Device for assisting in the preparation of an operation on the human eye

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9301877-B2
Application number	US-201114234532-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 28, 2011
Priority date	Jul 28, 2011
Publication date	Apr 5, 2016
Grant date	Apr 5, 2016

Abstract

According to an exemplary embodiment, a device ( 12 ) for assisting in the preparation of an operation on the human eye ( 14 ) for the purpose of generating a corneal flap by means of a microkeratome system ( 10 ) includes: an input interface arrangement ( 50 ) that permits at least the input of data relating to a set value of at least one flap parameter and also to at least one patient-related parameter; a computer ( 46 ) that has been set up to access a stored data collection ( 44 ) of several surgical data records, each of which includes a post-operative actual value of at least one flap parameter, a value for at least one patient-related parameter and configuration data of the microkeratome system, the computer ( 46 ) having been set up to ascertain, on the basis of the data collection ( 44 ) in a manner depending on the input data, configuration information that represents a proposed configuration of the microkeratome system ( 10 ); an output interface arrangement ( 48 ) for outputting the configuration information.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A device for assisting a laser-assisted flap-preparation system in generating a corneal flap, the device including:
an input interface arrangement that permits the input of data relating to a target value of at least one flap parameter and to at least one patient-related parameter;
a computer that has been set up to:
access a stored data collection of a plurality of surgical data records, each record including a post-operative actual value of at least one flap parameter, a value for at least one patient-related parameter, and configuration data of the flap-preparation system;
select at least two of the records that have post-operative actual values of at least one flap parameter that most closely match the target value of at least one flap parameter;
ascertain configuration information from the configuration data of the at least two records, the configuration information representing a proposed configuration of the flap-preparation system most likely to yield the the target value of at least one flap parameter; and
configure at least a part of the flap-preparation system in accordance with the configuration information.

2. The device according to claim 1 , wherein:
the input interface arrangement permits the input of data relating to at least one of the following flap parameters: a flap diameter, a flap thickness, a dimension or/and a position of a flap hinge, an ellipticity of the flap, a decentring of the flap, a marginal-incision angle of the flap; and
each surgical data record includes a post-operative actual value of at least one of these flap parameters.

3. The device according to claim 1 , wherein:
the input interface arrangement permits the input of data relating to at least one of the following patient-related parameters: a patient age, an intraocular pressure, at least one measure of the curvature of the anterior surface of the cornea, a corneal thickness, and a type of a measuring process employed for measuring the corneal thickness; and
each surgical data record includes a value of at least one of these patient-related parameters.

4. The device according to claim 1 , wherein:
the configuration information includes specifications relating to at least one of the following configuration parameters of the flap-preparation system: a size of a suction ring to be mounted onto the eye, the intensity of a suction-ring vacuum, a pulse energy of a pulsed laser radiation serving for flap preparation, a pulse repetition rate of the laser radiation, a wavelength of the laser radiation, a pulse length of the laser radiation, a room temperature, an incision depth, a setting angle of at least one optical element, at least one scan parameter for a laser radiation of the flap-preparation system, a divergence angle of the laser radiation; and
the configuration data of each surgical data record include specifications relating to at least one of these configuration parameters.

5. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the computer has been set up to configure at least a part of the flap-preparation system after receipt of a confirmation of the proposed configuration that has been input by the user via the input interface arrangement.

6. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the computer has been set up to generate a new surgical data record by using at least a part of the configuration information, at least a part of the input data and a post-operative actual value, input via the input interface arrangement, of at least one flap parameter.

7. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the computer has been set up to ascertain, for at least a fraction of the data record elements contained in the selected data records, a mean value or/and a standard deviation within the selected subgroup.

8. A method for assisting a laser-assisted-flap preparation system in generating a corneal flap, comprising:
accessing a stored data collection of a plurality of surgical data records, each of record including a post-operative actual value of at least one flap parameter, a value for at least one patient-related parameter, and configuration data of the flap-preparation system;
receiving data relating to a set target value of at least one flap parameter and to at least one patient-related parameter via an input interface arrangement;
selecting at least two of the records that have post-operative actual values of at least one flap parameter that most closely match the target value of at least one flap parameter;
ascertaining configuration information from the configuration data of the at least two records, the configuration information representing a proposed configuration of the flap-preparation system most likely to yield the target value of at least one flap parameter; and
automatically configuring at least a part of the flap-preparation system in accordance with the configuration information.

9. The method according to claim 8 , further including:
receiving a confirmation by the user of the proposed configuration of the flap-preparation system via the input interface arrangement.

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the automatic configuring includes an automatic setting of at least one of the following parameters of the flap-preparation system in accordance with the configuration information:
an intensity of a suction-ring vacuum, a pulse energy of a pulsed laser radiation serving for flap preparation, a pulse repetition rate of the laser radiation, a wavelength of the laser radiation, a pulse length of the laser radiation, a room temperature, an incision depth.

11. The method according to claim 8 , further including:
selecting a suction ring from several suction rings of varying size in accordance with the configuration information; and
equipping the flap-preparation system with the selected suction ring.

12. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the configuration information includes specifications relating to at least one of the following configuration parameters of the flap-preparation system:
a size of a suction ring to be mounted onto the eye, the intensity of a suction-ring vacuum, a pulse energy of a pulsed laser radiation serving for flap preparation, a pulse repetition rate of the laser radiation, a wavelength of the laser radiation, a pulse length of the laser radiation, a room temperature, an incision depth, a setting angle of at least one optical element, at least one scan parameter for a laser radiation of the flap-preparation system, a divergence angle of the laser radiation.

13. The device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
an output interface arrangement for outputting the configuration information to a user.

14. The method according to claim 8 , further comprising:
outputting the configuration information to a user via an output interface arrangement.

15. The device according to claim 13 , wherein the computer has been set up to evaluate statistically the data contained in the data collection and to bring about the visual output of a result of evaluation via an output interface arrangement.

16. The device according to claim 15 , wherein the result of evaluation includes at least one representation of a frequency distribution of a post-operative actual value of a flap parameter.

17. The device according to claim 15 or 16 , wherein the result of evaluation includes at least one representation of a value distribution of an element of the surgical data records as a function of at least one other element of the surgical data records.

Assignees

• Jeglorz Tobias
• Donitzky Christof
• Wavelight Gmbh

Inventors

• Jeglorz Tobias
• Donitzky Christof

Classifications

• 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

• A61F9/00836 Primary

  Flap cutting · CPC title

• A61F9/0133

  Knives or scalpels specially adapted therefor · CPC title

• A61F2009/00872

  Cornea · CPC title

• A61F2009/00878

  Planning · CPC title