Image processor for intra-surgical optical coherence tomographic imaging of laser cataract procedures

A cataract surgical system, comprising:

• a laser source, configured to generate a first set of laser pulses;
• a guiding optic, coupled to the laser source, configured to guide the first set of laser pulses to a lens of an eye;
• a laser controller, configured
• to generate an electronic representation of a target scan pattern, and
• to control the guiding optic to scan the first set of laser pulses according to the target scan pattern to create a first photo-disrupted region;
• a Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomographic (SS-OCT) imaging system, configured to generate an image of a portion of the first photo-disrupted region;
• and
• an OCT image processor, configured to perform an image analysis of the image, wherein
• the laser controller is configured
• to generate an electronic representation of a modified scan pattern in relation to the image analysis performed by the OCT image processor, and
• to control the guiding optic to scan a second set of laser pulses according the modified scan pattern to create a second photo-disrupted region.

A cataract surgical system, comprising:

• a surgical laser system, configured
• to generate a surgical laser beam, and
• to scan the surgical laser beam in a cataract target region;
• a Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomographic (SD-OCT) imaging system, configured to generate an image of a portion of the cataract target region;
• and
• an OCT image processor, configured
• to perform an image analysis of the image,
• to recognize a surgically undesirable feature in the image, and
• to generate a control signal to stop the scanning of the surgical laser beam.

An ophthalmic surgical method, the method comprising:

• generating an electronic representation of a target scan pattern for a lens of an eye by a laser controller;
• generating and scanning a laser beam in the lens of the eye according to the target scan pattern by a surgical laser system, creating a cut in the lens;
• generating an image of a portion of the eye and the cut with a Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomographic imaging system after the scanning of the laser beam started;
• performing an image analysis of the generated image with an OCT image processor;
• generating an electronic representation of a modified scan pattern by the laser controller in relation to the performed image analysis;
• and
• generating and scanning the laser beam in the lens of the eye according to the modified scan pattern by the surgical laser system, creating a modified cut.