Refractive surgical laser apparatus and method
First Claim
1. A method for performing ophthalmic surgery comprising:
- providing a basic laser having a pulsed output laser beam of a fundamental ultraviolet wavelength within a range of 193-220 nm exiting from an output window of said basic laser, a repetition rate of 1 Hz to 1000 Hz, and an energy level exiting from said output window of said basic laser of no greater than 10 mJ per pulse;
applying said pulsed laser beam onto corneal tissue; and
scanning said pulsed laser beam in a substantially overlapping pattern on said corneal tissue such that adjacent ablation spots on a single ablation layer of said corneal tissue significantly overlap one another.
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Abstract
A scanning ablation laser is disclosed having a fundamental output from a mirrored facet in the ultraviolet range, the fundamental ultraviolet output having an energy level of no greater than 10 mJ/pulse on the corneal surface. A controller controls the laser and scanning mechanism to deliver a focused and scanned pulsed output laser beam in a predetermined overlapping pattern onto a plurality of positions on a corneal surface to photoablate at least one layer of corneal tissue such that an overlap among respective ablating spots of individual pulses of the scanned pulsed output laser beam on a single ablation layer is at least 50%. The scanning mechanism may locate laser beam pulses in a random pattern on the corneal surface. In one embodiment, a beam splitter splits the pulsed output laser beam into a plurality of laser beams.
143 Citations
12 Claims
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1. A method for performing ophthalmic surgery comprising:
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providing a basic laser having a pulsed output laser beam of a fundamental ultraviolet wavelength within a range of 193-220 nm exiting from an output window of said basic laser, a repetition rate of 1 Hz to 1000 Hz, and an energy level exiting from said output window of said basic laser of no greater than 10 mJ per pulse;
applying said pulsed laser beam onto corneal tissue; and
scanning said pulsed laser beam in a substantially overlapping pattern on said corneal tissue such that adjacent ablation spots on a single ablation layer of said corneal tissue significantly overlap one another. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
said substantially overlapping pattern is achieved using randomized scanning of said pulsed laser beam on said corneal tissue.
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3. The method for performing ophthalmic surgery according to claim 1, wherein:
said pulsed laser beam has a spot size on said corneal tissue of no greater than 1 mm.
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4. The method for performing ophthalmic surgery according to claim 1, wherein:
pulses of said pulsed laser beam corresponding to adjacent ablation spots on said single ablation layer overlap one another by least 50 percent.
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5. The method for performing ophthalmic surgery according to claim 1, wherein:
said pulsed laser beam is scanned synchronously with said pulses of said pulsed laser beam.
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6. The method for performing ophthalmic surgery according to claim 1, wherein:
an area of corneal tissue 0.05 to 0.5 microns deep is removed with each pulse of said pulsed laser beam.
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7. The method for performing ophthalmic surgery according to claim 1, wherein:
said pulsed laser beam is scanned in circular patterns.
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8. The method for performing ophthalmic surgery according to claim 1, wherein:
said pulsed laser beam is scanned in linear patterns.
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9. A method for ablating tissue, comprising:
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providing a basic laser having a pulsed output laser beam of a fundamental ultraviolet wavelength of 193 nm exiting from an output window of said basic laser, and a repetition rate of 1 Hz to 1000 Hz; and
scanning said pulsed output beam into a substantially overlapping pattern of beam pulses on said tissue such that adjacent ablation spots on a single ablation layer of said corneal tissue significantly overlap one another. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
said substantially overlapping pattern of beam pulses has an orientation which is achieved using a randomized scanning of said pulsed output beam on said tissue.
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11. The method for ablating tissue according to claim 9, wherein:
said pulsed output laser beam has an energy level exiting from said output window of said basic laser of no greater than 10 mJ per pulse.
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12. The method for ablating tissue according to claim 9, wherein:
said scanning overlaps adjacent beam pulses corresponding to adjacent ablation spots on said single ablation layer by at least 50 percent.
Specification