USE OF A TREATMENT DEVICE WITH A LASER FOR CORRECTING AN EYE TISSUE, AND A METHOD FOR PROVIDING CONTROL DATA FOR A LASER FOR CORRECTING AN EYE TISSUE

Abstract

Use of a treatment apparatus is disclosed for cut-free transfer of a tissue of a correction area of a human or animal eye from a determined actual state into an ascertained desired state. The treatment apparatus includes a fiber laser device, which includes a fiber oscillator and/or a fiber amplifier. In addition, a method is disclosed for providing control data of a fiber laser device for a correction of the eye tissue as well as to the corresponding apparatuses.

Claims

1.-15. (canceled)

16. A treatment apparatus for a correction of an eye tissue comprising: at least one fiber laser device including a fiber oscillator and/or a fiber amplifier; and a control device configured to determine an actual state of a tissue of a correction area of a human or animal eye, ascertain a desired state of the tissue based on the determined actual state of the tissue, and provide control data to the at least one fiber laser device that describes an operation of the at least one fiber laser device for cut-free transfer of the tissue of the correction area from the determined actual state into the ascertained desired state.

17. The treatment apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the fiber laser device is suitable to emit laser pulses in a wavelength range between 300 nm and 1400 nm, preferably between 700 nm and 1200 nm, at a respective pulse duration between 1 fs and 1 ns, preferably between 10 fs and 10 ps, and a repetition frequency of greater than 10 kHz, preferably between 100 kHz and 100 MHz.

18. The treatment apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the control device comprises at least one storage device for at least temporary storage of at least one control dataset, wherein the at least one control dataset includes control data for positioning and/or for focusing individual laser pulses in the cornea, and at least one beam device for beam guidance and/or beam shaping and/or beam deflection and/or beam focusing of a laser beam of the at least one fiber laser device.

19. The treatment apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the control device is configured to determine visual disorder data of the human or animal eye, which describes a visual disorder, wherein the ascertained desired state of the tissue satisfies a preset visual disorder reduction criterion, which presets that the human or animal eye with the tissue in the desired state has a visual disorder reduced compared to the determined actual state of the tissue.

20. The treatment apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the operation described by the control data utilizes a laser-induced change of a refractive index (LIRIC) and/or a cross-linking method.

21. The treatment apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the control device transmits the control data to the at least one fiber laser device of the treatment apparatus.

22. A method for providing control data to a fiber laser device for a correction of an eye tissue, the fiber laser device having a fiber oscillator and/or a fiber amplifier, and a control device, the control device configured for performing the method by determining an actual state of a tissue of a correction area of the eye, ascertaining a desired state of the tissue based on the determined actual state of the tissue, and providing control data to the fiber laser device that describes an operation of the fiber laser device for cut-free transfer of the tissue of the correction area from the determined actual state into the ascertained desired state.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein the control device is further configured for determining visual disorder data of the human or animal eye, which describes a visual disorder, wherein the ascertained desired state of the tissue satisfies a preset visual disorder reduction criterion, which presets that the human or animal eye with the tissue in the desired state has a visual disorder reduced compared to the determined actual state of the tissue.

24. The method according to claim 22, wherein the operation described by the control data utilizes a laser-induced change of a refractive index (LIRIC) and/or a cross-linking method.

25. The method according to claim 22, wherein the control device is configured to cause the fiber laser device to emit laser pulses in a wavelength range between 300 nm and 1400 nm, preferably between 700 nm and 1200 nm, at a respective pulse duration between 1 fs and 1 ns, preferably between 10 fs and 10 ps, and a repetition frequency of greater than 10 kHz, preferably between 100 kHz and 100 MHz.

26. The method according to claim 22, wherein the control device transmits the control data to the fiber laser device of the treatment apparatus.

27. A computer program including instructions that cause a control device of a treatment apparatus, having a fiber oscillator and/or a fiber amplifier, to execute a method according to claim 22.

