Methods and apparatuses for the treatment of glaucoma using visible and infrared ultrashort laser pulses

An apparatus for creating an opening in the trabecular meshwork of an eye of a patient, comprising:

• an ultrashort pulse generating laser having a fundamental wavelength in the range of infrared through visible light;
• a high numerical aperture optic coupled to the laser to produce a focused beam of ultrashort pulses generated by the laser;
• a gonialens adapted to be fixedly attached to the cornea of an eye;
• and
• a guidance optic fixedly attached to the gonial lens for guiding the beam of ultrashort laser pulses;
• and
• a guidance system connected to the guidance optic to move the optic and thereby guide the beam through the eye tissue enclosing the anterior chamber of the eye to focus at a selected location on the trabecular meshwork of the eye.

A method of creating and maintaining an opening in a trabecular meshwork of a patient's eye to conduct fluid from an anterior chamber to Schlemm's canal of the eye, comprising:

• passing one end of a fiberoptic element through a small perforation in an outermost encapsulating tissue of the eyeball until said one end of said fiberoptic element penetrates into the eye's anterior chamber;
• immobilizing and stabilizing said fiberoptic element to maintain precise focus to the target tissue, or transocularly advancing said one end of the fiberoptic element through the said anterior chamber until the penetrating end of said fiberoptic element is juxtaposed immediately adjacent targeted eye tissue to be treated;
• and
• coupling the opposite end of said fiberoptic element to a photodisruptive laser emitting radiation selected from the class consisting of (1) visible or infrared femtosecond laser radiation having a wavelength of 0.4 to 2.5 microns and at a fluence level sufficient to produce tissue disruption and focusing the radiation being emitted from the tip of the fiberoptic element upon the target tissue;
• and
• subjecting the adjacent targeted tissue to photodisruption from the radiation while maintaining the end of said fiberoptic element to effect photochemical removal of said target tissue.