초록 ▼

An adaptive laser system for ophthalmic use is provided. In another aspect, a relatively inexpensive laser is employed. In another aspect of the present system, non-linear optical imaging uses multiphoton fluorescences and/or second harmonic generation, to create three-dimensional mapping of a porti

An adaptive laser system for ophthalmic use is provided. In another aspect, a relatively inexpensive laser is employed. In another aspect of the present system, non-linear optical imaging uses multiphoton fluorescences and/or second harmonic generation, to create three-dimensional mapping of a portion of the eye in combination with automated feedback to assist with a surgical operation. In a further aspect of the present system, the patient interface uses laser induced markings or indicia to aid in focusing and/or calibration. Still another aspect employs temporal focusing of the laser beam pulse.

대표청구항 ▼

1. An ophthalmic surgical laser system comprising: an ophthalmic laser emitting at least one unamplified laser pulse, each having a duration less than 150 fs with an output less than 2 μJ and a repetition rate greater than 0.5 MHz, the ophthalmic laser being one of: a direct diode pumped laser, and

1. An ophthalmic surgical laser system comprising: an ophthalmic laser emitting at least one unamplified laser pulse, each having a duration less than 150 fs with an output less than 2 μJ and a repetition rate greater than 0.5 MHz, the ophthalmic laser being one of: a direct diode pumped laser, and a Yb doped gain medium laser;at least one optic changing a characteristic of the pulse between the ophthalmic laser and a target focal point;the at least one optic further comprising at least one of: (a) a pulse shaper which assists in correcting nonlinear spectral phase distortions in the pulse to reduce undesired bubbles otherwise created by surgical ophthalmical use of the pulse; and(b) a diffraction optic for diffracting colors in the pulse, a collimating optic for collimating the colors in the pulse and a focusing optic focusing the colors in the pulse at the target focal point at a desired spectral focusing depth;a programmable controller;a detector connected to the programmable controller;the at least one laser pulse scanning across a portion of an eye by a scanner and the detector collecting a nonlinear optical signal based on the laser pulse scan; andthe laser, detector and controller causing nonlinear optical imaging of the portion of the eye, instead of using optical coherent tomography, to create a three dimensional map to assist in guiding subsequent eye surgery tailored to the that specific eye using subsequent laser pulses. 2. The laser system of claim 1, wherein the at least one optic is the diffraction, collimating and focusing optics, the diffraction optic is a grating and focusing optic is a curved mirror, further comprising a computer controlled actuator operably moving the mirror to vary the desired spectral focusing depth. 3. The laser system of claim 1, further comprising an objective lens for focusing the pulse at the target focal point to create an indicating ophthalmic mark to aid in at least one of focusing and calibration during a subsequent ophthalmic procedure. 4. The laser system of claim 1, further comprising a portion of an eye is cut by the pulse, the target focal point being located in or on the eye. 5. The laser system of claim 1, wherein the ophthalmic laser is adapted to act on an eye for at least three operations selected from the following: refractive correction, cutting corneal flaps, treatment of macular degeneration, corneal grafting, phaco chopping, lens extraction, photo bleaching, presbiopia correction, and fundus imaging. 6. The laser system of claim 1, further comprising at least a second ophthalmic laser emitting at least one unamplified laser pulse, each of the lasers having a duration less than 80 fs with an output less than 0.5 μJ and a repetition rate greater than 5 MHz, the lasers being of a modularized construction and mounted to a single ophthalmic surgical machine such that laser emission can be easily interchanged for one another almost instantaneously. 7. The laser system of claim 1, further comprising a programmable controller using software which automatically measures nonlinear optical distortions in the laser pulse in less than one minute and compresses the pulses by pre-compensating dispersion. 8. The laser system of claim 1, wherein the target focal point coincides with an eye lens which is cut in a contiguous pattern by the at least one laser pulse such that the eye lens is removable as a single piece and replaced by an intraocular lens. 9. The laser system of claim 1, further comprising a nonlinear polarizer providing mode locking, and an intracavity spectral filter being associated with the laser. 