Method and apparatus for creating ocular surgical and relaxing incisions

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9233024-B2
Application number	US-201213569103-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 7, 2012
Priority date	Mar 13, 2007
Publication date	Jan 12, 2016
Grant date	Jan 12, 2016

Abstract

A system and method of treating target tissue in a patient's eye, which includes generating a light beam, deflecting the light beam using a scanner to form first and second treatment patterns, delivering the first treatment pattern to the target tissue to form an incision that provides access to an eye chamber of the patient's eye, and delivering the second treatment pattern to the target tissue to form a relaxation incision along or near limbus tissue or along corneal tissue anterior to the limbus tissue of the patient's eye to reduce astigmatism thereof.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cataract surgery method of treating target tissue in one or more of a cornea, limbus or sclera of a patient's eye, comprising:
generating a treatment light beam;
deflecting the treatment light beam using a scanner to form first and second treatment patterns;
delivering the first treatment pattern to a first target tissue selected from the group consisting of the cornea, limbus and sclera of the patient's eye to form a cataract incision that is sized to provide access to an eye chamber of the patient's eye for lens removal instrumentation; and
delivering the second treatment pattern to a second target tissue to form a relaxation incision along or near limbus tissue or along corneal tissue anterior to the limbus tissue of the patient's eye to reduce astigmatism thereof,
wherein the incision formed by delivering the first treatment pattern only partially extends through the target tissue.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second treatment pattern is delivered along corneal tissue anterior to the limbus tissue of the patient's eye.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second treatment patterns are delivered simultaneously.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising measuring a surface profile of a surface of the cornea of the patient's eye, and positioning the second treatment pattern on the patient's eye based upon the measured surface profile.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising measuring scattering properties from different locations on the patient's eye, and positioning at least one of the first and second treatment patterns on the patient's eye based upon the measured scattering properties.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating an aiming light beam, deflecting the aiming light beam using the scanner to form an aiming pattern, and delivering the aiming pattern to the target tissue to visually indicate a position of at least one of the first and second treatment patterns.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising capturing an image of the target tissue, displaying the captured image, and modifying a composition and location of a least one of the first and second treatment patterns on the patient's eye in response to input received from a user input device.

8. A cataract surgery method of treating target tissue in one or more of a cornea, limbus or sclera of a patient's eye, comprising:
generating a treatment light beam;
deflecting the treatment light beam using a scanner to form first and second treatment patterns;
delivering the first treatment pattern to at least one of the cornea, limbus and sclera of a patient's eye to form a cataract incision that is sized to provide access to an eye chamber of the patient's eye for lens removal instrumentation;
measuring a surface profile of a surface of the cornea of the patient's eye; and
delivering the second treatment pattern to the target tissue to form a relaxation incision along or near limbus tissue or along corneal tissue anterior to the limbus tissue of the patient's eye to reduce astigmatism thereof, wherein the second treatment pattern is positioned on the patient's eye based upon the measured surface profile,
wherein the incision formed by delivering the first treatment pattern only partially extends through the target tissue.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the first and second treatment patterns are delivered simultaneously.

10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising generating an aiming light beam, deflecting the aiming light beam using the scanner to form an aiming pattern, and delivering the aiming pattern to the target tissue to visually indicate a position of at least one of the first and second treatment patterns.

11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising capturing an image of the target tissue, displaying the captured image, and modifying a composition and location of a least one of the first and second treatment patterns on the patient's eye in response to a user input device.

12. A cataract surgery method of treating target tissue in one or more of a cornea, limbus or sclera of a patient's eye, comprising:
generating a treatment light beam;
deflecting the treatment light beam using a scanner to form first and second treatment patterns;
measuring scattering properties from different locations on the patient's eye;
delivering the first treatment pattern to at least one of the cornea, limbus and sclera of a patient's eye to form a cataract incision that is sized to provide access to an eye chamber of the patient's eye for lens removal instrumentation; and
delivering the second treatment pattern to the target tissue to form a relaxation incision along or near limbus tissue or along corneal tissue anterior to the limbus tissue of the patient's eye to reduce astigmatism thereof,
wherein one or both of the first and second treatment patterns are positioned on the patient's eye based upon the measured scattering properties,
wherein the incision formed by delivering the first treatment pattern only partially extends through the target tissue.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the first and second treatment patterns are delivered simultaneously.

14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising generating an aiming light beam, deflecting the aiming light beam using the scanner to form an aiming pattern, and delivering the aiming pattern to the target tissue to visually indicate a position of at least one of the first and second treatment patterns.

15. The method of claim 12 , further comprising capturing an image of the target tissue, displaying the captured image, and modifying a composition and location of a least one of the first and second treatment patterns on the patient's eye in response to a user input device.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the relaxation incision is formed from the inside of the target tissue towards the outside of the target tissue without extending to the outside of the target tissue.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the relaxation incision is configured to at least partially compensate for astigmatism induced by the incision formed by delivering the first treatment pattern.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising using a wavefront sensor to measure aberrations of the patient's eye and using the measure aberrations to configure the relaxation incision to at least partially correct the measured aberrations.

19. The method of claim 1 , further comprising using a wavefront sensor to measure aberrations of the patient's eye and using the measure aberrations to configure the relaxation incision to at least partially correct the measured aberrations.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the incision formed by delivering the first treatment pattern is formed at a limbal angle of about 30 degrees as seen from directly above the eye.

21. The method of claim 1 , wherein the incision formed by delivering the first treatment pattern is not formed at or near a steep axis of the cornea.

22. A cataract surgery method of treating target tissue in one or more of a cornea, limbus or sclera of a patient's eye, comprising:
generating a treatment light beam;
deflecting the treatment light beam using a scanner to form first and second treatment patterns;
delivering the first treatment pattern to the target tissue to form a cataract incision in at least one of the cornea, limbus and sclera of the patient's eye, the incision being sized to provide access to an eye chamber of the patient's eye for lens

Assignees

• Culbertson William
• Angeley David
• Marcellino George
• Andersen Dan E
• Optimedica Corp

Inventors

• Culbertson William
• Angeley David
• Marcellino George
• Andersen Dan E

Classifications

• A61F9/00812

  Inlays; Onlays; Intraocular lenses [IOL] · CPC title

• A61F9/00754

  for cutting or perforating the anterior lens capsule, e.g. capsulotomes · CPC title

• A61F9/008

  using laser · CPC title

• A61F9/00

  Methods or devices for treatment of the eyes; Devices for putting in contact-lenses; Devices to correct squinting; Apparatus to guide the blind; Protective devices for the eyes, carried on the body or in the hand (caps with means for protecting the eyes A42B1/0181; visors for helmets A42B3/22; eye baths A61H35/02; sunglasses or goggles having the same features as spectacles G02C) · CPC title

• A61F9/009

  Auxiliary devices making contact with the eyeball and coupling in laser light, {e.g. goniolenses (apparatus for eye examination A61B3/0008)} · CPC title