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 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; and   generating a cut within the eye by irradiating treating laser radiation to the eye and scanning the treating laser radiation over target points located within tissue of the eye;   wherein the irradiating, the scanning or a combination of both of the irradiating and the scanning of the treating laser radiation is controlled on a basis of the tissue-specific signals.   
     
     
         3 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , further comprising controlling at least one of the following parameters on basis of the tissue-specific signals: a beam cross section of the treating laser radiation, an intensity of the treating laser radiation, a pulse width of the treating laser radiation, a scan path. 
     
     
         4 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , further comprising controlling the irradiating and/or the scanning of the treating laser radiation by a semi-automatic control or by a closed-loop control. 
     
     
         5 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , further comprising assigning the tissue-specific signals to points of measurement, such that each of the points of measurement is assigned to one of the positions of the focus, and the cut within the tissue is defined on basis of points of measurement. 
     
     
         6 . The method as claimed in  claim 5 , further comprising defining or selecting the target points to which the treating laser radiation is to be focused on basis of the points of measurement. 
     
     
         7 . The method as claimed in  claim 5 , further comprising detecting a position of at least one of the following structures on a basis of the points of measurement: a boundary layer of the tissue and an inclusion within the tissue, and defining the cut within the tissue on basis of at least one of the structures detected. 
     
     
         8 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , further comprising defining the cut by defining or selecting target points to which treating laser radiation is to be focused. 
     
     
         9 . 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 the eye. 
     
     
         10 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein the tissue-specific signals are OCT signals. 
     
     
         11 . 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. 
     
     
         12 . 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. 
     
     
         13 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , further comprising shifting the position of the focal point of the treating laser radiation along a path comprising the target points. 
     
     
         14 . The method as claimed in  claim 12 , further comprising utilizing a focusing unit is to focus the treating laser radiation, and utilizing the same focusing unit is to focus the illumination laser radiation. 
     
     
         15 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , further comprising utilizing a deflecting unit to scan the treating laser radiation within the tissue, and utilizing the same deflecting unit to shift the focus of the illumination laser radiation. 
     
     
         16 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , further comprising providing the illumination laser radiation and the treating laser radiation from the same radiation source operated in different modes. 
     
     
         17 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , further comprising generating the cut by producing optical break-throughs within the tissue. 
     
     
         18 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , further comprising applying the treating laser radiation in laser pulses of a pulse width between 1 fs and 100 ps. 
     
     
         19 . The method as claimed in  claim 17 , further comprising 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, wherein the pulses trigger a non-linear optical process in the tissue. 
     
     
         20 . The method as claimed in  claim 19 , further comprising applying the treating laser radiation at a wavelength between 400 nm and 1,900 nm. 
     
     
         21 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , further comprising using a superluminescence diode for emitting the illumination laser radiation. 
     
     
         22 . A method of eye surgery, comprising:
 emitting illumination laser radiation toward 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;   generating a cut in the tissue of the eye by irradiating treating laser radiation to the eye and scanning the treating laser radiation over target points;   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 of the eye; and   controlling the irradiating and/or the scanning of the treating laser radiation on a basis of the tissue-specific signals.   
     
     
         23 . The method as claimed in  claim 22 , further comprising controlling at least one of the following parameters on a basis of the tissue-specific signals: a beam cross section of the treating laser radiation, an intensity of the treating laser radiation, a pulse width of the treating laser radiation and a scan path. 
     
     
         24 . The method as claimed in  claim 22 , further comprising controlling the irradiating and/or the scanning of the treating laser radiation by a semi-automatic control or by a closed-loop control. 
     
     
         25 . The method as claimed in  claim 22 , further comprising assigning the tissue-specific signals to points of measurement, assigning each of the points of measurement to one of the positions of the focus, and defining the cut within the tissue on a basis of the points of measurement. 
     
     
         26 . The method as claimed in  claim 25 , further comprising defining or selecting the target points to which the treating laser radiation is to be focused on basis of the points of measurement. 
     
     
         27 . The method as claimed in  claim 25 , further comprising detecting a position of at least one of the following detected structures on basis of the points of measurement: a boundary layer of the tissue and an inclusion within the tissue, and further comprising defining the cut within the tissue on basis of the detected structure. 
     
     
         28 . The method as claimed in  claim 22 , further comprising defining the cut by defining or selecting target points to which treating laser radiation is to be focused. 
     