28. A control device for providing control data to a fiber laser device for a correction of an eye tissue, the fiber laser device including a fiber oscillator and/or a fiber amplifier, wherein the control device is configured to determine an actual state of a tissue of a correction area of a human or animal eye, ascertain a desired state of the tissue based on the determined actual state of the tissue, and provide control data to the fiber laser device that describes an operation of the fiber laser device for cut-free transfer of the tissue of the correction area from the determined actual state into the ascertained desired state.

29. The control device according to claim 28, wherein the control device is configured to determine visual disorder data of the human or animal eye, which describes a visual disorder, wherein the ascertained desired state of the tissue satisfies a preset visual disorder reduction criterion, which presets that the eye with the tissue in the desired state has a visual disorder reduced compared to the determined actual state of the tissue.

30. The control device according to claim 28, wherein the operation described by the control data utilizes a laser-induced change of a refractive index (URIC) and/or a cross-linking method.

31. The control device according to claim 28, wherein the control device is configured to cause the fiber laser device to emit laser pulses in a wavelength range between 300 nm and 1400 nm, preferably between 700 nm and 1200 nm, at a respective pulse duration between 1 fs and 1 ns, preferably between 10 fs and 10 ps, and a repetition frequency of greater than 10 kHz, preferably between 100 kHz and 100 MHz.

32. The control device according to claim 28, wherein the control device transmits the control data to the fiber laser device.

33. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs configured to be executed by a processor, the one or more programs comprising instructions for providing control data to a fiber laser device for a correction of an eye tissue, which includes a fiber oscillator and/or a fiber amplifier, the instructions comprising determining an actual state of a tissue of a correction area of a human or animal eye, ascertaining a desired state of the tissue based on the determined actual state of the tissue, and providing control data to the fiber laser device that describe an operation of the fiber laser device for cut-free transfer of the tissue of the correction area from the determined actual state into the ascertained desired state.

34. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 33, wherein the one or more programs comprise instructions for determining visual disorder data of the human or animal eye, which describes a visual disorder, wherein the ascertained desired state of the tissue satisfies a preset visual disorder reduction criterion, which presets that the human or animal eye with the tissue in the desired state has a visual disorder reduced compared to the determined actual state of the tissue.

35. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 33, wherein the operation described by the control data utilizes a laser-induced change of a refractive index (LIRIC) and/or a cross-linking method.

36. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 33, wherein the one or more programs comprise instructions for causing the fiber laser device to emit laser pulses in a wavelength range between 300 nm and 1400 nm, preferably between 700 nm and 1200 nm, at a respective pulse duration between 1 fs and 1 ns, preferably between 10 fs and 10 ps, and a repetition frequency of greater than 10 kHz, preferably between 100 kHz and 100 MHz.

37. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 33, wherein the one or more programs comprise instructions for transmitting the provided control data to the fiber laser device.

Description

[0029] Further features of the invention are apparent from the claims, the figures and the description of figures. The features and feature combinations mentioned above in the description as well as the features and feature combinations mentioned below in the description of figures and/or shown in the figures alone are usable not only in the respectively specified combination, but also in other combinations without departing from the scope of the invention. Thus, implementations are also to be considered as encompassed and disclosed by the invention, which are not explicitly shown in the figures and explained, but arise from and can be generated by separated feature combinations from the explained implementations. Implementations and feature combinations are also to be considered as disclosed, which thus do not comprise all of the features of an originally formulated independent claim. Moreover, implementations and feature combinations are to be considered as disclosed, in particular by the implementations set out above, which extend beyond or deviate from the feature combinations set out in the relations of the claims.

[0030] FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of the apparatuses according to the invention, of the use according to the invention and of the method according to the invention.

[0031] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the use according to the invention and of the method according to the invention.

[0032] In the figures, identical or functionally identical elements are provided with the same reference characters.

[0033] FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a treatment apparatus 10 with a fiber laser device 12 for example for a cross-linking method and/or a LIRIC. The fiber laser device 12 can for example be employed to initiate a chemical process in a cornea 14 of a human or animal eye 16, in which water is released from collagen of the eye tissue. Preferably, the fiber laser device 12 can comprise a fiber oscillator as well as a solid-state laser amplifier or a fiber laser amplifier.