10. The laser system of claim 1, further comprising a compact free space oscillator producing pulses longer than 100 fs, followed by a fiber whose self-phase modulation causes sufficient bandwidth to compress the pulses to durations shorter than 50 fs. 11. The laser system of claim 1, wherein the at least one optic includes a pulse shaper which causes each of the pulses to separate into a train of at least two pulses. 12. The laser system of claim 1, wherein the at least one optic further comprises an objective lens having an aperture that is operable to limit a numerical aperture in order to change a length over which the laser alters tissue of an eye. 13. The laser system of claim 1, wherein the laser is a sub-30 fs titanium:sapphire laser with a repetition rate greater than 1 MHz and a pulse energy less than 20 nJ. 14. The laser system of claim 1, wherein a portion of the at least one pulse is reflected to a set of optics that replicates a dispersion of an objective, eye piece and eye, and provides real-time information about a quality of the at least one pulse being delivered to the eye. 15. The laser system of claim 1, wherein the at least one pulse is transmitted through epithelial cells to selectively image and/or treat different layers of a macula lutea or ganglion cells. 16. An ophthalmic surgical laser system comprising: an ophthalmic laser emitting at least one unamplified laser pulse, each having a duration less than 150 fs with an output less than 2 μJ and a repetition rate greater than 0.5 MHz, the ophthalmic laser being one of: a direct diode pumped laser, and a Yb doped gain medium laser;at least one pulse shaper changing a characteristic of the pulse between the ophthalmic laser and a target focal point, the pulse shaper assisting in correcting nonlinear spectral phase distortions in the pulse to reduce undesired bubbles otherwise created by surgical ophthalmical use of the pulse, the pulse shaper controlling amplitude and phase characteristics of the pulse; anda programmable controller varying the pulse shaper in an automated and real-time manner to optimize desired performance through varying a temporal characteristic of the pulse. 17. The laser system of claim 16, further comprising: a detector connected to the programmable controller;the at least one laser pulse scanning across a portion of an eye and the detector collecting a nonlinear optical signal based on the laser pulse scan; andthe laser, detector and controller causing nonlinear optical imaging of the portion of the eye, instead of using optical coherent tomography, to create a three dimensional map to assist in guiding subsequent eye surgery tailored to the eye using subsequent laser pulses. 18. The laser system of claim 16, further comprising an objective lens for focusing the pulse at the target focal point to create an indicating ophthalmic mark to aid in at least one of focusing and calibration during a subsequent ophthalmic procedure. 19. The laser system of claim 16, further comprising a portion of an eye is cut by the pulse, the target focal point being located in or on the eye. 20. The laser system of claim 16, wherein the ophthalmic laser is adapted to act on an eye for at least three operations selected from the following: refractive correction, cutting corneal flaps, treatment of macular degeneration, corneal grafting, phaco chopping, lens extraction, photo bleaching, presbiopia correction, and fundus imaging. 21. The laser system of claim 16, wherein the programmable controller uses software to automatically measure nonlinear optical distortions in the laser pulse in less than one minute and compress the pulses by pre-compensating dispersion. 22. An ophthalmic surgical laser system comprising: an ophthalmic laser emitting at least one unamplified laser pulse, each having a duration less than 150 fs with an output less than 2 μJ and a repetition rate greater than 0.5 MHz, the ophthalmic laser being one of: a direct diode pumped laser, and a Yb doped gain medium laser; andat least one optic changing a characteristic of the pulse between the ophthalmic laser and a target focal point;the at least one optic further comprising at least one of: (a) a pulse shaper which assists in correcting nonlinear spectral phase distortions in the pulse to reduce undesired bubbles otherwise created by surgical ophthalmical use of the pulse; and(b) a diffraction optic for diffracting colors in the pulse, a collimating optic for collimating the colors in the pulse and a focusing optic focusing the colors in the pulse at the target focal point at a desired spectral focusing depth;wherein fiber and a free space oscillator are combined to generate a laser pulse bandwidth greater than 60 nm. 23. An ophthalmic surgical laser system comprising: an ophthalmic laser emitting at least one unamplified laser pulse, each having a duration less than 150 fs with an output less than 2 μJ and a repetition rate greater than 0.5 MHz, the ophthalmic laser being one of: a direct diode pumped laser, and a Yb doped gain medium laser;at least one optic changing a characteristic of the pulse between the ophthalmic laser and a target focal point;the at least one optic further comprising at least one of: (a) a pulse shaper which assists in correcting nonlinear spectral phase distortions in the pulse to reduce undesired bubbles otherwise created by surgical ophthalmical use of the pulse; and(b) a diffraction optic for diffracting colors in the pulse, a collimating optic for collimating the colors in the pulse and a focusing optic focusing the colors in the pulse at the target focal point at a desired spectral focusing depth; andgold nanoparticles adapted for location in or on an eye, and the at least one pulse being emitted at the gold nanoparticles to assist in an ophthalmic surgery. 