     
         29 . The method as claimed in  claim 22 , further comprising selecting the tissue to comprise at least one of the following: a lens, a vitreous body, a cornea and a sclera of the eye. 
     
     
         30 . The method as claimed in  claim 22 , wherein the tissue-specific signals are OCT signals. 
     
     
         31 . The method as claimed in  claim 22 , 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. 
     
     
         32 . The method as claimed in  claim 22 , further comprising focusing the treating laser radiation to a focal point within the tissue and shifting a position of the focal point along a path comprising the cut. 
     
     
         33 . The method as claimed in  claim 22 , further comprising shifting the position of the focal point of the treating laser radiation along a path comprising the target points. 
     
     
         34 . The method as claimed in  claim 32 , further comprising utilizing a focusing unit to focus the treating laser radiation, and also utilizing the focusing unit to focus the illumination laser radiation. 
     
     
         35 . The method as claimed in  claim 22 , further comprising utilizing a deflecting unit to scan the treating laser radiation within the tissue, and also utilizing the deflecting unit to shift the focus of the illumination laser radiation. 
     
     
         36 . The method as claimed in  claim 22 , further comprising providing the illumination laser radiation and the treating laser radiation from the same radiation source operated in different modes. 
     
     
         37 . The method as claimed in  claim 22 , further comprising generating the cut by producing optical break-throughs within the tissue. 
     
     
         38 . The method as claimed in  claim 22 , further comprising applying the treating laser radiation in laser pulses of a pulse width between 1 fs and 100 ps. 
     
     
         39 . The method as claimed in  claim 22 , further comprising applying the treating laser radiation at a wavelength between 400 nm and 1,900 nm. 
     
     
         40 . The method as claimed in  claim 22 , further comprising using a superluminescence diode for emitting the illumination laser radiation. 
     
     
         41 . A device for treating a transparent or semi-transparent tissue of an 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 relative to the eye;   a detector unit producing tissue-specific signals related to the response from the tissue;   a source of treating laser radiation emitting treating laser radiation and adapted to produce a cut by application of the treating laser radiation scanned over target points located within the tissue; and   a control unit receiving the tissue-specific signals from the detector unit and controlling the source of treating laser radiation regarding the irradiating of the treatment radiation, the scanning of the treating laser radiation or both on a basis of the tissue-specific signals.   
     
     
         42 . The device as claimed in  claim 41 , wherein the control unit controls at least one of the following parameters on basis of the tissue-specific signals: a beam cross section of the treating laser radiation, an intensity of the treating laser radiation, a pulse width of the treating laser radiation and a scan path. 
     
     
         43 . The device as claimed in  claim 42 , wherein the control unit performs a semi-automatic control or a closed-loop control. 
     
     
         44 . The device as claimed in  claim 42 , wherein the control unit controls the deflecting unit, the focusing unit or both such that the focus of the illumination laser radiation is shifted to different positions relative to the tissue, wherein said 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. 
     
     
         45 . The device as claimed in  claim 44 , wherein the control unit defines the cut by determining or selecting, on basis of the points of measurement, target points to which treating laser radiation is to be focused. 
     
     
         46 . The device as claimed in  claim 44 , wherein said control unit detects a position of at least one of the following detected structures on a basis of the points of measurement: a boundary layer of the tissue and an inclusion within the tissue, and wherein said control unit defines on basis of the detected structure the cut to be generated within the tissue by application of the treating laser radiation. 
     
     
         47 . The device as claimed in  claim 41 , wherein the focusing unit also focuses the treating laser radiation to a focal point. 
     
     
         48 . The device as claimed in  claim 41 , wherein the deflecting unit also scans the treating laser radiation over the target points. 
     
     
         49 . The device as claimed in  claim 41 , wherein the source of laser radiation is operable in 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, thereby also providing the source of treating laser radiation. 
     
     
         50 . The device as claimed in  claim 49 , wherein the source of laser radiation further 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. 
     
     
         51 . The device as claimed in  claim 41 , wherein the source of illumination radiation and the detection unit are part of an OCT device. 
     
     
         52 . The device as claimed in  claim 41 , wherein the detection unit has an optical axis which is located obliquely to an optical axis of the illumination laser radiation to produce the tissue-specific signals according to a slit-lamp principle.