Apparatus and method for measuring an optical break-through in a tissue

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for measuring an optical penetration that is triggered in a tissue underneath the tissue surface by means of therapeutic laser radiation which a laser-surgical device concentrates in a treatment focus located in said tissue. The inventive device is provided with a detection beam path comprising a lens system which couples radiation emanating from the tissue underneath the tissue surface into the detection beam path. A detector device generating a detection signal which indicates the spatial dimension and/or position of the optical penetration in the tissue is arranged downstream of the detection beam path.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A method of eye surgery, comprising:
 emitting illumination laser radiation toward the tissue of the eye to a focus and shifting the focus relative to the eye to different positions by variably deflecting the illumination laser radiation thereby inducing a response from the tissue;   producing tissue-specific signals related to the response from the tissue;   assigning the tissue-specific signals to the positions of the focus;   generating a structure model of tissue of the eye from the tissue-specific signals;   defining a cut within the tissue on basis of the structure model; and   generating the cut within the tissue by focusing treating laser radiation into an interior of the tissue.   
     
     
         3 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , further comprising making the structure model comprise a 3D structure model of the tissue. 
     
     
         4 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , further comprising detecting a position of at least one of the following structure elements in the structure model: a boundary layer of the tissue and an inclusion within the tissue. 
     
     
         5 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , further comprising assigning the tissue-specific signals to points of measurement. 
     
     
         6 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , further comprising defining the cut by determining or selecting target points to which treating laser radiation is to be focused. 
     
     
         7 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , further comprising focusing the treating laser radiation to a focal point within the tissue and shifting the position of the focal point along a path comprising the cut. 
     
     
         8 . The method as claimed in  claim 6 , further comprising shifting the position of the focal point of the treating laser radiation along a path comprising the target points. 
     
     
         9 . The method as claimed in  claim 7 , further comprising shifting the position of the focal point of the treating laser radiation along a path comprising the target points. 
     
     
         10 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , further comprising utilizing a focusing unit to focus the treating laser radiation, and utilizing the same focusing unit to focus the illumination laser radiation. 
     
     
         11 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , further comprising utilizing a deflecting unit to shift a focal point of the treating laser radiation within the tissue, and also utilizing the same deflecting unit to shift the focus of the illumination laser radiation. 
     
     
         12 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , further comprising providing illumination laser radiation and the treating laser radiation from the same radiation source operated in different modes. 
     
     
         13 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , further comprising selecting the tissue to comprise at least one of the following: a lens, a vitreous body, a cornea and a sclera of an eye. 
     
     
         14 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , further comprising selecting the treating laser radiation to comprise laser pulses of a pulse width between 1 fs and 100 ps. 
     
     
         15 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , further comprising selecting the treating laser radiation to comprise laser pulses of a wavelength in the infra-red or visible spectral range for which the tissue is transparent, wherein the pulses trigger a non-linear optical process in the tissue. 
     
     
         16 . The method as claimed in  claim 15 , further comprising selecting the wavelength of the treating laser radiation to be between 400 nm and 1,900 nm and the wavelength of the illuminating laser radiation to be between 400 nm and 1,900 nm. 
     
     
         17 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , further comprising generating the cut by production optical break-throughs within the tissue. 
     
     
         18 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , further comprising making the tissue-specific signals OCT signals. 
     
     
         19 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , further comprising irradiating the illumination laser radiation along a first optical axis and detecting the tissue-specific signals along a second optical axis which is oblique to the first optical axis to produce the tissue specific signals according to a slit-lamp principle. 
     
     
         20 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , further comprising using a superluminescence diode for emitting the illumination laser radiation. 
     
     
         21 . A method of eye surgery, comprising:
 emitting illumination laser radiation toward the tissue of the eye to a focus and shifting the focus relative to the eye to different positions by variably deflecting the illumination laser radiation thereby inducing a response from the tissue;   producing tissue-specific signals related to the response from the tissue;   assigning the tissue-specific signals to the positions of the focus;   generating a structure model of tissue of the eye from the tissue-specific signals;   defining a cut in the tissue on basis of the structure model;   generating the cut in the tissue by irradiating treating laser radiation to the eye; and   applying the treating laser radiation in laser pulses of a wavelength in the infra-red or visible spectral range for which the tissue is transparent and wherein the pulses trigger a non-linear optical process in the tissue.   
     
     
         22 . The method as claimed in  claim 21 , further comprising making the model comprise a 3D structure model of the tissue. 
     
     
         23 . The method as claimed in  claim 21 , further comprising detecting a position of at least one of the following structure elements in the structure model: a boundary layer of the tissue and an inclusion within the tissue. 
     
     
         24 . The method as claimed in  claim 21 , further comprising assigning the tissue-specific signals to points of measurement. 
     
     
         25 . The method as claimed in  claim 21 , further comprising defining the cut by determining or selecting target points to which treating laser radiation is to be focused. 
     
     
         26 . The method as claimed in  claim 21 , further comprising focusing the treating laser radiation to a focal point within the tissue and shifting the position of the focal point along a path comprising the cut. 
     
