Patent ID: 7241011

Claim:
An apparatus for obtaining a scanned image of an eye, comprising: a) a reference locator for positioning a patient at a viewing position; b) a pupil alignment apparatus for aligning the pupil of the eye along an optical axis; c) a pupil profiling apparatus for obtaining an outline of the pupil using light outside the visible spectrum, comprising: i) a pupil profiling light source for illuminating the eye surface; ii) a sensor for detecting reflected light from the pupil profiling light source; iii) a control logic processor in communication with said sensor for computing an outline of the pupil according to detected light; d) an illumination apparatus for directing visible illumination into the eye, comprising: i) a spatial light modulator for shaping an illumination beam, in cross-section perpendicular to the beam direction, according to the detected outline of the pupil; ii) a scanning element for scanning at least one partition of the shaped illumination beam into the pupil; and e) a camera for obtaining the scanned image by sensing a portion of the illumination beam reflected from within the eye.