24. An ophthalmic surgical laser system comprising: an ophthalmic laser emitting at least one laser pulse, each having a duration less than 150 fs;a diffracting optic operably diffracting colors in the pulse;a collimating optic operably collimating the colors in the pulse;a focusing optic focusing the colors in the pulse at a target focal point; anda programmable controller operably causing the target focal point to be at a desired spectral focusing eye depth to allow for laser eye surgery at the desired spectral focusing eye depth but without affecting the adjacent areas subject to the unfocused laser pulse;wherein the optics and controller cause all of the frequencies of the laser pulse to overlap in space and time at the target focal point while maximum peak intensity is achieved. 25. The laser system of claim 24, wherein the diffracting optic is a grating, the collimating optic is another grating and the focusing optic is an objective lens. 26. The laser system of claim 24, further comprising a detector connected to the controller operably receiving laser induced non-linear signals from a position of the laser focus in order to create a three dimensional map of a portion of an eye acted upon by the scanning laser pulse, the controller using the three dimensional map to assist in determining the subsequent target focal point for eye surgery. 27. The laser system of claim 24, further comprising an actuator controlled by the controller in order to cause the focusing optic to change a location of the target focal point. 28. The laser system of claim 24, wherein the target focal point is adjacent an eye retina to allow for laser treatment at a desired depth with minimal damage to adjacent tissues. 29. The laser system of claim 24, further comprising an objective lens having an aperture that is operable to limit a numerical aperture in order to change a length over which the laser alters tissue of the eye. 30. The laser system of claim 24, wherein the target focal point is at an intraocular lens, and the at least one pulse modifies stiffness of an arm extending from the intraocular lens to adjust its position in the eye. 31. The laser system of claim 24, wherein the target focal point in at an intraocular lens, and the at least one pulse alters a refractive characteristic of the intraocular lens through multi-photon excitation. 32. The laser system of claim 24, wherein the target focal point is within a stroma and the at least one pulse alters a refractive characteristic of an intraocular lens through multi-photon excitation. 33. The laser system of claim 24, wherein the target focal point is within a stroma of the eye and the laser changes a refractive characteristic in order to affect overall optical focusing properties of a cornea of the eye to achieve refractive correction without cutting. 34. The laser system of claim 24, wherein the target focal point is within an artificial intraocular lens and the laser changes a refractive characteristic in order to fine tune an overall optical focusing property of the intraocular lens to achieve refractive correction without surgery. 35. The laser system of claim 1, further comprising a second harmonic generation optic, a second harmonic generation spectrum is obtained when the laser is focused on the second harmonic generation optic to provide information about the pulse duration and peak intensity of the pulse. 36. The laser system of claim 1, wherein the laser output is less than 0.5 μJ. 37. An ophthalmic surgical laser system comprising: an ophthalmic laser emitting at least one laser pulse, each having a duration less than 150 fs;a diffracting optic operably diffracting colors in the pulse;a collimating optic operably collimating the colors in the pulse;a focusing optic focusing the colors in the pulse at a target focal point;a programmable controller operably causing the target focal point to be at a desired spectral focusing eye depth to allow for laser eye surgery at the desired spectral focusing eye depth but without affecting the adjacent areas subject to the unfocused laser pulse;the controller adjusting intensity of diodes pumping the laser; andan attenuator controlling bandwidth and output intensity of the laser. 38. The laser system of claim 37, wherein the optics and controller cause all of the frequencies of the laser pulse to overlap in space and time at the target focal point while maximum peak intensity is achieved. 