Patents by Inventor Martin Gründig

Martin Gründig has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11071453
    Abstract: Disclosed are systems and methods for aligning an ophthalmic device with respect to an eye of a patient. In one disclosure, the system may include an ophthalmic device with an on-axis and an off-axis. The system may include an on-axis illuminator that emits light that is reflected by the eye of the patient to form an on-axis reflection having a center. The system may include an on-axis camera pointed along the on-axis. The system may include an off-axis illuminator that emits light that is reflected by the eye to form an off-axis reflection having a center. The system may include an off-axis camera pointed along the off-axis. The ophthalmic device may be operable to be aligned with respect to the eye of the patient when the on-axis is substantially normal to the center of the on-axis reflection and the off-axis is substantially normal to the center of the off-axis reflection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 27, 2021
    Assignee: Alcon Inc.
    Inventors: Peter Zieger, Martin Gruendig, Sascha Birkner
  • Publication number: 20210173229
    Abstract: A method of verifying ophthalmic measurements includes obtaining, via an ophthalmic measurement device, a first measurement of at least one ophthalmic parameter over a first measurement area. The first measurement area corresponds to an unassisted visible area of a patient's eye. A second measurement of the at least one ophthalmic parameter over a second measurement area is obtained via the measurement device. The second measurement area corresponds to an assisted visible area of the patient's eye. The first measurement is compared to the second measurement. It is determined if the second measurement diverges from the first measurement. Responsive to a determination that the second measurement diverges from the first measurement, an alert that the second measurement is inaccurate is generated. Responsive to a determination that the second measurement does not diverge from the first measurement, the second measurement is accepted as accurate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 7, 2020
    Publication date: June 10, 2021
    Inventors: John Alfred Campin, Martin Gruendig, Christopher Sean Mudd, George Hunter Pettit, Peter Zieger
  • Publication number: 20210093192
    Abstract: Systems and methods for initializing and calibrating an eye tracking system include an eye tracker configured to capture a first image of an eye from a first location and a second image of the eye from a second location, and a control processor configured to detect a first plurality of eye characteristics from the first image, the eye characteristics having first corresponding image coordinates, detect a second plurality of eye characteristics from the second image, the eye characteristics having second corresponding image coordinates, and determine a calibration offset and a calibration gain. The control processor may be further configured to determine an eye fixation position and orientation relative to an optical axis of the eye tracker based at least in part on the first corresponding image coordinates and/or the second corresponding image coordinates.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 18, 2020
    Publication date: April 1, 2021
    Inventor: Martin Gründig
  • Publication number: 20210093193
    Abstract: Systems and methods for tracking the position and condition of an eye during an ophthalmic procedure include an ophthalmic device configured to measure characteristics of an eye, an eye tracker configured to capture a stream of eye images, and a logic device configured to analyze the stream of images to determine whether the eye is fixating on a target object, detect a predetermined blink sequence in the first stream of images, delay for a predetermined tear stabilization period, start a stable tear film interval, and during the stable tear film interval, capture at least one measurement of the eye using the ophthalmic device when the eye is fixating. The blink sequence may include a plurality of blinks in succession and the detection of the blink sequence may include processing the images through a neural network trained to detect an open eye and/or a closed eye.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 18, 2020
    Publication date: April 1, 2021
    Inventors: Sascha Birkner, Martin Gründig, Peter Zieger
  • Publication number: 20210045631
    Abstract: Systems and methods for tracking eye movement during a diagnostic procedure include an eye tracker capturing images of an eye, and a control processor configured to detect an eye position and orientation in each of the images, determine an eye fixation position and orientation relative to an optical axis of the eye tracker, estimate eye fixation parameters based at least in part on the determined eye fixation position and orientation, and track the eye position and orientation by analyzing the images to determine the eye position and orientation relative to the eye fixation parameters. The eye fixation parameters may comprise a reference position and orientation of the eye when fixated. A histogram is constructed of detected eye positions and orientations and analyzed to determine an eye fixation position and orientation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 12, 2020
    Publication date: February 18, 2021
    Inventors: Sascha Birkner, Martin Gründig
  • Publication number: 20210045630
    Abstract: Systems and methods for tracking eye movement during a diagnostic procedure include a retina imaging system configured to capture a first plurality of images of an eye and detect a presence of a fovea, an eye tracker configured to capture a second plurality of images of the eye and track a position and orientation of the eye; and a control processor configured to synchronize the first and second plurality of images, determine a time at which the fovea is detected in the first plurality of images, and determine one or more images from the second plurality of images to be classified as representative of fixation. The classified images are analyzed to determine eye fixation status during the diagnostic procedure based on eye tracking data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 12, 2020
