초록 ▼

Pathological tissue is excised with a beam from a laser that is coupled through a flexible, optical waveguide to a collimator that reduces the beam cross-sectional area by variable, controlled amounts. A transparent bore or a graphite cannule couples the beam exiting the collimator to the tissue to

Pathological tissue is excised with a beam from a laser that is coupled through a flexible, optical waveguide to a collimator that reduces the beam cross-sectional area by variable, controlled amounts. A transparent bore or a graphite cannule couples the beam exiting the collimator to the tissue to vaporize same. An electrically responsive deflector gyrates the reduced cross-sectional area beam about a bore sight axis aligned with the cannula bore so that the excised tissue has a frusto-conical volume. To excise different, displaced tissue regions, a position servo system moves the cannula so the bore sight axis moves in a plane at right angles to a plane on the exterior surface containing the pathological tissue.

대표청구항 ▼

An instrument for excising pathological tissue from an organ in a cavity of a living body comprising a source of coherent optical beam radiation having sufficient energy to vaporize the tissue, a cannula having a biocompatible exterior made of a material that can be inserted into the body cavity in

An instrument for excising pathological tissue from an organ in a cavity of a living body comprising a source of coherent optical beam radiation having sufficient energy to vaporize the tissue, a cannula having a biocompatible exterior made of a material that can be inserted into the body cavity in contact with organs in the cavity without detrimental effects on the organs, said cannula having a longitudinal axis and an optically transparent interior extending along the axis, the transparent interior being bounded by an interior wall of the cannula, means for optically coupling the beam source to the cannula so energy from the beam is coupled to the tissue so the tissue is irradiated by the beam energy, the optical coupling means including an optical waveguide connected to be responsive to the beam, the waveguide being fabricated of a material that remains stable while transmitting the beam so that the beam mode is not perturbed as the beam propagates through the waveguide, the beam energy irradiating the tissue having sufficient energy to vaporize the irradiated tissue, the cannula being made of a material that substantially prevents heat transferred to the interior wall by radiation from the beam from being transferred to the exterior of the cannula so that organs in the body cavity contacting the cannula exterior are not substantially heated by radiation from the beam, means for selectively coupling the beam to the cannula, means for gyrating the beam irradiating the tissue about the longitudinal axis.