[0034] The illustrated fiber laser device 12 can preferably be a fiber laser, which is formed to emit laser pulses in a wavelength range between 300 nm and 1400 nm, preferably between 700 nm and 1200 nm, at a respective pulse duration between 1 fs and 1 ns, preferably between 10 fs and 10 ps, and a repetition frequency of greater than 10 kHz, preferably between 100 kHz and 100 MHz.

[0035] FIG. 1 shows a control device 18 for the fiber laser device 12, which can be formed to control the fiber laser device 12 such that it emits pulsed laser pulses for example in a predefined pattern into the cornea 14. Alternatively, the control device 18 can be a control device 18 external with respect to the treatment apparatus 10. The control device 18 can preferably comprise a storage device 20, for example a hard disk or a memory chip, and/or a processor device 22, which can exemplarily include multiple microprocessors or microcontrollers. The storage device 20 can be for at least temporary storage of at least one control dataset, wherein the control dataset or datasets can include control data for positioning and/or for focusing individual laser pulses in the cornea 14.

[0036] The position data and/or focusing data of the individual laser pulses can for example be generated based on a previously measured topography and/or pachymetry and/or the morphology of the cornea 14 and the pathological and/or unnaturally altered correction area for example to be removed or an optical visual disorder correction to be generated exemplarily within a stroma 24 below an epithelium 26 of the eye 16, preferably based on a determined actual geometry of the cornea 14 as the actual state in the correction area and based on an analysis how the eye tissue is to be corrected to for example eliminate or reduce a keratoconus 29 or a visual disorder.

[0037] The laser beam 30 generated by the fiber laser device 12 by means of a beam device 28 can be deflected towards a surface of the cornea 14. The beam deflection device is also controlled by the control device 18.

[0038] As shown in the example of FIG. 2, the cornea 14 of the eye 16 can for example form a keratoconus 29. Such a keratoconus 29 as the actual state, thus a local steepening of the cornea 14, can form in that the cornea 14 is as thin at this location as the cornea 14 curves outwards by the pressure of the bulk body of the eye 16, thus by the intraocular pressure. A wanted desired state can then be a reduced or even removed or eliminated keratoconus 29. Here, the area, in which the tissue to be corrected is located, is referred to as correction area.

[0039] For determining the actual state of the correction area of the eye 16 (method step S1, cf. FIG. 1), the keratoconus 29 can for example be measured, or corresponding data describing the involved tissue layers can be received from the storage device 20 or from a data server (not shown in the figures).

[0040] For optionally determining visual disorder data (optional method step S2), which can for example indicate a value in diopters, the control device 18 can for example receive the corresponding data from a data server or the storage device 20, or the data can be determined as a data input.

[0041] Optionally, a three-dimensional, preferably digital model of the cornea 14 and/or of the correction area can for example be provided based on the determined actual state. Based on such a digital model, the desired state of the tissue can for example be ascertained (S3).

[0042] Based on the determined desired geometry, the control device 18 can now provide, preferably generate, the control data (S4), and transfer it to the fiber laser device 12 (S5).

[0043] Overall, the embodiments illustrate how a fiber laser device 12, in particular a fiber laser, can be used for non-surgical applications, thus for cut-free applications.

[0044] According to a further embodiment, a fiber laser device 12, in particular a fiber laser, is employed for such cut-free, ophthalmological applications. The fiber laser device 12 combines many advantages of the individual laser types without having the corresponding disadvantages. A fiber laser device 12 is particularly well suitable for cut-free applications.

[0045] Accordingly, it will be readily understood by those persons skilled in the art that, in view of the above detailed description of the invention, the present invention is susceptible of broad utility and application. Many adaptations of the present invention other than those herein described, as well as many variations, modifications, and equivalent arrangements will be apparent from or reasonably suggested by the present invention and the above detailed description thereof.

[0046] While the present invention is described herein in detail in relation to specific aspects, it is to be understood that this detailed description is only illustrative and exemplary of the present invention and is made merely for purposes of providing a full and enabling disclosure of the present invention and to provide the best mode contemplated by the inventor or inventors of carrying out the invention. The detailed description set forth herein is not intended nor is to be construed to limit the present invention or otherwise to exclude any such other embodiments, adaptations, variations, modifications, and equivalent arrangements of the present invention.