Abstract
A movable illumination tower for use with a photodisruptor that provides titratable illumination of ocular tissue. The illumination tower can be rotated between an on-axis position relative to the photodisruptor axis and an off-axis position relative to the photodisruptor axis, such that the illumination tower is positioned at an angle relative to the photodisruptor axis under the control of a hands-free motor.
Claims
1. A movable illumination tower configured for use with a photodisruptor, the photodisruptor having an axis along which energy from a first light source within the photodisruptor is directed to a patient's eye for treatment, comprising: a second source of illumination light energy positioned within the illumination tower, the second source of illumination light energy being configured to direct illumination of the patient's eye; a support for the illumination tower, the support being movable into and out of the photodisruptor axis; a motor to move the illumination tower into and out of the photodisruptor axis; wherein the motor is configured to be operated by a hands-free control to move the illumination tower in and out of the photodisruptor axis.
2. The illumination tower of claim 1, wherein the first light source is a source of coherent light.
3. The illumination tower of claim 1, wherein the second source of light energy is a non-coherent light source.
4. The illumination tower of claim 2, wherein the source of coherent light is a laser light source.
5. The illumination tower of claim 1, wherein the hands-free motor control is one or more of a: foot pedal, a voice-activated control or a head movement control.
6. The illumination tower of claim 1, further comprising a source of power to power the motor.
7. The illumination tower of claim 1, further comprising a switch connected to the motor to control the provision of power to the motor.
8. The illumination tower of claim 1, wherein the tower is rotatably mounted along an arm and configured to be moved in and out of the photodisruptor axis.
9. The illumination tower of claim 8, wherein the motor is configured to adjustably rotate the illumination tower from along the photodisruptor axis to selected angles out of the photodisruptor axis.
10. A method of illuminating a patient's eye using the movable illumination tower of claim 9 comprising: viewing a patient's eye through a binoculars along the photodisruptor axis; rotating the illumination tower driven by the motor to a first position relative to the photodisruptor axis by activating the hands-free control; viewing the illumination of patient's eye though the binoculars; and rotating the illumination tower to one or more different positions in and out of the photodisruptor axis using the hands-free switch.
11. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of activating and directing the first light source within the photodisruptor to the patient's eye.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of an illumination tower.
[0015] FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a photodisruptor and an illumination tower in an off-axis position adjusted manually.
[0016] FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a photodisruptor and an illumination tower in an on-axis position adjusted manually.
[0017] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the device of FIG. 3 with a switch open at time T1 with the illumination tower in an on-axis position.
[0018] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the device of FIG. 3 with a switch closed and the illumination tower rotated to anti-clockwise from the position in FIG. 4 at time T.sub.2 from to an off-axis position.
[0019] FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the device of FIG. 3 with a switch closed and further moved in an anti-clockwise rotation from the position in FIG. 5.
[0020] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the device of FIG. 3 with the switch closed and the illumination tower.
[0021] FIG. 8A is a photodisruptor and an illumination tower with a motor and switch with the illumination tower in an off-axis position.
[0022] FIG. 8B is a photodisruptor and an illumination tower with a motor and switch in the on-axis position.
[0023] FIG. 8C is a photodisruptor and an illumination tower with a motor and switch with the illumination tower in an off-axis position.
[0024] FIG. 8D is a photodisruptor and an illumination tower with a motor and switch in the on-axis position.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
[0025] An aspect of the current invention is to motorize the rotation of an illumination tower, such that the illumination tower can be moved electronically. For example, the operator could shift the illumination tower with either the footswitch or even with a voice command. According to one embodiment, electrical current provided in one direction could rotate the illumination tower in an anti-clockwise direction, while electrical current provided in the other direction could rotate the illumination tower in a clockwise direction. The provision of a motor or other device to move the illumination tower allows the physician/operator to be able to operate the apparatus even while both of his/her hands are otherwise occupied.
