Optics: eye examining – vision testing and correcting – Eye examining or testing instrument – Objective type
Patent
1988-02-18
1989-12-05
Bovernick, Rodney B.
Optics: eye examining, vision testing and correcting
Eye examining or testing instrument
Objective type
351205, A61B 310
Patent
active
048848840
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus for treatment of the eye with the use of a laser.
STATE OF THE ART
Such apparatuses are employed, by way of illustration, for coagulating the rear area of the eye using an argon laser, for treatment or operations in the front sections of the eye using a neodymium YAG laser or for radial keratotomy using an excimer or infrared laser.
By way of illustration, in cases of retinopathy diabetes it is necessary to treat large fundus areas using laser coagulation. To achieve this at present, very many laser spots of varying sizes are set at varying distances. Obviously, treatment by this means is very time consuming and very strenuous for both surgeon and patient.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for treating the eye using a laser while substantially reducing the time necessary for treatment requiring the setting of numerous laser spots.
An inventive solution to the object of the present invention and its further embodiments is described in the claims hereto.
According to the present invention, there is at least one beam multiplier arranged in the path of the laser beam, dividing the laser beam into at least two sub-beams. These sub-beams are placed in a specific spacial relationship to each other, i.e. at a specific angular distance to each other and at a specific distance to the optical axis and are jointly projected onto the area of the eye to be treated. The treatment time, by way of illustration, for large rear areas is reduced by means of multiplying the laser spots corresponding to the number of laser spots, by way of illustration, the treatment time is reduced by the factor 10 per laser shot when the laser beam is divided into 10 sub-beams.
The actual treatment time saved is even substantially greater since no time for aligning the laser, aiming, etc. is required; this time, as experience has shown, becomes longer and longer with increasing treatment time as the concentration of both the patient and the surgeon diminishes.
The beam multiplier employed as an inventive element of the present invention may, in principle, be of any desired construction. By way of illustration, it may be composed of a diffraction grating, a holograph, mirrors, a pair of plane lenses or a calcite prism, e.g. a so-called Wollaston prism.
A particularly advantageous embodiment of the beam multiplier in accordance with the present invention includes a prism plate having prisms arranged radially is employed as the beam multiplier. Such a prism plate has a number of advantages.
The number of laser spots is determined by the number of prisms and the spacing of the individual spots by the cutting-wedge angle. The laser output is, thus, distributed among the individual spots.
Moreover each laser spot, which is respectively produced by a prism, has the same energy distribution over the diameter of a spot when the beam divider prism is arranged in the parallel beam path. The energy distribution is, furthermore, the same as the distribution attained when the image of laser beam is projected without a beam multiplier.
When all of the prisms on the prism plate are arranged in the same manner, laser spots are attained, which are arranged at the same distance from the optical axis and in which each emits the same energy. On the other hand, the output of the laser beam may be distributed varyingly among the individual laser spots.
Furthermore, it is possible to provide individual radial prisms or a central area with the "cutting-wedge angle of 0 degrees" in such a manner that a laser spot or laser patch lies in the optical axis of the arrangement.
According to another feature different beam multipliers may be accommodated on a turret changer or a so-called Recoss plate in such a manner that different patch arrangements may be selected as desired. In particular, prism plates having a varying number of prisms and/or angle extension can be placed into the beam.
The present invented apparatus can be used not on
Bovernick Rodney B.
G. Rodenstock Instrumente GmbH
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