Patent ID: 8328358

Claim:
An illumination system for an ophthalmic surgical microscope ( 10 ), comprising a light source ( 32 ) for emitting light along an illumination beam path ( 50 ) directed toward an eye ( 12 ) of a patient, and a measuring device ( 54 , 62 ) for measuring a parameter of the patient's eye ( 12 ), characterized by an adjustable optical element ( 48 ) which allows the orientation of the illumination beam path ( 50 ) to be adjusted relative to an observation beam path ( 16 L) of the surgical microscope ( 10 ) so as to obtain a red reflex; and a control device ( 60 ) which determines a red-reflex-optimized control parameter based on the measured parameter of the patient's eye ( 12 ) and adjusts the optical element ( 48 ) according to the red-reflex-optimized control parameter so as to adjust the orientation of the illumination beam path ( 50 ) relative to the observation beam path ( 16 L) of the surgical microscope ( 10 ) in order to optimize the red reflex.