    Publication date: February 18, 2021
    Inventors: Sascha Birkner, Martin Gründig
  • Publication number: 20190374102
    Abstract: Disclosed are systems and methods for aligning an ophthalmic device with respect to an eye of a patient. In one disclosure, the system may include an ophthalmic device with an on-axis and an off-axis. The system may include an on-axis illuminator that emits light that is reflected by the eye of the patient to form an on-axis reflection having a center. The system may include an on-axis camera pointed along the on-axis. The system may include an off-axis illuminator that emits light that is reflected by the eye to form an off-axis reflection having a center. The system may include an off-axis camera pointed along the off-axis. The ophthalmic device may be operable to be aligned with respect to the eye of the patient when the on-axis is substantially normal to the center of the on-axis reflection and the off-axis is substantially normal to the center of the off-axis reflection.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 31, 2019
    Publication date: December 12, 2019
    Inventors: Peter Zieger, Martin Gruendig, Sascha Birkner
  • Publication number: 20190361591
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a system that may display a graphical user interface (GUI) via a display; may receive first user input that indicates that surgical tooling equipment is to be utilized as a pointer associated with the GUI; may receive first multiple images from an image sensor; and may determine a digital model of the surgical tooling equipment, from the first multiple images, that includes a pattern of the surgical tooling equipment. The system may further train the digital model based at least on the first multiple images. The system may further receive second multiple images via the image sensor. The system may further determine, from the second multiple images and the digital model, a pattern of movement of the surgical tooling equipment that is utilizable to select of an icon of the GUI. The system may include a microscope integrated display that includes the display.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 21, 2019
    Publication date: November 28, 2019
    Inventors: Peter Zieger, Martin Gruendig
  • Publication number: 20190361592
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a system that may display a graphical user interface (GUI) that includes an icon via a display; may receive a first image from an image sensor; may determine, from the first image and a digital model of surgical tooling equipment, a first position of the surgical tooling equipment within the first image; may display a cursor of the GUI at a second position; may receive a second image from the image sensor; may determine, from the second image and the digital model, a third position of the surgical tooling equipment within the second image; may display the cursor of the GUI at a fourth position; may receive user input that indicates a selection while coordinates of the icon include the fourth position; and may determine that the user input that indicates the selection while the coordinates of the at least one icon include the fourth position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 21, 2019
    Publication date: November 28, 2019
    Inventors: Peter Zieger, Martin Gruendig
  • Publication number: 20190357767
    Abstract: In certain embodiments, a system for measuring the posterior corneal surface of the cornea comprises cameras and a computer. Each camera generates image data representing a part of the eye posterior to the cornea. The image data describes locations of features of the part. The computer stores a description of the shape of an anterior corneal surface of the cornea, and applies a ray-tracing process to determine the shape of the posterior corneal surface. The ray-tracing process comprises defining rays, where each ray is traced from a camera, through the anterior and posterior corneal surfaces, and to the part of the eye. Constraints for the rays are determined, where the constraints are calculated using the description of the shape of the anterior corneal surface and locations of the features in the image data. Parameters are optimized, and the optimized parameters describe the shape of the posterior corneal surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 8, 2019
    Publication date: November 28, 2019
    Inventors: Daniil Nekrassov, Martin Gruendig
  • Publication number: 20190191990
    Abstract: A multi-view diagnostic system includes an OCT engine and a plurality of optical elements defining a plurality of beam paths between the OCT engine and an ophthalmic target, with each beam path corresponding to a different viewing angle of the ophthalmic target. The system also includes a scanner to direct OCT imaging beams generated by the OCT engine toward the ophthalmic target along each respective beam path. Instructions stored in memory are executable by a processor to determine a characteristic of the ophthalmic target based on OCT light reflected by the ophthalmic target along each respective beam path and detected by the OCT engine.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 7, 2018
    Publication date: June 27, 2019
    Inventors: MARTIN GRÜNDIG, PETER ZIEGER
  • Publication number: 20190104935
    Abstract: In certain embodiments, a system for tracking movement of an eye comprises a camera system, a computer system, and an output device. The camera system generates images of the eye. The computer system stores the images and at least one of the images as a reference image. The computer system also tracks movement of the eye within a tracking range by comparing a current image with the reference image, and by determining a movement of the eye from the comparison of the current image and the reference image. The tracking range has one or more alert points. The computer system also determines an orientation of the eye relative to at least one alert point of the tracking range. The output device outputs a range indicator that indicates the orientation of the eye relative to the at least one alert point of the tracking range.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 24, 2018
    Publication date: April 11, 2019
    Inventors: Jessica Jurich, Horia Grecu, Martin Gründig, Tobias Jura Rapoport