| 摘要 |
A system and method for hardware limiting the ignition of an ophthalmic illumination source (14) are disclosed. One embodiment of the present invention is an ophthalmic illuminator (10), comprising: an illumination source (14) having a desired useful lifetime; and an ignition system (300) operable to provide an ignition pulse to ignite the illumination source, wherein the ignition pulse voltage is limited to prevent ignition of the illumination source beyond the desired useful lifetime. The desired useful lifetime of the illumination source can be an arbitrarily selected lifetime that is less than an expected illumination source lifetime based on manufacturer's specifications for the illumination source. The ignition pulse voltage limit can be a threshold voltage, wherein the threshold voltage is a minimum voltage required to ignite the illumination source near the end of the desired useful lifetime. The illuminator can further comprise an alerting system operable to alert a user to replace the illumination source if the ignition pulse fails to ignite the illumination source. |
