Surgical laser systems and laser lithotripsy techniques

Abstract

A surgical laser system ( 100 ) includes a first laser source ( 140 A), a second laser source ( 140 B), a beam combiner ( 142 ) and a laser probe ( 108 ). The first laser source is configured to output a first laser pulse train ( 144, 104 A) comprising first laser pulses ( 146 ). The second laser source is configured to output a second laser pulse train ( 148, 104 B) comprising second laser pulses ( 150 ). The beam combiner is configured to combine the first and second laser pulse trains and output a combined laser pulse train ( 152, 104 ) comprising the first and second laser pulses. The laser probe is optically coupled to an output of the beam combiner and is configured to discharge the combined laser pulse train.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A surgical laser system controller, comprising:
 a processor; and   a memory comprising instructions, which when executed by the processor cause the surgical laser system controller to:
 receive a signal from an optical device, the signal comprising an indication of a reflected light, wherein the reflected light is reflected from a target and is based in part on a laser energy being incident on the target; and 
 determine a characteristic of the target based in part on the reflected light. 
   
     
     
         2 . The surgical laser system controller of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor further cause the surgical laser system controller to configure a laser source to generate the laser energy having an energy level defined by the surgical laser system controller, wherein the energy level is based in part on the determined characteristic. 
     
     
         3 . The surgical laser system controller of  claim 2 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor further cause the surgical laser system controller to store the energy level as laser energy settings in the memory. 
     
     
         4 . The surgical laser system controller of  claim 2 , wherein the energy level defines characteristics of a laser pulse train. 
     
     
         5 . The surgical laser system controller of  claim 4 , wherein the characteristics are one or more of a pulse repetition rate, a pulse magnitude, and a pulse width. 
     
     
         6 . The surgical laser system controller of  claim 1 , wherein the characteristics of the target are one or more of a dimension of the target, a geometry of the target, a vibration frequency of the target, a composition of the target, a type of the target, a color of the target, or a tensile strength of the target. 
     
     
         7 . The surgical laser system controller of  claim 1 , wherein the optical device is a spectrometer. 
     
     
         8 . A computer readable memory storage device, comprising instructions, which when executed by a processor of a surgical laser system controller, cause the surgical laser system controller to:
 receive a signal from an optical device, the signal comprising an indication of a reflected light, wherein the reflected light is reflected from a target and is based in part on a laser energy being incident on the target; and   determine a characteristic of the target based in part on the reflected light.   
     
     
         9 . The computer readable memory storage device of  claim 8 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor cause the surgical laser system controller to configure a laser source to generate the laser energy having an energy level defined by the surgical laser system controller. 
     
     
         10 . The computer readable memory storage device of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor further cause the surgical laser system controller to store the energy level as laser energy settings in the computer readable memory storage device. 
     
     
         11 . The computer readable memory storage device of  claim 9 , wherein the energy level defines characteristics of a laser pulse train. 
     
     
         12 . The computer readable memory storage device of  claim 11 , wherein the characteristics are one or more of a pulse repetition rate, a pulse magnitude, and a pulse width. 
     
     
         13 . The computer readable memory storage device of  claim 8 , wherein the characteristics of the target are one or more of a dimension of the target, a geometry of the target, a vibration frequency of the target, a composition of the target, a type of the target, a color of the target, or a tensile strength of the target. 
     
     
         14 . The computer readable memory storage device of  claim 8 , wherein the optical device is a spectrometer. 
     
     
         15 . A surgical laser system, comprising:
 a laser source configured to generate a laser energy;   an optical device; and   a controller, the controller comprising a processor and a memory comprising instructions, which when executed by the processor cause the processor to:
 receive a signal from the optical device, the signal comprising an indication of a reflected light, wherein the reflected light is reflected from a target and is based in part on the laser energy being incident on the target; and 
 determine a characteristic of the target based in part on the reflected light. 
   
     
     
         16 . The surgical laser system of  claim 15 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor further cause the processor to:
 determine an energy level based in part on the determined characteristic; and   store the energy level as laser energy settings in the memory, wherein the laser source is configured to generate the laser energy based in part on the laser energy settings.   
     
     
         17 . The surgical laser system of  claim 16 , wherein the energy level defines characteristics of a laser pulse train. 
     
     
         18 . The surgical laser system of  claim 17 , wherein the characteristics are one or more of a pulse repetition rate, a pulse magnitude, and a pulse width. 
     
     
         19 . The surgical laser system of  claim 15 , wherein the characteristics of the target are one or more of a dimension of the target, a geometry of the target, a vibration frequency of the target, a composition of the target, a type of the target, a color of the target, or a tensile strength of the target. 
     
     
         20 . The surgical laser system of  claim 15 , wherein the optical device is a spectrometer.