39. An ophthalmic surgical laser system comprising: an ophthalmic laser emitting at least one laser pulse, each having a duration less than 150 fs;a programmable controller connected to the laser; anda detector connected to the controller, the detector operably detecting at least one of: (a) second harmonic generation imaging; and (b) at least two-photon fluorescence emission imaging, caused by the laser pulse being emitted into an eye;the controller operably determining at least one of: (i) measurements, (ii) locations, and (iii) characteristics, of portions of the eye based on the detected images, used in subsequent laser treatment of the eye;wherein the detector and controller detect an image of an iris of the eye and automatically compare a detected image to a previously stored iris image in order to identify the eye being treated and assist with alignment. 40. The laser system of claim 39, wherein the detector detects multi-photon fluorescence emission, and the pulse duration is less than 100 fs. 41. The laser system of claim 39, wherein the detector detects second harmonic generation emission, and the pulse duration is less than 100 fs. 42. The laser system of claim 39, further comprising a pulse shaper connected to the controller, the controller automatically varying the pulse shaper in real time based on required depth to provide optimal dispersion pre-compensation. 43. An ophthalmic surgical laser system comprising: an ophthalmic laser emitting at least one laser pulse, each having a duration less than 150 fs;a programmable controller connected to the laser;a detector connected to the controller, the detector operably detecting at least one of: (a) second harmonic generation imaging; and (b) at least two-photon fluorescence emission imaging, caused by the laser pulse being emitted into an eye;the controller operably determining at least one of: (i) measurements, (ii) locations, and (iii) characteristics, of portions of the eye based on the detected images, used in subsequent laser treatment of the eye; anda pulse shaper connected to the controller, the controller automatically varying the pulse shaper in a real time manner to change a characteristic of the at least one pulse. 44. The laser system of claim 43, wherein the detector and controller detect an image of an iris of the eye and automatically compare a detected image to a previously stored iris image in order to identify the eye being treated and assist with alignment. 45. An ophthalmic surgical laser system comprising: a first ophthalmic laser emitting at least one unamplified laser pulse, each having a duration less than 150 fs with an output less than 2 μJ and a repetition rate greater than 0.5 MHz;at least one optic changing a characteristic of the pulse between the ophthalmic laser and a target focal point;the at least one optic further comprising at least one of: (a) a pulse shaper which assists in correcting nonlinear spectral phase distortions in the pulse to reduce undesired bubbles otherwise created by surgical ophthalmical use of the pulse; and(b) a diffraction optic for diffracting colors in the pulse, a collimating optic for collimating the colors in the pulse and a focusing optic focusing the colors in the pulse at the target focal point at a desired spectral focusing depth; andat least a second ophthalmic laser emitting at least one unamplified laser pulse, the lasers being of a modularized construction and mounted to a single ophthalmic surgical machine such that laser emission can be easily interchanged for one another almost instantaneously. 46. The laser system of claim 45, wherein the optic is the pulse shaper, further comprising a programmable controller varying the pulse shaper in an automated and real-time manner to optimize desired performance through varying a temporal characteristic of the pulse. 47. The laser system of claim 45, wherein the at least one optic is the diffraction, collimating and focusing optics, the diffraction optic is a grating and focusing optic is a curved mirror, further comprising a computer controlled actuator operably moving the mirror to vary the desired spectral focusing depth. 48. The laser system of claim 45, wherein the ophthalmic laser is adapted to act for at least three different operations selected from the following: refractive correction, cutting corneal flaps, treatment of macular degeneration, corneal grafting, phaco chopping, lens extraction, photo bleaching, presbiopia correction, and fundus imaging. 49. The laser system of claim 45, wherein a fiber and a free space oscillator are combined to generate a laser pulse bandwidth greater than 60 nm. 50. The laser system of claim 45, further comprising a compact free space oscillator producing pulses longer than 100 fs, followed by a fiber whose self-phase modulation causes sufficient bandwidth to compress the pulses. 