# US 11,896,527 B2 · Systems and methods for patient alignment and treatment > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,896,527 B2 - Document ID: US11896527B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/572,166 - Filed: 2022-01-10 - Published: 2022-09-29 - Granted: 2024-02-13 - Earliest claimed: 2021-03-24 - Assignees: Stroma Medical Corporation - Applicants: Stroma Medical Corporation - Inventors: Gregg Homer - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11896527B2 ## CPC - A61F 9/008: using laser - A61B 34/25: {User interfaces for surgical systems} - A61G 15/02: Chairs with means to adjust position of patient; Controls therefor - A61G 15/125: {Head-rests} - G16H 10/60: for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records - G16H 20/40: relating to mechanical, radiation or invasive therapies, e.g. surgery, laser therapy, dialysis or acupuncture - G16H 30/20: for handling medical images, e.g. DICOM, HL7 or PACS - G16H 30/40: for processing medical images, e.g. editing - G16H 40/63: for local operation - G16H 40/67: for remote operation - G16H 50/20: for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems - G16H 50/70: for mining of medical data, e.g. analysing previous cases of other patients - A61B 2034/2055: {Optical tracking systems} - A61B 2034/2059: {Mechanical position encoders} - A61B 2034/258: {providing specific settings for specific users} - A61F 2009/0035: {Devices for immobilising a patient's head with respect to the instrument} - A61F 2009/00846: {Eyetracking} - A61F 2009/00876: {Iris} - A61F 2009/00878: {Planning} - A61F 2009/00897: {Scanning mechanisms or algorithms} - G06N 3/084: Backpropagation, e.g. using gradient descent - A61F: FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; PROSTHESES; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF, TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, e.g. STENTS; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; FOMENTATION; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; FIRST-AID KITS (dental prosthetics A61C) - A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D) - A61G: TRANSPORT, PERSONAL CONVEYANCES OR ACCOMMODATION SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR PATIENTS OR DISABLED PERSONS (appliances for aiding patients or disabled persons to walk A61H3/00); OPERATING TABLES OR CHAIRS; CHAIRS FOR DENTISTRY; FUNERAL DEVICES (embalming corpses A01N1/00) - G16H: HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS, i.e. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE HANDLING OR PROCESSING OF MEDICAL OR HEALTHCARE DATA - G06N: COMPUTING ARRANGEMENTS BASED ON SPECIFIC COMPUTATIONAL MODELS ## Abstract A system for supporting and aligning a patient during a color alteration procedure includes a laser system that delivers a laser in a first direction. A control computer may be adjacent the laser system for controlling the laser system. The control computer system may include a user interface in a first plane substantially perpendicular to the first direction. The system may include a patient support structure having a patient support surface extending in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction and configured to be adjustable to set a patient position or alignment relative to the laser system. Coarse adjustment hardware may be configured to cause automated and/or manual adjustments to the patient support surface in the first direction. Fine adjustment hardware may be configured to cause automated fine adjustments to the patient support surface in the first direction based on instructions received from the control computer. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A system for supporting and aligning a patient during a color alteration procedure, the system comprising: a laser system for performing the color alteration procedure, wherein the laser system delivers laser light in a first direction to perform the color alteration procedure; a control computer system connected to the laser system for controlling the laser system during the color alteration procedure; and a patient support structure comprising: a patient support surface extending in a second direction that is substantially perpendicular to the first direction and configured to be adjustable to set a patient position or alignment relative to the laser system; fine adjustment hardware configured to cause automated fine adjustments to the patient support surface in the first direction based on instructions received from the control computer; and a non-transitory, machine-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by the control computer system, cause the control computer system to perform operations comprising automatically performing fine adjustments utilizing the fine adjustment hardware based on a treatment plan for altering an eye color of the patient during the color alteration procedure. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, the patient support structure comprising a head support element configured to cause a head of the patient to be supported without engagement of neck muscles. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The system of claim 2, the patient support structure comprising a lower support portion and an upper reclining portion, the head support element mounted to the upper reclining portion and the head support element is adjustable to set the patient position or alignment. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein patient support structure further comprises coarse adjustment hardware configured to cause automated and/or manual adjustments to the patient support surface in the first direction, and wherein the coarse adjustment hardware is further configured to move the patient support surface substantially perpendicular to the first direction or the coarse adjustment hardware being a manual adjustment system that is configured to adjust the patient position to be in a direction substantially parallel to an optical axis of the laser system. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, the fine adjustment hardware comprising a hydraulic system configured to cause adjustment of the patient support surface with a resolution of 10 millimeters or less. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, further comprising an optical tracking system that includes a rangefinder utilized to determine a distance between the iris and a reference component of the optical tracking system. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The system of claim 6, wherein the distance is determined with a resolution of at least 750 microns. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The system of claim 6, further comprising autofocusing the laser system in response to the distance. