US 12,402,977 B2
Tracking of retinal traction through digital image correlation
Niccolo Maschio, Zürich (CH)
Assigned to Alcon Inc., Fribourg (CH)
Filed by ALCON INC., Fribourg (CH)
Filed on Mar. 6, 2024, as Appl. No. 18/596,839.
Application 18/596,839 is a continuation of application No. 17/490,456, filed on Sep. 30, 2021, granted, now 11,950,969.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/151,954, filed on Feb. 22, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2024/0207014 A1, Jun. 27, 2024
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. A61B 90/00 (2016.01); A61B 3/12 (2006.01); G06T 7/285 (2017.01); G16H 30/40 (2018.01); G16H 40/40 (2018.01); G16H 40/63 (2018.01); H04N 13/204 (2018.01)
CPC A61B 90/37 (2016.02) [A61B 3/12 (2013.01); G06T 7/285 (2017.01); G16H 30/40 (2018.01); G16H 40/40 (2018.01); G16H 40/63 (2018.01); H04N 13/204 (2018.05); A61B 2090/371 (2016.02); G06T 2207/30041 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A tracking system for quantifying retinal traction during an ophthalmic procedure, the tracking system comprising:
a stereo camera configured to collect and output stereo image data of a retina; and
an electronic control unit (ECU) in communication with a display screen and the stereo camera, wherein the ECU is configured to:
receive the stereo image data from the stereo camera during the ophthalmic procedure, the stereo image data including stereo image pairs;
assign tracking points as coinciding pixels of the stereo image pairs;
automatically perform a digital image correlation (DIC) process to the stereo image pairs to ascertain relative motion of the tracking points;
associate relative motion of the tracking points with the retinal traction, using a traction map of the ECU, as a numeric traction quotient indicative of a magnitude of the retinal traction; and
indicate the magnitude of the retinal traction via the display screen in response to the numeric traction quotient.