Ultra-short pulsed laser radiation is applied to a patient's eye to create a row of bubbles oriented perpendicular to the axis of vision. The row of bubbles leads to a region of the eye to be ablated. In a second step, a femtosecond laser beam guided through the row of bubbles converts it to a channel perpendicular to the axis of vision. In a third step, a femtosecond laser beam is guided through the channel to ablate a portion of the eye. Using a femtosecond laser with intensity in the range of 10.sup.11-10.sup.15 W/cm.sup.2 for the second and third steps facilitates multi-photon ablation that is practically devoid of eye tissue heating. Creating bubbles in the first step increases the speed of channel creation and channel diameter uniformity, thereby increasing the precision of the subsequent multi-photon ablation.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for cutting-out including a device for treating a L.A.S.E.R. beam generated by a femtosecond laser (1), and positioned downstream from said femtosecond laser, the treatment device comprising: a shaping system (3) positioned on the trajectory of said beam, for modulating the phase of the wave front of the L.A.S.E.R. beam according to a modulation set value calculated for distributing the energy of the L.A.S.E.R. beam in at least two impact points forming a pattern in its focal plane, an optical focusing system (5) downstream from the shaping system, the optical focusing system comprising a concentrator module for focusing the phase-modulated L.A.S.E.R. beam in a focusing plane and a depth-positioning module for displacing the focusing plane into a plurality of cutting-out planes, a sweeping optical scanner (4) positioned between the concentrator module and the depth-positioning module for displacing the pattern in the cutting-out plane in a plurality of positions.

A planning device for generating control data for a treatment apparatus, which by application of a laser device generates at least one cut surface in the cornea, and to a treatment apparatus having such a planning device. The invention further relates to a method for generating control data for a treatment apparatus, which by application of a laser device generates at least one cut surface in the cornea, and to a corresponding method for eye surgery. The planning device is thereby provided with a calculating device that defines the corneal incision surfaces, wherein the calculating device determines the corneal incisions such that after inserting an implant into the cornea, existing refractive errors are counteracted.

The present invention relates to apparatus for cutting out a human or animal tissue, such as a cornea, or a lens, said apparatus including a treatment device for producing a pattern consisting of at least two impact points in a focusing plane from a L.A.S.E.R. beam generated by a femtosecond laser (1), the treatment device being positioned downstream from said femtosecond laser, remarkable in that the treatment device comprises an optical focusing system (5) for focusing the L.A.S.E.R. beam in a cutting-out plane, and a control unit (6) able to control the displacement of the optical focusing system along an optical path of the L.A.S.E.R. beam for displacing the focusing plane in at least three respective cutting-out planes so as to form a stack of surfaces for cutting out the tissue.

The underlying invention is directed to a method for changing the human perceptual color appearance of the iris of a human's or animal's eye by selectively decreasing the density of pigments of the anterior stroma layer of the iris. The method comprises generating, by a generator module, a plurality of predefined energy quantities; and applying, by the generator module, one or more of the predefined energy quantities to the anterior stroma layer, wherein each of the predefined energy quantities is generated and applied, such that the energy quantities ablate, at least in part, melanocytes of the stroma whilst leaving non-melanocyte tissue of at least the stroma essentially undamaged, and wherein the predefined energy quantities generated and applied to the anterior stroma layer in the form of pressure waves and/or pulses generated within a fluid medium that is in fluidical communication with the anterior stroma layer.

The present invention relates to a femtosecond laser ophthalmological apparatus and method that creates a flap on the cornea for LASIK refractive surgery or for other applications that require removal of corneal and lens tissue at specific locations, such as in corneal transplants, stromal tunnels, corneal lenticular extraction and cataract surgery. The femtosecond laser is transferred from the main cabinet to a hand piece module via a rotating mirror set module. In the hand piece, the femtosecond laser beam is scanned and guided to the patient's eye. The ablation pattern is based on dividing the area of the ablation area into a matrix grid made up of cells. Predetermined ablation pattern is completed in an individual cell before moving on to the next cell until ablation is complete in the entire matrix grid mapped on the ablation area.

In certain embodiments, a device comprises a laser device and a control computer. The laser device directs a laser beam with laser energy through an outer portion of an eye to a target portion of the eye. The control computer receives an optical density measurement of the outer portion, determines the laser energy according to the optical density measurement, and instructs the laser device to direct the laser beam with the laser energy through the outer portion of the eye to the target portion of the eye.

A therapeutic method can include receiving an initial astigmatism condition of an eye; receiving a target final astigmatism condition of the eye; generating, based on the initial and target final astigmatism conditions, an eye incision pattern by iterating through a plurality of potential corrective combinations; and cutting the eye based on the eye incision pattern. Each of the potential corrective combinations can be defined by one or more of: an intraocular lens selected from a plurality of intraocular lens options, an access incision selected from a plurality of access incision options, and an arcuate incision selected from a plurality of arcuate incision options.

An ophthalmological apparatus includes a handle for manually holding and applying the ophthalmological apparatus, fastening abilities for fixing the ophthalmological apparatus at an eye, a light source, and a light projector for the focused projection of light pulses for punctiform tissue breakdown at a focal point in the interior of the eye tissue. The ophthalmological apparatus also includes a movement driver for moving the light projector. The movement of the light projector and therefore that of the focal point with the assistance of the movement driver permits a dimensioning of the optical projection system of the light projector which is substantially smaller than in the case of an ophthalmological apparatus where the focal point is moved exclusively by an optical projection system.

In an ophthalmic laser procedure, a lenticule is formed in the cornea and extracted from the cornea to accomplish vision correction. The ophthalmic laser system is used to form top and bottom lenticule incisions which intersect each other to form an isolated volume of corneal tissue in between. The volume of tissue includes a lenticular portion having a circular or oval shape and a side tab that protrudes from the peripheral of the lenticular portion. The side tab has a radial dimension between 0.5 and 5 mm and a width between 0.5 and 3 mm in. An entry cut is further formed from the anterior corneal surface to the top or bottom lenticule incisions to provide access to the lenticule. During extraction, the surgeon uses the surgical tool to grab the side tab to extract the lenticule.