Selective laser stimulation of corneal stem cells
AssigneeBelkin Vision Ltd.
InventorsMichael Belkin, Zachary Sacks
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Apparatus (20) for ophthalmic treatment includes an optical unit (30), which includes a camera (54), which is configured to capture an image of an eye (25) of a patient, a laser (48), which is configured to emit pulses of laser radiation, and beam conditioning and scanning optics (49, 50), which are configured to focus and direct the laser radiation to impinge on an anterior surface of the eye. A controller (44) is configured to analyze the image so as to identify a limbus of the eye, and to control the optical unit so that the laser radiation impinges on a set of one or more locations on the anterior surface of the eye that are in a vicinity of the limbus with a pulse duration and an energy selected so as to stem cells at the one or more locations.
Claims8
Apparatus for treating an eye of a patient, the apparatus comprising:
- an optical unit, comprising:
- a laser, which is configured to emit laser radiation, wherein the laser radiation is pulsed, with a pulse duration that is less than 1 us and an energy that is less than 5 mJ per pulse;
- one or more mirrors positioned around an optical axis of the eye;
- and
- beam conditioning and scanning optics, which are configured to focus and direct the laser radiation to reflect from the one or more mirrors so as to impinge on an anterior surface of the eye at an oblique angle relative to the optical axis with a beam diameter no greater than 1 mm;
- and
- a controller, which is configured to control the optical unit so that the laser radiation impinges on the eye at the oblique angle in a set of one or more locations in a vicinity of the limbus with a fluence selected so as to stimulate stem cells at the one or more locations.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.