Medical laser apparatus

• US 7,846,151 B2
• Filed: 12/27/2005
• Issued: 12/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/05/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Nidek Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Nidek Company Limited
• Inventors: Hayashi, Kenichi, Yamada, Tsuyoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Johnson, III; Henry M
• Assistant Examiner(s): CRANDALL, LYNSEY P
• Application Number:
  US11/316,836
• Publication Number:
  US 20060161140A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,806 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 606/4
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 18/20 using laser
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/2065 Multiwave; Wavelength mixing, e.g. using four or more wavelengths

Abstract

A medical laser apparatus for irradiating an affected tissue with a laser beam to treat the affected tissue, comprises: a laser source unit which emits an infrared beam as a fundamental wave having a spectral bandwidth; a wavelength demultiplexing optical system which spatially demultiplexes the emitted infrared beam by wavelengths; a wavelength converting optical system including a wavelength converting element disposed in correspondence with an optical path position of each of the demultiplexed infrared beams and for converting each of the infrared beams to a visible beam as a second harmonic wave; a wavelength multiplexing optical system which multiplexes the visible beams obtained by the conversion; and a delivery optical system which guides the multiplexed visible beams to the affected tissue.

Claims

1. A medical laser apparatus for irradiating an affected tissue with a laser beam to treat the affected tissue, comprising:

a laser source unit comprising an excitation light source and a Raman fiber, the laser source unit being configured to cause light from the excitation light source to enter the Raman fiber to produce a fundamental wave infrared beam having a predetermined wavelength width and emit this fundamental wave infrared beam;

a wavelength demultiplexing optical system which spatially wavelength-disperses the fundamental wave infrared beam emitted from the laser source unit into a plurality of infrared beams within the predetermined wavelength width;

a wavelength converting optical system, including a wavelength converting element including a single nonlinear crystal and for wavelength-converting each of the infrared beams demultiplexed by the wavelength demultiplexing optical system to second harmonic wave visible single color beams each of the infrared beams being caused to enter different portions of the nonlinear crystal and then be wavelength-converted to the visible single color beams;

a wavelength multiplexing optical system which multiplexes each of the visible single color beams obtained by the wavelength conversion by the wavelength converting optical system;

a beam stopper which absorbs the infrared beams not wavelength-converted by the wavelength converting optical system; and

a delivery optical system which guides each of the visible single color beams multiplexed by the wavelength multiplexing optical system to the affected tissue.

2. The medical laser apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the nonlinear crystal has polarization inverting period structures satisfying quasi phase matching formed continuously or step by step in correspondence with the wavelength of each infrared beam demultiplexed by the wavelength demultiplexing optical system.

3. The medical laser apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the nonlinear crystal has polarization inversion period structure formed based on fluctuation amounts of the wavelength of each infrared beam demultiplexed by the wavelength demultiplexing optical system.

4. The medical laser apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the wavelength demultiplexing optical system and the wavelength multiplexing optical system include a prism respectively.

5. The medical laser apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the wavelength demultiplexing optical system and the wavelength multiplexing optical system include an arrayed waveguide grating respectively.

6. The medical laser apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the nonlinear crystal is formed with waveguides corresponding to waveguides of the arrayed waveguide grating.

7. The medical laser apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the nonlinear crystal includes MgO:

PPLN crystal.