[0026] FIG. 1. shows the illumination tower 101 that may be used with a photodisruptor in a side view. The illumination tower may include a light source 100, a tower 101, an illumination beam 102, and at least one or more prisms or mirrors 103. The prism can be single or dual. In operation, light from the illumination beam 102 may be directed to the patient's eye 104.
[0027] FIG. 2 shows a top view of the tower 101 and a photodisruptor 112 with the illumination tower 101 in an off-axis position. The tower 101 may include an illumination beam 102, and the photodisruptor 105 may include a laser cavity 106, as well as a binoculars 107 for use of the operator. The eye of the patient 104 and the operator's eye 105 are along a first axis along the axis of the treatment beam 108. Light form the illumination beam 102 may be projected onto the patient's eye 107.
[0028] FIG. 3 is a top view of the tower 101 and a photodisruptor 112 with the illumination tower in an on-axis position. In this position, light from the illumination tower and light from the photodisruptor may be along the same axis. The tower 101 illuminates the patent's eye 104 with illumination beam 102. The operator's eye 105 is positioned at binoculars 108 to observe the patent's eye 104. The photodisruptor 112 may include a laser cavity 106 which may be operated to direct a treatment beam 108 at the patient's eye 104.
[0029] FIG. 4. is an embodiment of FIG. 3 taken at time T.sub.1. The photodisruptor 112 (see FIG. 3) is positioned along a first longitudinal axis having a laser cavity 106 and binoculars 107. The photodisruptor axis is along the first longitudinal axis between the patient's eye 104 and the operator's eyes 105. Binoculars 107 are used to observe the patient's eye 104. A treatment beam 108 is directed from laser cavity 106 along the first longitudinal axis to the patient's eye 104. The photodisruptor may have a support positioned normal to the photodisruptor's (first longitudinal) axis. The illumination tower 101 may be rotatably connected to the support. The illumination tower may include a motor 109 and switch 111. In FIG. 4 the switch 111 is shown to be in the open position, in which position the motor 109 is not engaged to move the illumination tower. A power source 110 (e.g., battery, AC, DC power source) is provided to provide power to the motor 109 to move the illumination tower when switch 111 is closed. While it is usual for the illumination tower to be rotated about an axis 119 (as shown in FIG. 5), it is to be understood that the movement may be other than rotatable. The motor maybe any type of electrically powered motor, including a servomotor that allows for fine movement of the motor rotation and thus the illumination tower, but also may include any other type of movement device, including a pneumatic control.
[0030] FIG. 5 shows the position of the illumination tower 101 at time T.sub.2 after closing the switch 111. In this position, the illumination tower 101 position has been rotated anti-clockwise to a position with an oblique angle X relative to the axis of the photodisruptor from its former position as seen in FIG. 4. The switch 111 may preferably be hands free and may be a footswitch, or a voice activated switch, or any other type of switch, including a head movement or eye movement detection switch or even special glasses that detect head movement.
[0031] FIG. 6 shows the illumination tower at time T.sub.3 after closing the switch 111, in which current directed to the motor 109 from the power source 110 further rotates the illumination tower anti-clockwise position further degrees anti-clockwise to an angle XX relative to its position in FIG. 5.
[0032] FIG. 7. shows the illumination tower at time T.sub.4 after closing the switch 111. In this figure, the current direction or polarity has been reversed to cause the illumination tower to move in a clockwise direction to an angle XXX, which may be the same as angle X or any other angle suitable for the operator to view the interior of the patient's eye.
[0033] The movement of the illumination tower in FIGS. 4-7 illustrates a technique by which the operator can titrate the illumination of the patient's eye without having to remove his/her attention to the target tissue by rotating the illumination tower to different positions relative to the photodisruptor.
[0034] FIGS. 8A and 8C are images showing the illumination tower in an off-axis position.
[0035] FIGS. 8B and 8D show the illumination tower in an on-axis position.
