116 , the left handle  112 , the right handle  114 , the head rest  122  and the handle  124 . Like  FIG. 5 , the support system  100  is shown attached to table  102 , which in turn is on top of an additional table  126 . However, in other embodiments, the table  102  and the additional table  126  can be combined as well as other configurations of similar supports can be utilized. In addition, this embodiment includes an adjustment bar  128  which elevates the chin rest  116  as desired by the eye professional/technician and/or the patient. 
         [0038]      FIG. 9  illustrates a perspective of another embodiment of the present invention from a top/front view. In this figure, the support system  100  includes the left support bar  108 , the right support bar  110 , the curved chin bar  118 , the chin rest  116 , the left handle  112 , the right handle  114 , the head rest  122  and the handle  124 . In this embodiment, the support system  100  is shown attached to table  102 . However, this embodiment does include the adjustment bar  128  which elevates the chin rest  116  as desired by the eye professional/technician and/or the patient. 
         [0039]      FIG. 10  illustrates a front view of an embodiment of the invention similar to the previously described embodiment. In this embodiment, the support system  100  includes the handle  124 , the left support bar  108 , the right support bar  110 , the curved chin bar  118 , the chin rest  116 , the left handle  112 , the right handle  114 , the head rest  122  and the handle  124 . Moreover, this embodiment includes an adjustment bar  128  which elevates the chin rest  116  as desired by the eye professional/technician and/or the patient. However, this embodiment shows the bottom of the right  112  and the left  114  handles illustrating attachment configurations that stabilize the support system  100  to a table and eye testing device (both not shown). 
         [0040]      FIG. 11  illustrates a rear view of an embodiment of the invention similar to the previously described embodiment. In this embodiment, the support system  100  includes the handle  124 , the left support bar  108 , the right support bar  110 , the curved chin bar  118 , the chin rest  116 , the left handle  112 , the right handle  114 , the head rest  122  and the handle  124 . Furthermore, this embodiment includes an adjustment bar  128  which elevates the chin rest  116  as desired by the eye professional/technician and/or the patient. However, this embodiment shows the bottom of the right  112  and the left  114  handles illustrating attachment configurations that stabilize the support system  100  to a table and eye testing device (both not shown). 
         [0041]      FIG. 12  illustrates a front/top perspective of this embodiment of the invention. In this figure, the support system  100  includes the left support bar  108 , the right support bar  110 , the curved chin bar  118 , the chin rest  116 , the left handle  112 , the right handle  114 , the head rest  122  and the handle  124 . However in this figure, the support system  100  is shown attached to table  102 . Further, this embodiment includes an adjustment bar  128  which elevates the chin rest  116  as desired by the eye professional/technician and/or the patient. 
         [0042]      FIG. 13  shows the support system of  FIG. 12  with a patient with his chin positioned in the chin rest as well as his forehead resting on the head rest in preparation to have his eyes examined by an eye professional/technician. 
         [0043]      FIG. 14  illustrates a support system  100  with the left support bar  108  and the left handle  112  along with the right support bar  110  and the right handle  114  attached to the table  102 . The right  114  and left  112  handles are attached the right  132  and left  130  attachment plates that are used to secure the support system  100  to a table  102 . 
         [0044]      FIG. 15  illustrates a closer view of the right attachment plate  132  with a sample configuration that can be used to attach the right support bar  110  to the table  102 . 
         [0045]    Although this invention has been described with reference to an illustrative embodiment, this description is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Various modifications and combinations of the illustrative embodiments as well as other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to the description. It is therefore intended that the appended claims accomplish any such modifications or embodiments.

Technology Classification (CPC): 0