     
         27 . The method as claimed in  claim 25 , further comprising shifting the position of the focal point of the treating laser radiation along a path comprising the target points. 
     
     
         28 . The method as claimed in  claim 26 , further comprising shifting the position of the focal point of the treating laser radiation along a path comprising the target points. 
     
     
         29 . The method as claimed in  claim 21 , further comprising utilizing a focusing unit to focus the treating laser radiation, wherein the same focusing unit is also utilized to focus the illumination laser radiation. 
     
     
         30 . The method as claimed in  claim 21 , further comprising utilizing a deflecting unit to shift a focal point of the treating laser radiation within the tissue, and also utilizing the same deflecting unit to shift the focus of the illumination laser radiation. 
     
     
         31 . The method as claimed in  claim 21 , further comprising providing illumination laser radiation and the treating laser radiation from the same radiation source operated in different modes. 
     
     
         32 . The method as claimed in  claim 21 , further comprising selecting the tissue to comprise at least one of the following: a lens, a vitreous body, a cornea and a sclera of an eye. 
     
     
         33 . The method as claimed in  claim 21 , further comprising selecting the treating laser radiation to comprise laser pulses of a pulse width between 1 fs and 100 ps. 
     
     
         34 . The method as claimed in  claim 21 , further comprising selecting the wavelength of the treating laser radiation to be between 400 nm and 1,900 nm and the wavelength of the illuminating laser radiation to be between 400 nm and 1,900 nm. 
     
     
         35 . The method as claimed in  claim 21 , further comprising generating the cut by production optical break-throughs within the tissue. 
     
     
         36 . The method as claimed in  claim 21 , further comprising making the tissue-specific signals OCT signals. 
     
     
         37 . The method as claimed in  claim 21 , further comprising irradiating the illumination laser radiation along a first optical axis and detecting the tissue-specific signals along a second optical axis which is oblique to the first optical axis to produce the tissue-specific signal according to a slit-lamp principle. 
     
     
         38 . The method as claimed in  claim 21 , further comprising using a superluminescence diode for emitting the illumination laser radiation. 
     
     
         39 . A device for measuring or treating a transparent or semi-transparent tissue of the eye, the device comprising:
 a source of laser radiation adapted to emit illumination laser radiation;   a focusing unit focusing the illumination laser radiation toward the tissue to a focus thereby inducing a response from the tissue;   a deflecting unit adapted to shift a position of the focus;   a detector unit producing tissue-specific signals related to the response from the tissue; and   a control unit receiving the tissue-specific signals from the detector unit and controlling the deflecting unit and/or the focusing unit such that the focus of the illumination laser radiation is shifted to different positions, wherein:
 a control unit assigns said tissue-specific signals to points of measurement whose location in the tissue is defined by the respective position of the focus at which the tissue-specific signal was obtained; and 
 the control unit generates from the points of measurements a structure model of a continuous three-dimensional volume in the tissue. 
   
     
     
         40 . The device as claimed in  claim 39 , wherein the control unit detects a position of at least one of the following structure on basis of the structure model of the tissue: a boundary layer of the tissue and an inclusion within the tissue. 
     
     
         41 . The device as claimed in  claim 39 , wherein the control unit defines, on a basis of the structure model of the tissue, a cut to be generated within the tissue by application of treating laser radiation focused to the tissue. 
     
     
         42 . The device as claimed in  claim 41 , wherein the control unit defines the cut by determining or selecting target points to which treating laser radiation is to be focused. 
     
     
         43 . The device as claimed in  claim 39 , further comprising a source of treating laser radiation to generate a cut in the tissue, wherein the focusing unit also focuses the treating laser radiation to a focal point. 
     
     
         44 . The device as claimed in  claim 39  wherein the source of treating laser radiation emits laser pulses of a pulse width between 1 fs and 100 ps. 
     
     
         45 . The device as claimed in  claim 43 , wherein the deflecting unit also shifts the position of the focal point of the treating laser radiation. 
     
     
         46 . The device as claimed in  claim 39 , comprising a single source of laser radiation which comprises a first and a second operating mode and emits the illumination laser radiation in the first mode and the treating laser radiation in the second mode, thus realizing the source of illumination laser radiation and the source of treating laser radiation. 
     
     
         47 . The device as claimed in  claim 46 , wherein the source of laser radiation comprises a switchable energy reducer, which is switched to an active state in the first mode of the source of laser radiation and switched to an inactive state in the second mode of the source of laser radiation. 
     
     
         48 . The device as claimed in  claim 39 , wherein the source of illumination radiation and the detection unit are part of an OCT device. 
     
     
         49 . The device as claimed in  claim 39 , wherein the detection unit has an optical axis which is located obliquely to an optical axis of the illumination laser radiation to determine the points of measurement according to a slit-lamp principle. 
     
     
         50 . The device as claimed in  claim 39 , wherein the source of illumination laser radiation is a superluminescent diode.