Power-adjusted aberrometer

1. A method comprising:

setting automatically a first power level of light emitted by a light source;

illuminating a retina of a patient with the light emitted by the light source;

receiving, at a sensor, light reflected from the retina of the patient;

providing a signal based upon the received light;

determining whether the signal meets one or more signal quality criteria;

setting automatically a second power level of light emitted by the light source in response to the determining whether the signal meets one or more signal quality criteria; and

repeating illuminating, receiving, providing, and determining

wherein determining whether the signal meets one or more signal quality criteria comprises:

identifying a plurality of peak signal levels within the signal;

determining a number of peak signal levels that are not less than a first predetermined value; and

determining whether the number is not less than a redetermined number.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein repeating further comprises repeating until the signal meets the one or more signal quality criteria.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether the signal meets one or more signal quality criteria further comprises:

identifying a background signal level, wherein the first predetermined value is a predetermined value by which the peak signal level exceeds the background level;

and the step of determining a number of peak signal levels comprises determining a number of peak signal levels that exceed the background signal level by at least a predetermined value.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein

the step of determining a number of peak signal levels comprises determining a number of peak signal levels that fall between a first predetermined value and a second predetermined value.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether the signal meets one or more signal quality criteria further comprises:

identifying a background signal level;

determining, for each of the plurality of peak signal levels, a signal-to-noise ratio;

determining a number of signal-to-noise ratios that are not less than a predetermined value.

6. A method comprising:

setting automatically a first power level of light emitted by a light source;

illuminating a retina of a patient with the light emitted by the light source;

receiving, at a sensor, light reflected from the retina of the patient;

providing a signal based upon the received light;

determining whether the signal meets one or more signal quality criteria;

setting automatically a second power level of light emitted by the light source in response to the determining whether the signal meets one or more signal quality criteria; and

repeating illuminating, receiving, providing, and determining wherein the signal comprises a plurality of signal levels, and

wherein determining whether the signal meets one or more signal quality criteria further comprises:

generating a histogram of at least a portion of the plurality of signal levels;

identifying, in the histogram, a peak corresponding to a subset of the plurality of the signal levels comprising signal levels distinguishable from a background signal level; and

determining whether a number of signal levels in the peak is not less than a predetermined value.

7. A method comprising:

setting automatically a first power level of light emitted by a light source;

illuminating a retina of a patient with the light emitted by the light source;

receiving, at a sensor, light reflected from the retina of the patient;

providing a signal based upon the received light;

determining whether the signal meets one or more signal quality criteria;

setting automatically a second power level of light emitted by the light source in response to the determining whether the signal meets one or more signal quality criteria; and

repeating illuminating, receiving, providing, and determining

wherein:

the sensor comprises a plurality of elements; and

the signal comprises a plurality of signal levels, each signal level corresponding to one of the plurality of elements of the sensor; and wherein determining whether the signal meets one or more signal quality criteria further comprises:

determining, for each of the plurality of sensor elements, whether a signal at the sensor element is saturated;

determining a number of sensor elements at which the signal at the sensor element is saturated; and

determining whether the number is not greater than a predetermined number.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether the signal meets one or more signal quality criteria further comprises:

generating a Fourier transform of at least a portion of the signal;

determining a signal-to-noise ratio of at least a portion of the Fourier transform of the signal; and

determining whether the signal-to-noise ratio is not less than a predetermined value.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the sensor further comprises an array of sensor elements;

receiving further comprises receiving at the array of sensor elements light reflected from the retina of the patient through an array of lenslets; and

providing the signal further comprises providing a signal indicative of the optical power received at each of the sensor elements of the array of sensor elements.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein determining whether the signal meets one or more signal quality criteria further comprises:

determining a plurality of center positions in the signal, each center position corresponding to one of the lenslets in the array of lenslets;

determining an uncertainty in the center position for each of the plurality of center positions;

determining a number of center positions having uncertainties that are not greater than a predetermined uncertainty value; and

determining whether the number is not less than a predetermined number.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein setting the power level of the light emitted by the light source comprises setting a power control signal of the light source.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein setting the power control signal of the light source comprises setting the power control signal of the light source by pulse-width modulation.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein setting the power level of the light emitted by the light source comprises setting the attenuation of a filter in a beam path of the light emitted by the light source.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

selecting an operating power based upon the signal quality criteria.

