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An ophthalmic imaging instrument includes a wavefront sensor-based adaptive optical subsystem (201) that measures phase aberrations in reflections derived from light produced by an imaging light source (207) and compensates for such phase aberrations when capturing images of reflections derived from

An ophthalmic imaging instrument includes a wavefront sensor-based adaptive optical subsystem (201) that measures phase aberrations in reflections derived from light produced by an imaging light source (207) and compensates for such phase aberrations when capturing images of reflections derived from light produced by the same imaging light source (207). In another aspect, a modular fundus camera (1) includes an adaptive optical module (201) that detachably interfaces to a fundus camera body and image capture subsystem (205). In another aspect, an ophthalmic instrument includes an integral wavefront sensor (213) and display device (223), wherein the wavefront sensor (213) measures phase aberrations in reflections directed thereto to characterize aberrations of the eye and is operably coupled to the display device (223), which displays a graphical representation of the aberrations of the eye.

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What is claimed is: 1. An ophthalmic instrument for capturing an image of the human eye comprising: an optical subsystem that directs light produced from a first light source into the human eye and that collects and collimates reflections of said light emitted from the human eye; wherein said light

What is claimed is: 1. An ophthalmic instrument for capturing an image of the human eye comprising: an optical subsystem that directs light produced from a first light source into the human eye and that collects and collimates reflections of said light emitted from the human eye; wherein said light comprises phase-aligned wavefronts; and wherein said reflections comprise distorted wavefronts derived from said phase-aligned wavefronts; an adaptive optical subsystem, operably coupled to said optical subsystem, including a phase-compensating optical element, a controller, and a wavefront sensor; wherein the distorted wavefronts derived from said light produced from said first light source are recreated at said phase-compensating optical element and said wavefront sensor; wherein said wavefront sensor measures phase aberrations in said distorted wavefronts and operates in a closed-loop fashion with said controller so as to control said phase-compensating optical element to compensate for such phase aberrations to restore said distorted wavefronts to phase-aligned wavefronts; and an imaging subsystem, operably coupled to said adaptive optical subsystem, that captures an image of the phase-aligned wavefronts produced by said phase-compensating optical element; wherein said wavefront sensor includes a lenslet array and an imaging device; wherein said lenslet array spatially samples said distorted wavefronts and focuses samples of the distorted wavefront to form a test spot pattern; wherein said imaging device captures said test spot pattern; wherein phase aberrations in said distorted wavefronts are measured by characterizing movement of spots in said test spot pattern; wherein said wavefront sensor includes a relay lens operably coupled between said lenslet array and said imaging device; and wherein said relay lens and imaging device are mounted on a moveable stage that translates linearly along the optical axis of said relay lens and said imaging device. 2. The ophthalmic instrument of claim 1, wherein said phase-compensating optical element comprises a deformable mirror. 3. The ophthalmic instrument of claim 2, wherein said deformable mirror comprises a silicon micro-machined membrane mirror including a silicon chip mounted over a printed circuit board substrate by spacers, wherein a top surface of said silicon chip comprises a membrane which is coated with a reflective layer to form a mirror surface, and wherein the printed circuit board comprises a control electrode structure that operates to deform the shape of the reflective membrane by applying bias and control voltages to the membrane and control electrodes disposed therein. 4. The ophthalmic instrument of claim 1, wherein said phase-compensating optical element comprises a liquid crystal device. 5. The ophthalmic instrument of claim 1 , wherein said imaging device comprises one of a CCD camera body, CMOS camera body and integrating CCD camera body. 6. The ophthalmic instrument of claim 1, wherein said lenslet array comprises an array of lenslets each comprising a reference fiducial point that contributes to a reference spot pattern imaged by said relay lens onto said imaging device in a calibration mode. 7. The ophthalmic instrument of claim 6, wherein a reference null position for calculating movement of a spot in said test spot pattern produced from a given lenslet is derived from location of a spot in said reference spot pattern produced from the given lenslet. 8. The ophthalmic instrument of claim 7, wherein said calibration mode dynamically assigns non-overlapping subapertures of the imaging device to lenslets of the lenslet array for use in tracking movement of spots of the test spot pattern. 9. The ophthalmic instrument of claim 7, wherein said calibration mode dynamically assigns non-overlapping subaperatures of said imaging device to particular lenslets of the lenslet array for use in tracking movement of spots of the test spot pattern, wherein each particular lenslet corresponds to a single spot in both said reference spot pattern and said test spot pattern. 10. The ophthalmic instrument of claim 1, wherein said imaging device comprises one of a CCD camera body, CMOS camera body, and integrating CCD camera body. 11. The ophthalmic instrument camera of claim 1, wherein said imaging device is coupled to an image display apparatus via a communication link. 12. The ophthalmic instrument of claim 11, wherein said communication link comprises a USB interface. 13. The ophthalmic instrument of claim 1, wherein said imaging subsystem includes a photographic film unit for capturing an image of the phase-aligned wavefronts produced by said phase-compensating optical element. 14. The ophthalmic instrument of claim 1, wherein said first light source comprises a flash source. 15. The ophthalmic instrument of claim 14, wherein said flash source comprises one of a xenon flash lamp and a krypton flash lamp. 16. The ophthalmic instrument of claim 1, wherein said optical subsystem further comprises a second light source, distinct from said first light source, that produces light in an observation mode, and wherein said optical subsystem directs light produced from the second light source to the human eye and collects reflection of such light for observation of the human eye. 17. The ophthalmic instrument of claim 16,wherein said second light source comprises one of a halogen lamp and at least one infra-red light emitting diode.