Digital measurement system and method for optical applications

Abstract

A digital measurement system and method for optical applications including a mobile client device having a digital camera and an audio port, and a laser measurement device having a laser. The laser measurement device connected to the mobile client device and electrically connected to the audio port of the mobile client device. The mobile client device is configured to activate the laser at the same time as the digital camera is activated, and capture an image of a patient. The mobile client device is configured to access a measurement module to calculate position of wear measurements based on a location of a laser mark in the captured image.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A digital measurement system for optical applications, comprising:
 a. a mobile client device having a digital camera and a port;   b. a laser measurement device having a laser, said laser measurement device positioned on a first side of said mobile client device, said laser measurement device operatively coupled to said port of said mobile client device; and   c. said mobile client device configured to activate said laser of said laser measurement device when said digital camera is activated.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said laser of said laser measurement device includes a first laser and a second laser. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein said first laser and said second laser are positioned parallel with respect to one another. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said mobile client device is configured to transmit an audio signal to said laser of said laser measurement device via said port. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein said audio signal activates said laser of said laser measurement device when said digital camera is activated. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said mobile client device is a tablet computer. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein said laser measurement device is positioned with said first laser and said second laser on opposite sides of said digital camera. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said mobile client device is configured to:
 a. capture an image of a patient wearing a frame at the same time the laser is activated; and   b. determine a position of wear measurement of the patient wearing the frame based on a location of at least one mark made by said laser in said captured image.   
     
     
         9 . A method for obtaining digital measurements for optical applications, comprising:
 a. locating, by a measurement module, a first laser mark created by a first laser and a second laser mark created by a second laser within a digital image;   b. determining, by said measurement module, a distance between said first laser mark and said second laser mark, said distance being a number of pixels;   c. determining, by said measurement module, a scaling factor for said digital image using an actual distance between said first laser and said second laser and said distance, in pixels, between said first laser mark and said second laser mark; and   d. determining, by said measurement module, a position of wear measurement of a patient from said digital image using said scaling factor.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 a. determining, by said measurement module, a distance in pixels between an eye of said patient and a bridge of a nose of said patient in said digital image; and   b. multiplying, by said measurement module, said distance in pixels between said eye of said patient and said bridge of said nose of said patient by said scaling factor.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 a. determining, by said measurement module, a distance in pixels between a center of each eye of said patient in said digital image; and   b. multiplying, by said measurement module, said distance in pixels between said center of each eye of said patient by said scaling factor.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 a. determining, by said measurement module, a distance in pixels between a back surface of a lens being worn by said patient and a front of a cornea of said patient in said digital image; and   b. multiplying, by said measurement module, said distance in pixels between said back surface of said lens and said front of said cornea of said patient by said scaling factor.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 a. determining, by said measurement module, an angle between a plane of a frame front and a frontal plane of a face of said patient in said digital image; and   b. determining a distance between said patient and a digital camera used to capture said digital image.   
     
     
         14 . An optical system for calculating a position of wear measurement, comprising:
 a. a mobile computing device having an audio port;   b. a digital camera operatively coupled to said mobile computing device; and   c. a first laser and a second laser operatively coupled to and said mobile computing device via said audio port;   wherein said mobile computing device is configured to:
 i. activate said first and second lasers when said digital camera captures an image of a patient wearing a frame; and 
 ii. calculate at least one position of wear measurement of the patient wearing the frame based on a location of at least one mark made by either said first laser or said second laser in said captured image. 
   
     
     
         15 . The optical system of  claim 14 , wherein the digital camera is integrally formed with the mobile computing device. 
     
     
         16 . The optical system of  claim 14 , wherein said position of wear measurement is one or more measurements selected from a group consisting of:
 a. a monocular pupil distance;   b. a binocular pupil distance;   c. a vertex distance; and   d. a pantoscopic tilt.   
     
     
         17 . The optical system of  claim 14 , wherein the step of calculating said at least one position of wear measurement of the patient wearing the frame further comprises:
 a. locating a first laser mark created by the first laser and a second laser mark created by the second laser within said captured image;   b. calculating a distance between said first laser mark and said second laser mark, said distance being a number of pixels; and   c. calculating a scaling factor for said captured image using an actual distance between said first laser and said second laser and said distance, in pixels, between said first laser mark and said second laser mark,   d. wherein said position of wear measurement of the patient wearing the frame is calculated using said scaling factor.   
     
     
         18 . The optical system of  claim 17 , wherein the step of calculating at least one position of wear measurement relative to one or more physical features of the patient further comprises:
 a. determining a distance in pixels between an eye of the patient and a bridge of a nose of the patient in said captured image; and   b. multiplying said distance in pixels between the eye of the patient and the bridge of the nose of the patient by said scaling factor to determine a monocular pupil distance for the eye.   
     
     
         19 . The optical system of  claim 14 , wherein the system is further configured to calculate at least one position of wear measurement relative to one or more physical features of the patient based on said captured image and said location of at least one mark made by either said first laser or said second laser in said captured image. 
     
     
         20 . The optical system of  claim 14 , wherein the system is further configured to calculate at least one of a monocular pupil distance, a binocular pupil distance, a vertex distance, and a pantoscopic tilt at least partially based on a physical distance between said first and second lasers and a measured distance of said first and said second laser marks in said captured image.