Alcon, Inc.

Novartis Ag

Michael Wittnebel

Mario Abraham

Stefan Schmid

Martin Starigk

Oliver Kern

Evi Goos

Friederike Rubin-Schwarz

Matthias Stehr

Maik Lange

An ophthalmic surgical system for treating an eye comprises a laser device and computer. The laser device directs laser pulses at a treatment frequency towards the eye according to a shot list, which comprises a sequence of laser shots and corresponding locations. The sequence of laser shots comprises substrings, where each substring indicates a local shot frequency at a location. The number of laser shots in a substring depends on the treatment frequency. The computer performs the following for the substrings: if there is a change in the treatment frequency, adjust the number of laser shots in a substring; check whether the substring indicates that a local shot frequency satisfies a maximum local frequency at the treatment frequency; and if the local shot frequency fails to satisfy the maximum local frequency, adjust the shot list such that the local shot frequency satisfies the maximum local frequency.

Managing laser shot frequency for an ophthalmic surgical system

In certain embodiments, an ophthalmic laser ablation system comprises a laser device, liquid remover, and computer. The laser device directs laser radiation towards an eye as a plurality of shots to ablate tissue of the eye according to a treatment pattern. The liquid remover removes liquid from a surface of the tissue of the eye. The computer: determines a moisture maintenance procedure; instructs the liquid remover to remove the liquid from the surface of the tissue at a location of the eye according to the moisture maintenance procedure; and instructs the laser device to ablate the tissue at the location of the eye according to the treatment pattern.

Adjusting moisture conditions for ophthalmic laser ablation surgery

In certain embodiments, an ophthalmic surgical system for performing a surgical procedure on an eye comprises a laser device, a camera, and a computer. The laser device comprises a laser source and a scanner. The laser source generates a laser beam comprising pulses, and the scanner directs the pulses towards tissue of the eye according to a laser focal spot pattern. The camera captures surgical images of the eye. The computer instructs the laser device to direct the pulses towards the eye according to the laser focal spot pattern, accesses and monitor the surgical images of the eye, identifies an interfering object from the surgical images of the eye, and modifies the control of the pulses to compensate for the interfering object.

Adjusting laser pulses to compensate for interfering objects

An ophthalmic surgical system for controlling a temperature of a cornea of an eye for a surgical procedure comprises a fluid management system and a computer. The fluid management system manages fluid within a channel structure created in the cornea of the eye. The computer instructs one or more of the controllable components to create the channel structure in the cornea. The channel structure provides a passageway between an interior of the eye and an exterior of the eye, and is proximate to a treatment site. The computer instructs the fluid management system to manage fluid within the channel structure in order to control the temperature of the cornea of the eye.

Controlling the temperature of the cornea during ophthalmic surgery

A patient interface for an ophthalmic laser system includes an interface portion and an attachment portion. The interface portion includes a transmissive portion and an interface wall. The transmissive portion allows a laser beam through to the cornea of an eye to perform an ophthalmic procedure. The interface wall is disposed outwardly from the transmissive portion. The attachment portion couples the interface portion to a region of the cornea to allow the laser beam through to the cornea to perform the ophthalmic procedure. The attachment portion also decreases the temperature of the region during the ophthalmic procedure.

Patient interfaces for cooling eye tissue

In certain embodiments, a system for aligning an eye with a patient interface of a laser device includes a camera, a display screen, and a computer. The camera records images of the eye through the patient interface of the laser device. A liquid is disposed between and is in contact with the patient interface and the outer surface of the eye. The images include an outline of the liquid. The display screen displays the images of the eye. The computer aligns the eye with the patient interface by: identifying the outline of the liquid in an image received from the camera; determining a misalignment of the eye according to the outline; and instructing the display screen to display a description of the misalignment.

Systems and methods for aligning an eye with a patient interface of an ophthalmic laser device

In certain embodiments, an ophthalmic surgical system for adjusting a dimension of an eye includes a camera and a computer. The camera generates a surgical image of the eye in contact with a patient interface, which distorts the cornea. The surgical image includes the pupil with a real pupil diameter. The computer accesses a diagnostic image of the eye with the cornea having a natural curvature. The natural curvature affects the real pupil diameter to yield a diagnostic pupil diameter of the diagnostic image that is different from the real pupil diameter of the surgical image. The computer adjusts the real pupil diameter of the surgical image using an eye model to yield a refracted pupil diameter that takes into account the curvature of the cornea and uses the refracted pupil diameter to compensate for the difference between the diagnostic and real pupil diameters.

Compensating for distortion of images of an eye for a surgical procedure

The present disclosure provides a system for automated fine adjustment of an ophthalmic surgery support in which an eye tracking system detects a detectable position of an eye. The direction and distance the support must be adjusted for the eye to be centered may be determined based on the detectable position. A control signal is generated and transmitted to a control device that adjusts the position of the support to center the eye. The disclosure further provides a method for automated fine adjustment of a support, which includes detecting a detectable position of an eye, determining whether the eye is centered in relation to the center of the detection field of an eye tracking system based on the detectable position, determining a direction and a distance the detectable position must be adjusted to be centered, and generating and transmitting a control signal to adjust the position of the support.

Automated fine adjustment of an ophthalmic surgery support

In certain embodiments, a patient interface for an ophthalmic laser system comprises an interface portion and an attachment portion. The interface portion comprises a contact portion, a cone wall, and one or more structures. The contact portion has an abutment face that is configured to be in contact with the cornea of an eye. The cone wall is disposed outwardly from the contact portion and defines a cone interior. The cone wall has an inner surface and an outer surface, where the inner surface defines the cone interior. The cone wall has an upper portion and a lower portion, where the lower portion is coupled to the contact portion. The one or more structures direct light from the cone wall towards the cone interior. The attachment portion affixes the interface portion to the cornea of the eye.

Patient interface for ophthalmic laser surgical system

An ophthalmic speculum includes arms, a locking mechanism, and an air-flow system. The arms include a first arm and a second arm. Each arm has a retractor shaped to conform to an eyelid of a pair of eyelids of an eye. The retractors are substantially symmetrical about a lateral axis. The locking mechanism is coupled to the arms. The locking mechanism moves the arms to allow the retractors to retract the pair of eyelids, and fixes the arms into place to maintain retraction of the pair of eyelids. The air-flow system is coupled to at least one arm, and moves air in a region disposed outwardly from a surface of the eye.

Ophthalmic speculum with an air-flow system

The disclosure provides a system that may receive an identification of a first patient; may retrieve, based at least on the identification of the first patient, first eye identification information that includes a first plurality of iris structures associated with a first eye of the first patient; may determine a second plurality of iris structures of an eye of a current patient; may determine if the second plurality of iris structures match the first plurality of iris structures; if the second plurality of iris structures match the first plurality of iris structures, may provide an indication that the first eye has been correctly identified; and if the second plurality of iris structures do match the first plurality of iris structures, may provide an indication that the first eye has not been correctly identified.

System and method of utilizing computer-aided identification with medical procedures

The disclosure relates to systems and methods for performing eye surgery in which a single image that simultaneously presents a graphical representation of a planned or actual flap location superimposed with a graphical representation of a planned or actual area of ablation is used.

Growing community of inventors

Hirschaid, Germany

Michael Wittnebel