# US 2013/0158531 A1 · Image processor for intra-surgical optical coherence tomographic imaging of laser cataract procedures

> Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt

- Number: US 2013/0158531 A1
- Document ID: US20130158531A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 13/329,813
- Filed: 2011-12-19
- Published: 2013-06-20
- Earliest claimed: 2011-12-19
- Assignees: Alcon LenSx, Inc.
- Inventors: Ilya GOLDSHLEGER; Guy HOLLAND; Adam JUHASZ; Ronald M. KURTZ; Kostadin VARDIN
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20130158531A1

## CPC

- A61F 9/00825: {for photodisruption}
- A61F 9/00834: {Inlays; Onlays; Intraocular lenses [IOL]}
- A61B 3/102: {for optical coherence tomography [OCT]}
- A61F 2009/00851: {Optical coherence topography [OCT]}
- A61F 2009/0087: {Lens}
- A61F 2009/00887: {Cataract}
- A61F 2009/00897: {Scanning mechanisms or algorithms}
- 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)

## Abstract

A cataract surgical system includes a laser source to generate a first set of laser pulses; a guiding optic to guide the first set of laser pulses to a cataract target region in an eye; a laser controller 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 a portion of the target scan pattern to create a first photo-disrupted region in the cataract target region; and a Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomographic (SD-OCT) imaging system to generate an image of a portion of the first photo-disrupted region. The laser controller can generate an electronic representation of a modified scan pattern in relation to the image generated by the SD-OCT imaging system, and control the guiding optic to scan a second set of laser pulses according the modified scan pattern.

## Claims

### Claim 1

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 cataract target region in 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 a portion of the target scan pattern to create a first photo-disrupted region in the cataract target region;
a Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomographic (SD-OCT) imaging system, configured to generate an image that includes 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.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The cataract surgical system of claim 1, wherein:
the cataract target region comprises an anterior capsular layer; and
the target scan pattern comprises a set of target points on a cylinder to form at least one of a circular capsulotomy, an anterior capsulotomy, and a curvilinear capsulotomy.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The cataract surgical system of claim 1, wherein:
the cataract target region comprises a portion of the lens; and
the target scan pattern comprises a set of target points on at least one of radial chop planes, cylinders, a spiral pattern and a mesh pattern to induce at least one of a chop, a photo-disruption and a lysis of the lens.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The cataract surgical system of claim 1, wherein:
the SD-OCT imaging system is configured to have a z-imaging range greater than 4 mm.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The cataract surgical system of claim 1, wherein:
the SD-OCT imaging system is configured to have a z-imaging range greater than 6 mm.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The cataract surgical system of claim 1, wherein:
the SD-OCT imaging system is configured to generate the image in an imaging time less than 0.1 sec.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The cataract surgical system of claim 1, wherein:
the SD-OCT imaging system is configured to generate repeated images with a frame-rate in the range of 20-200 frames/sec.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The cataract surgical system of claim 1, wherein:
the SD-OCT imaging system is configured to generate repeated images with an (x,y) resolution in the range of 500-2,000 A-scans per B-scan.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The cataract surgical system of claim 1, wherein:
the SD-OCT imaging system is configured to generate repeated images with an image resolution in the range of 0.5-5 million image points per image.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The cataract surgical system of claim 1, wherein:
the OCT image processor is configured to display a feedback for a system operator based on the performed image analysis.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The cataract surgical system of claim 10, wherein:
the OCT image processor is configured
to determine a recommended modification input based on the performed image analysis, and
to display the recommended modification input for the system operator.

### Claim 12 (depends on 10)

The cataract surgical system of claim 10, wherein:
the OCT image processor is configured
to determine a difference between a reference image taken before the first set of laser pulses were generated and an image taken after the first set of laser pulses generated the first photo-disrupted region; and
to display an indication of the determined difference.

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

The cataract surgical laser system of claim 1, wherein:
the OCT image processor is configured to generate a control signal based on the performed image analysis to cause the laser controller to generate the electronic representation of the modified scan pattern.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The cataract surgical laser system of claim 13, wherein:
the OCT image processor is configured to determine a deviation of at least one of a location, an orientation and a shape of the first photo-disrupted region relative to the target scan pattern; and
the laser controller is configured to generate the electronic representation of the modified scan pattern to reduce the determined deviation.

