Actuation of an elastomeric valve with an electromagnet is disclosed wherein an elastomeric valve material may comprise a steel disc embedded in its wall to control the flow of fluid. In response to an electric current being applied to an electromagnet, a magnetic field attracts a disc embedded in the elastomeric valve material. The elastomeric valve would then move towards the electromagnet to create a seal, thereby blocking the flow of fluid.

Devices and methods for use in laser-assisted surgery, particularly cataract surgery. Specifically, the use of an optical fiber with a proximal and distal end, wherein the distal end has a non-orthogonal angle with the diameter of the optical fiber, to create an off-axis steam bubble for cutting and removing tissue in an operative region. Where the optical fiber is bent, rotating the fiber creates a circular cutting path for the steam bubble, allowing access to tissues that may normally be blocked by obstructions and obstacles.

An apparatus for aiding the removal of cataracts in which an optical fiber delivers sufficient optical energy of the correct wavelength, pulse duration to achieve controlled non-thermal and non-acoustic dissolution of hard cataract tissue.

In a laser cataract procedure that also corrects for astigmatism, an iris registration method compares an iris image of a patient's eye taken when the eye is not docked to a patient interface device with an iris image of the same eye that is docked to the patient interface, to calculate a rotation angle between the two images. The astigmatism axis of the eye is measured when the eye is not docked, and the measured axis is rotated by the calculated rotation angle to obtain a rotated astigmatism axis relative to the iris image of the docked eye. The laser cataract procedure is performed based on the rotated astigmatism axis. The rotation angle is calculated by optimizing a transformation that transforms the undocked iris image to match the docked iris image, where the transformation includes a dilation factor that accounts for different pupil dilation of the two iris images.

An ophthalmic surgical laser system and method for forming a lenticule in a subject's eye using “fast-scan-slow-sweep” scanning scheme. A high frequency scanner forms a fast scan line, which is placed by the XY and Z scanners at a location tangential to a parallel of latitude of the surface of the lenticule. The XY and Z scanners then move the scan line in a slow sweep trajectory along a meridian of longitude of the surface of the lenticule in one sweep. Multiple sweeps are performed along different meridians to form the entire lenticule surface, and a prism is used to change the orientation of the scan line of the high frequency scanner between successive sweeps. In each sweep, the sweeping speed along the meridian is variable, being the slowest at the edge of the lenticule and the fastest near the apex.

Particular embodiments disclosed herein provide an apparatus and corresponding methods for guiding ophthalmic surgery and enabling a surgeon to switch, after initiating surgery, between a primary treatment plan and one or more backup plans. Switching between a first plan and a second plan may be performed while omitting presentation of steps of the second plan compatible with implemented steps of the first plan. A treatment plan may include guides imposed on a live video of an eye of the patient that has been registered with respect to a pre-operative image. When switching between plans, initiating registration with respect to the pre-operative image is omitted. A treatment plan may define steps for placement of an IOL such as incision, rhexis, LRI, crystalline lens removal, placement of an IOL, alignment of a toric IOL, and post-operative data collection. Upon switching between first and second, previously implemented compatible steps are omitted from presentation of the second plan.

A laser eye surgery system includes a laser source, a ranging subsystem, an integrated optical subsystem, and a patient interface assembly. The laser source produces a treatment beam that includes a plurality of laser pulses. The ranging subsystem produces a source beam used to locate one or more structures of an eye. The ranging subsystem includes an optical coherence tomography (OCT) pickoff assembly that includes a first optical wedge and a second optical wedge separated from the first optical wedge. The OCT pickoff assembly is configured to divide an OCT source beam into a sample beam and a reference beam. The integrated optical subsystem is used to scan the treatment beam and the sample beam. The patient interface assembly couples the eye with the integrated optical subsystem so as to constrain the eye relative to the integrated optical subsystem.

Methods and apparatus are configures to measure an eye without contacting the eye with a patient interface, and these measurements are used to determine alignment and placement of the incisions when the patient interface contacts the eye. The pre-contact locations of one or more structures of the eye can be used to determine corresponding post-contact locations of the one or more optical structures of the eye when the patient interface has contacted the eye, such that the laser incisions are placed at locations that promote normal vision of the eye. The incisions are positioned in relation to the pre-contact optical structures of the eye, such as an astigmatic treatment axis, nodal points of the eye, and visual axis of the eye.

For the purposes of working on eye tissue, an ophthalmological apparatus comprises a laser source that is configured to produce a pulsed laser beam, a focusing optical unit that is configured to focus the pulsed laser beam into the eye tissue, and a scanner system for deflecting the pulsed laser beam onto work target points in the eye tissue. A circuit controls the scanner system in such a way that the scanner system guides the pulsed laser beam into work trajectories that extend next to one another, in order, initially, to produce cut trajectories, separated by remaining tissue bridges, of a tissue cut to be undertaken in an area and in order, thereafter, to guide the pulsed laser beam in the remaining tissue bridges between the cut trajectories in order to complete the tissue cut.

A method of altering a refractive property of a crosslinked acrylic polymer material by irradiating the material with a high energy pulsed laser beam to change its refractive index. The method is used to alter the refractive property, and hence the optical power, of an implantable intraocular lens after implantation in the patient's eye. In some examples, the wavelength of the laser beam is in the far red and near IR range and the light is absorbed by the crosslinked acrylic polymer via two-photon absorption at high laser pulse energy. The method also includes designing laser beam scan patterns that compensate for effects of multiphone absorption such as a shift in the depth of the laser pulse absorption location, and compensate for effects caused by high laser pulse energy such as thermal lensing. The method can be used to form a Fresnel lens in the optical zone.