51. The laser system of claim 45, wherein the pulse from at least one of the lasers provides a high resolution image of a retina of a patient at different depths in order to provide comprehensive health diagnosis based on vasculature and/or on the relative composition of metabolic compounds. 52. The laser system of claim 45, wherein the pulse from at least one of the lasers provides a high resolution image of an endothelium of the patent to determine eye health of a patient. 53. The laser system of claim 45, wherein the pulse from at least one of the lasers activates nanoparticles in an eye of the patient to treat an eye. 54. The laser system of claim 45, wherein the target focal point is at an intraocular lens, and the at least one pulse modifies stiffness of an arm extending from the intraocular lens to adjust its position in an eye. 55. The laser system of claim 45, wherein the target focal point in at an intraocular lens, and the at least one pulse alters a refractive characteristic of the intraocular lens through multi-photon excitation. 56. An ophthalmic surgical laser system comprising: an ophthalmic laser emitting at least one unamplified laser pulse, each having a duration less than 150 fs with an output less than 2 μJ and a repetition rate greater than 0.5 MHz;at least one optic changing a characteristic of the pulse between the ophthalmic laser and a target focal point;the at least one optic further comprising a diffraction optic for diffracting colors in the pulse, a collimating optic for collimating the colors in the pulse and a focusing optic focusing the colors in the pulse at the target focal point at a desired spectral focusing depth;the diffraction optic being a grating and the focusing optic being a curved mirror; anda computer controlled actuator operably moving the mirror to vary the desired spectral focusing depth;the ophthalmic laser being adapted for at least three different eye operations selected from the following: refractive correction, cutting corneal flaps, treatment of macular degeneration, corneal grafting, phaco chopping, lens extraction, photo bleaching, presbiopia correction, and fundus imaging. 57. The laser system of claim 56, further comprising: a programmable controller connected to the laser; anda detector connected to the controller, the detector operably detecting at least one of: (a) second harmonic generation imaging; and (b) at least two-photon fluorescence emission imaging, caused by the laser pulse being emitted into the eye;the controller operably determining at least one of: (i) measurements, (ii) locations, and (iii) characteristics, of portions of the eye based on the detected images, used in subsequent laser treatment of the eye. 58. The laser system of claim 57, wherein the detector detects multi-photon fluorescence emission, and the pulse duration is less than 100 fs. 59. The laser system of claim 57, wherein the detector detects second harmonic generation emission, and the pulse duration is less than 100 fs. 60. The laser system of claim 56, further comprising a programmable controller using software which automatically measures nonlinear optical distortions in the laser pulse in less than one minute and compresses the pulses by pre-compensating dispersion. 61. The laser system of claim 56, wherein fiber and free space elements are combined to generate a laser pulse bandwidth greater than 60 nm. 62. The laser system of claim 56, wherein the laser is a titanium:sapphire laser with a repetition rate greater than 1 MHz and a pulse energy less than 20 nJ. 63. The laser system of claim 56, wherein pulses from the laser provide a high resolution image of at least one of: (a) a retina or (b) an endothelium, at different depths of the eye. 64. An ophthalmic surgical laser system comprising: an ophthalmic laser emitting at least one unamplified laser pulse, each having a duration less than 150 fs with an output less than 2 μJ and a repetition rate greater than 0.5 MHz;at least one optic changing a characteristic of the pulse between the ophthalmic laser and a target focal point;the at least one optic further comprising a pulse shaper which assists in correcting nonlinear spectral phase distortions in the pulse to reduce undesired bubbles otherwise created by surgical ophthalmical use of the pulse; anda programmable controller varying the pulse shaper in an automated and real-time manner to optimize desired performance through varying a temporal characteristic of the pulse;the ophthalmic laser being adapted for at least three different eye operations selected from the following: refractive correction, cutting corneal flaps, treatment of macular degeneration, corneal grafting, phaco chopping, lens extraction, photo bleaching, presbiopia correction, and fundus imaging. 65. The laser system of claim 64, wherein the programmable controller uses software which automatically measures nonlinear optical distortions in the laser pulse in less than one minute and compresses the pulses by pre-compensating dispersion. 66. The laser system of claim 64, wherein fiber and free space elements are combined to generate a laser pulse bandwidth greater than 60 nm.