### Claim 15 (depends on 13)

The cataract surgical system of claim 13, wherein:
the OCT image processor is configured to determine whether the first photo-disrupted region extends into a region of risk; and
the laser controller is configured to generate the electronic representation of the modified scan pattern to scan the second set of laser pulses outside of the region of risk.

### Claim 16 (depends on 13)

The cataract surgical system of claim 13, wherein:
the OCT image processor and the laser controller are integrated.

### Claim 17 (depends on 13)

The cataract surgical system of claim 13, wherein:
the OCT image processor is configured to recognize a surgical byproduct; and
the laser controller is configured to generate the electronic representation of the modified scan pattern so that the modified scan pattern is non-overlapping with the surgical byproduct.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The cataract surgical system of claim 17, wherein:
the target scan pattern is a chop pattern;
the OCT image processor is configured to recognize a gas bubble as the surgical byproduct; and
the laser controller is configured to generate an electronic representation of a rotated chop pattern as the modified scan pattern such that the rotated chop pattern is non-overlapping with the gas bubble.

### Claim 19 (depends on 13)

The cataract surgical system of claim 13, wherein:
the OCT image processor is configured to identify a portion of the first photo-disrupted region where a photo-disruption efficiency was limited; and
the laser controller is configured to generate the electronic representation of the modified scan pattern to rescan part of the identified portion.

### Claim 20 (depends on 13)

The cataract surgical system of claim 13, wherein:
the OCT image processor is configured
to analyze a portion of the image that is distinct from the first photo-disrupted region, and
to generate a feedback based on this analysis.

### Claim 21 (depends on 1)

The cataract surgical system of claim 1, wherein:
the SD-OCT imaging system includes a Spectrometer-Based-OCT imaging system, comprising:
a broad-band light source to generate a broad-band beam;
a beam guidance system
to split the broad-band beam into an image beam and a reference beam,
to guide the image beam to the eye and to guide a returned image beam from the eye,
to guide the reference beam to a reference mirror and to guide a returned reference beam from the reference mirror, and
to combine the returned image beam and the returned reference beam into a combined beam; and
an OCT camera, configured to receive the combined beam, comprising
a spectral decomposer to decompose the combined beam into spectral components;
a sensor array to sense the spectral components;
a Fast-Fourier-Transformer system to generate a Fourier transform from the sensed spectral components; and
an image generator, to generate an image from the Fourier transformed spectral components.

### Claim 22 (depends on 21)

The cataract surgical system of claim 21, the SD-OCT imaging system comprising:
a dedicated Input-Output board configured to output target scan pattern control signals, wherein
the dedicated Input-Output board comprises
a dedicated memory controller
a data buffer; and
an output Digital-Analog Converter; and
the imaging by the SD-OCT imaging system is synchronized with the outputting of the target scan pattern control signals by the output Digital-Analog Converter.

### Claim 23

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.

### Claim 24 (depends on 23)

The cataract surgical system of claim 23, the Swept-Source-OCT imaging system comprising:
a swept wavelength light source to generate a swept-wavelength beam;
a beam guidance system, configured
to split the swept-wavelength beam into an image beam and a reference beam,
to guide the image beam to the eye and to guide a returned image beam from the eye,
to guide the reference beam to a reference mirror and to guide a returned reference beam from the reference mirror, and
to combine the returned image beam and the returned reference beam into a combined beam; and
an OCT camera, configured to receive the combined beam, comprising
a detector to detect the combined beam;
a data binner to detect the combined beam as a time sequence of data;
a Fast-Fourier-Transform-system to Fourier transform the detected time sequence of data; and
an image generator to generate an image from the Fourier transform.

### Claim 25

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.

### Claim 26 (depends on 25)

The cataract surgical system of claim 25, wherein:
the surgically undesirable feature comprises at least one of
a deviation of at least one of a location, an orientation and a shape of a photo-disrupted region relative to a target scan pattern, a surgical byproduct, a bubble, a misplaced cut, a miscalibrated cut, a photo-disruption in a high-risk region, and a limited-efficiency photo-disruption region.

### Claim 27

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.

### Claim 28 (depends on 27)

The ophthalmic surgical method of claim 27, the generating an electronic representation of a modified scan pattern comprising:
determining a deviation of the cut relative to the target scan pattern by the OCT image processor; and
generating a control signal by the OCT image processor for a laser controller to generate the modified scan pattern.