Femtosecond laser system and method for presbyopia correction

A laser treatment method for treating presbyopia of a crystalline lens of a patient's eye, comprising:

• generating a pulsed laser beam comprising a plurality of laser pulses;
• focusing the pulsed laser beam into a beam focus inside the lens, wherein a numerical aperture NA of the laser beam is between 0.125 and 0.2, a pulse duration r of the laser pulses in the lens is from 8 fs to 51 fs, and a photodisruption threshold pulse energy E0 in the lens is from 36 nJ to 90 nJ;
• and
• scanning the pulsed laser beam in the lens according to a treatment pattern, to cause laser-induced optical breakdown of lens tissue at the beam focus to reduce Young's modulus of the tissue.

An ophthalmic laser surgery system for treating presbyopia of a crystalline lens of a patient's eye, the system comprising:

• a laser source configured to generate a pulsed laser beam comprising a plurality of laser pulses;
• and
• a laser beam delivery optical system configured to focus the pulsed laser beam into a beam focus inside the lens and to scan the pulsed laser beam in the lens according to a treatment pattern,
• wherein a numerical aperture NA of the laser beam is between 0.125 and 0.2, and a focal volume of the beam focus within the lens is less than 50 μm3, wherein the focal volume is defined by a diameter of the beam focus at a focal plane and a spatial pulse length of the laser pulses in the lens, and
• wherein the pulsed laser beam induces optical breakdown of lens tissue at the beam focus to reduce Young's modulus of the tissue.

An ophthalmic laser surgery system for treating presbyopia of a crystalline lens of a patient's eye, the system comprising:

• a laser source configured to generate a pulsed laser beam comprising a plurality of laser pulses;
• and
• a laser beam delivery optical system configured to focus the pulsed laser beam into a beam focus inside the lens and to scan the pulsed laser beam in the lens according to a treatment pattern,
• wherein a numerical aperture NA of the laser beam is between 0.125 and 0.2, a pulse duration τ of the laser pulses in the lens is from 8 fs to 51 fs, and a photodisruption threshold pulse energy E0 of the laser pulses in the lens is from 36 nJ to 90 nJ, and
• wherein the pulsed laser beam induces optical breakdown of lens tissue at the beam focus to reduce Young's modulus of the tissue.