15. An apparatus comprising:

a light source adapted to illuminate a patient's retina;

a sensor adapted to receive light reflected from the patient's retina and to provide a signal based upon the received light; and

a processor coupled to the sensor and adapted to:

set a first power level of light emitted by the light source;

receive the signal provided by the sensor;

process the signal to determine whether the signal meets one or more signal quality criteria;

set a second power level of light emitted by the light source in response to determining whether the signal meets one or more signal criteria; and

repeat receiving the signal and processing the signal

wherein the processor is further adapted to:

identify a plurality of peak signal levels within the signal;

determine a number of peak signal levels that are not less than a first predetermined value; and

determine whether the number is not less than a predetermined number.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the processor is further adapted to repeat receiving the signal and processing the signal until the signal meets the one or more signal quality criteria.

17. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the processor is further adapted to:

identify a background signal level, wherein the first predetermined value is a predetermined value by which the peak signal level exceeds the background level, and wherein the adaptation of the processor to determine a number of peak signal levels comprises the processor being adapted to determine a number of peak signal levels that exceed the background signal level by at least a predetermined value.

18. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein

the adaptation of the processor to determine a number of peak signal levels comprises the processor being adapted to determine a number of peak signal levels that fall between a first predetermined value and a second predetermined value.

19. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the processor is further adapted to:

identify a background signal level;

determine, for each of the plurality of peak signal levels, a signal-to-noise ratio;

determine a number of signal-to-noise ratios that are not less than a predetermined value; and

determine whether the number is not less than a predetermined number.

20. An apparatus comprising:

a light source adapted to illuminate a patient's retina;

a sensor adapted to receive light reflected from the patient's retina and to provide a signal based upon the received light; and

a processor coupled to the sensor and adapted to:

set a first power level of light emitted by the light source;

receive the signal provided by the sensor;

process the signal to determine whether the signal meets one or more signal quality criteria;

set a second power level of light emitted by the light source in response to determining whether the signal meets one or more signal criteria; and

repeat receiving the signal and processing the signal wherein the signal comprises a plurality of signal levels, and wherein the processor is further adapted to:

generate a histogram of at least a portion of the plurality of signal levels;

identify, in the histogram, a peak corresponding to a subset of the plurality of the signal levels comprising signal levels distinguishable from a background signal level; and

determine whether a number of signal levels in the peak is not less than a predetermined value.

21. An apparatus comprising:

a light source adapted to illuminate a patient's retina;

a sensor adapted to receive light reflected from the patient's retina and to provide a signal based upon the received light; and

a processor coupled to the sensor and adapted to:

set a first power level of light emitted by the light source;

receive the signal provided by the sensor;

process the signal to determine whether the signal meets one or more signal quality criteria;

set a second power level of light emitted by the light source in response to determining whether the signal meets one or more signal criteria; and repeat receiving the signal and processing the signal wherein:

the sensor comprises a plurality of elements; and

the signal comprises a plurality of signal levels, each signal level corresponding to one of the plurality of elements of the sensor; and wherein the processor is further adapted to:

determine, for each of the plurality of sensor elements, whether a signal at the sensor element is saturated;

determine a number of sensor elements at which the signal at the sensor element is saturated; and

determine whether the number is not greater than a predetermined number.

22. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the processor is further adapted to:

generate a Fourier transform of at least a portion of the signal;

determine a signal-to-noise ratio of at least a portion of the Fourier transform of the signal; and

determine whether the signal-to-noise ratio is not less than a predetermined value.

23. The apparatus of claim 15 , further comprising an array of lenslets, wherein:

the sensor comprises an array of sensor elements;

the sensor is further adapted to receive the light reflected from the patient's retina through the array of lenslets; and

the signal based upon the received light is indicative of the optical power received at each of the sensor elements of the array of sensor elements.

24. The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein the processor is further adapted to:

determine a plurality of center positions in the signal, each center position corresponding to one of the lenslets in the array of lenslets;

determine an uncertainty in the center position for each of the plurality of center positions;

determine a number of center positions having uncertainties that are not greater than a predetermined uncertainty value; and

determine whether the number is not less than a predetermined number.

25. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the processor is further adapted to set a power control signal of the light source.

26. The apparatus of claim 25 , wherein the processor is further adapted to set the power control signal of the light source by pulse-width modulation.

27. The apparatus of claim 15 , the apparatus further comprising a light attenuation filter disposed in a beam path of the light emitted by the light source, wherein the processor is further adapted to set an attenuation of the light attenuation filter.

28. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the processor is further adapted to select an operating power based upon the signal quality criteria.