System and method for guiding laser-assisted surgery based on flexible range optical coherence tomography

A method for guiding an ophthalmic procedure in a system having an optical coherence tomography (OCT) device and a controller with at least one processor and at least one non-transitory, tangible memory, the method comprising:

• receiving a respective OCT signal from a target site in an eye via a first imaging mode of the OCT device, via the controller, the first imaging mode having a first imaging depth, the OCT device having a swept source laser tunable through a range of wavelengths;
• receiving the respective OCT signal from the target site via a second imaging mode of the OCT device, via the controller, the second imaging mode having a second imaging depth, the first imaging depth being greater than the second imaging depth, the ophthalmic procedure employing a laser delivery system in communication with the controller;
• executing a first sampling module to process the respective OCT signal from the first imaging mode into a first dataset at a first sampling frequency;
• executing a second sampling module to process the respective OCT signal from the second imaging mode into a second dataset at a second sampling frequency;
• generating an output signal indicative of at least one of a pupil centering information and tilt angle of the target site based on the first dataset and the second dataset, via the controller;
• and
• aligning a docking device with the target site prior to surgery based on the output signal.

A system for guiding an ophthalmic procedure, the system comprising:

• an optical coherence tomography (OCT) device configured to obtain respective data of a target site in an eye, the OCT device having a swept source laser tunable through a range of wavelengths, the respective data including a respective OCT signal;
• a controller in communication with the OCT device, the controller having a processor and tangible, non-transitory memory on which instructions are recorded, the ophthalmic procedure employing a laser delivery system in communication with the controller;
• a docking device configured to interface between the eye and the laser delivery system;
• wherein the OCT device includes a first imaging mode with a first imaging depth and a second imaging mode with a second imaging depth, the first imaging depth being greater than the second imaging depth;
• wherein the first imaging mode and the second imaging mode are executed with a first pulse repetition rate and a second pulse repetition rate, respectively, of the swept source laser;
• wherein the first imaging mode is employed when the docking device is in a pre-docking position at a predefined distance from the eye and the second imaging mode is employed when the docking device is in a docking position adjacent to the eye;
• wherein the controller is adapted to:
• execute a first sampling module to process the respective OCT signal from the first imaging mode into a first dataset at a first sampling frequency;
• execute a second sampling module to process the respective OCT signal from the second imaging mode into a second dataset at a second sampling frequency;
• generate an output signal indicative of at least one of a pupil centering information and a tilt angle of the target site based in part on the first dataset and the second dataset;
• and
• employ the output signal for pre-surgical alignment of the docking device relative to the target site;
• and
• wherein the controller is adapted to set the first pulse repetition rate to be about half of the second pulse repetition rate when the first sampling frequency and the second sampling frequency are relatively close in value.