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The system of claim 8, the autofocusing comprising: measuring a distance to the stromal pigment of the iris at periodic intervals; and controlling, based on the distance, the laser system to remain substantially in focus between an anterior surface and posterior surface of the iris. ### Claim 10 (depends on 6) The system of claim 6, the rangefinder configured to be set to a coarse resolution or a fine resolution and the distance being in an area of interest, wherein when the rangefinder is set to the coarse resolution the area of interest is larger than that when the rangefinder is set to the fine resolution. ### Claim 11 (depends on 6) The system of claim 6, the rangefinder configured to be set to a coarse resolution or a fine resolution, the system configured to: perform a coarse adjustment of the patient support surface utilizing coarse adjustment hardware; perform a fine adjustment of the patient support surface utilizing the fine adjustment hardware; and perform an ultra-fine adjustment of an element of the laser system. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The system of claim 11, wherein the system is configured to perform the ultra-fine adjustment with a resolution of 5 microns or less. ### Claim 13 (depends on 6) The system of claim 6, wherein the rangefinder is configured to be set to a coarse resolution for determining the distance for a coarse adjustment, using coarse adjustment hardware configured to cause automated and/or manual adjustments to the patient support surface in the first direction, of the patient support structure or a fine resolution for determining the distance for a fine adjustment of the patient support structure. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The system of claim 13, wherein the coarse resolution is between 2000 microns and 6000 microns and the fine resolution is between 5 microns to 2000 microns. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) The system of claim 13, wherein the coarse adjustment hardware is configured to be manually operated to perform a coarse adjustment based on the resolution set on the rangefinder and the system is configured to generate, during the coarse adjustment, an indication of the position of the anterior iris relative to a target position of the anterior iris. ### Claim 16 (depends on 13) The system of claim 13, wherein the coarse adjustment hardware is configured to be automatic to perform a coarse adjustment based on the resolution set on the rangefinder and the system is configured to generate, during the coarse adjustment, an indication of the position of the anterior iris relative to a target position of the anterior iris. ### Claim 17 (depends on 13) The system of claim 13, wherein the coarse adjustment hardware is configured to be automatic and the system is configured to automatically perform a coarse adjustment based on the resolution set on the rangefinder. ### Claim 18 (depends on 13) The system of claim 13, wherein the coarse adjustment hardware is configured to be manually operated to perform a coarse adjustment based on the resolution set on the rangefinder and the system is configured to generate, during the coarse adjustment, an indication of the position of the anterior iris relative to a target position of the anterior iris. ### Claim 19 (depends on 13) The system of claim 13, wherein the coarse adjustment hardware is configured to be automatic to perform a coarse adjustment based on the resolution set on the rangefinder and the system is configured to generate, during a coarse adjustment, an indication of the position of the anterior iris relative to a target position of the anterior iris. ### Claim 20 (depends on 13) The system of claim 13, wherein the coarse adjustment hardware is configured to be automatic and the system is configured to automatically perform a coarse adjustment based on the resolution set on the rangefinder. ### Claim 21 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, further comprising: a physician console in communication with the laser system and physically detached from the laser system, wherein the physician console is configured to display patient data including one or more of patient images, patient medical record data, or patient treatment data associated with the color alteration procedure performed by the laser system. ### Claim 22 (depends on 21) The system of claim 21, the physician console further configured to accept input at the physician console that controls the laser system and/or the patient support structure. ### Claim 23 (depends on 21) The system of claim 21, further comprising a technician console in communication with the laser system and physically detached from the laser system and the physician console. ### Claim 24 (depends on 23) The system of claim 23, wherein the physician console and the technician console are configured to be in communication to view real-time images and the patient treatment data associated with the color alteration procedure. ### Claim 25 (depends on 24) The system of claim 24, wherein the physician console is configured to override commands for the laser system that were initiated by the technician console. ### Claim 26 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, further comprising an image sensor and wherein the operations further comprise: capturing a first scan with an image sensor and at a first time prior to the altering of the eye color, the first scan being of at least one of an iris or retina of the patient; capturing a second scan with the image sensor and at a second time later than the first time and prior to the altering of the eye color, the second scan being of at least one of the iris or the retina of the patient; comparing the first scan captured at the first time with the second scan captured at the second time; determining an identity of the patient based on matching the first scan captured at the first time with the second scan captured at the second time; generating for display, on a user interface, a confirmation of the identity of the patient; retrieving patient medical record data based on the first scan or the second scan; and displaying, at a physician console, the patient medical record data based on the iris scan. ### Claim 27 (depends on 26) The system of claim 26, the operations further comprising: retrieving a treatment plan for delivery by the laser system; and enabling the laser system to deliver the treatment plan based on the first scan or the second scan corresponding to patient identification included with the patient medical record data.