General purpose control system for scanning laser ophthalmoscopes.

A flexible control system for scanning laser ophthalmoscopes is described that is quick and simple to configure, easily modified or adapted, and containing many useful features. The system facilitates adjustment of several parameters to account for changes to the scan position, ambient light and temperature, including both optical and electronic components, which is otherwise difficult and time-consuming to perform. The system is portable and uses custom-designed printed circuit boards. All system parameters, such as focus, scan rate,scan depth and stereo control can be digitally controlled from a computer via a single serial port. Custom software allows changes to any system parameters by simply sending the required control data to the rack. The circuit boards in the system are multilayer,incorporating good ground-plane techniques to minimize noise, programmable logic and semicustom logic for low cost and compact size, and microcontrollers with embedded firm ware for flexible operation. Retinal images demonstrate that the system performs well.