Method and apparatus for correcting off-center laser ablations in refractive surgery
OwnerRobert L. Epsteininventor
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Abstract
A novel method and apparatus are provided for correcting an off-center laser ablation in the cornea, in which the original ablated area has a center that is offset from the correct center of the optical cornea. The method comprises the steps of determining the correct optical center of the cornea and the offset location of the ablation; performing a supplemental laser ablation on the cornea with the laser beam covering generally the original ablated area, and with the energy of the supplemental laser increasing in a direction from the offset center toward the correct center; introducing a laser shield to cover the entire original ablated area; and performing another laser ablation with the correct optical center as the center of the ablated area.
Claims27
A method for correcting an off-center laser ablation in the cornea, in which the original ablated area has a center that is offset from the correct optical center of the cornea, comprising the steps of:
- determining the correct optical center of the cornea and the offset location of the ablation;
- and
- performing a supplemental laser ablation on the cornea with the total energy per area of cornea of the supplemental laser treatment increasing in a direction defined by a vector originating at the offset center and going toward the correct optical center.
A method for correcting an off-center laser ablation in the cornea, in which the original ablated area has a center that is offset from the correct optical center of the cornea, comprising the steps of:
- determining the correct optical center of the cornea and the offset location of the ablation;
- performing a supplemental laser ablation on the cornea with the laser being covering generally the original ablated area, and with the energy of the supplemental laser increasing at a uniform rate in a direction from the offset center toward the correct optical center;
- said supplemental laser ablation step including the step of providing a laser masking device which moves in a direction from the offset center toward the correct optical center;
- the speed of the masking device being inversely proportional to the product of the distance of the offset center from the correct optical center times the number of diopters of optical correction that were placed in the original ablation;
- and
- performing another laser ablation with the correct optical center as the center of the ablated area and having a new larger ablation radius that covers an area of a disc having a diameter substantially equal to the diameter of the initial ablation plus twice the distance to which the original ablation was off center.
A method for correcting an off-center laser ablation in the cornea, in which the original ablated area has a center that is offset from the correct optical center of the cornea, comprising the steps of:
- determining the correct optical center of the cornea and the offset location of the ablation;
- performing a supplemental laser ablation on the cornea with the laser beam generally covering the original ablated area, and with the energy of the supplemental laser increasing in a direction from the offset center toward the correct optical center;
- introducing a laser shield to cover the entire original ablated area;
- and
- performing another laser ablation with the correct optical center as the center of the ablated area.
A method for correcting an off-center laser ablation in the cornea, in which the original ablated area has a center that is offset from the correct optical center of the cornea, comprising the steps of:
- determining the correct optical center of the cornea and the offset location of the ablation;
- performing a supplemental laser ablation on the cornea with the laser beam generally covering the original ablated area, and with the energy of the supplemental laser increasing in a direction from the offset center toward the correct optical center;
- and
- performing another laser ablation with the correct optical center as the center of the ablated area.
Apparatus for correcting an off-center laser ablation in the cornea, in which the original ablated area has a center that is offset from the correct optical center of the optical cornea, and in which a corneal topographic instrument is used to determine the correct optical center and the offset location of the ablation, which comprises:
- a moveable laser masking device for use in performing a supplemental laser ablation on the cornea, said laser masking device being moveable in a direction from the offset center toward the correct optical center to enable supplemental laser energy to increase in the direction from the offset center toward the correct optical center.
Apparatus for correcting an off-center laser ablation in the cornea, in which the original ablated area has a center that is offset from the correct optical center of the optical cornea, and in which a corneal topographic instrument is used to determine the correct optical center and the offset location of the ablation, which comprises:
- a laser for performing a supplemental laser ablation on the cornea, with the energy of the supplemental laser increasing in a direction from the offset center toward the correct optical center.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.