US 5,331,951 AGranted

Phacoemulsification probe drive circuit

AssigneeAmerican Cyanamid Company

InventorKevin P. Kepley

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Abstract

A drive for a phacoemulsification probe includes a drive circuit for supplying electrical power to the probe, circuitry for sensing the electrical power supplied by the drive circuit to the probe and for supplying electrical signals indicative of the magnitude of the electrical power supplied. A manually operable input device provides a signal indicative of the transducer power level desired by the user of the probe. A control circuit is responsive to the signal indicative of the desired transducer power level and to the signals indicative of the magnitude of the supplied electrical power for providing control signals to the drive circuit to control the power applied and to control the efficiency of the application of power. The drive circuit includes an amplifier responsive to at least one of the control signals to apply power at the desired level, and also includes a regulator for supplying a supply voltage to the amplifier. The regulator is responsive to a second control signal from the control circuit to vary the peak voltage supplied by the regulator to the amplifier to substantially minimize the amplifier's power consumption.

Claims10

Dependent claims

A phacoemulsification probe system comprising:

an ultrasonic handpiece having a distal end of a size suitable for insertion into a patient's eye for emulsifying cataracts, said handpiece including a transducer for converting electrical power to ultrasonic power for application to the patient;
drive circuit means for supplying electrical power to the ultrasonic handpiece transducer;
means for sensing the electrical power supplied by the drive circuit means to the ultrasonic handpiece transducer and for supplying electrical signals indicative of the magnitude of said electrical power supplied by the drive circuit means;
manually operable input means for providing a signal indicative of a transducer power level desired by the user of the phacoemulsification probe system;
and
control circuit means responsive to the signal indicative of the desired transducer power level and to the signals indicative of the magnitude of the supplied electrical power for providing control signals to the drive circuit means to control the power applied and to control the efficiency of the application of power;
said drive circuit means including amplifier means responsive to at least one of the control signals to apply power at the desired level, and regulator means for supplying a supply voltage to the amplifier means, said regulator means being responsive to a second control signal from the control circuit means to vary the magnitude of the supply voltage supplied by the regulator means to the amplifier means to substantially minimize the amplifier's power consumption.

4 more elements

A method of driving a phacoemulsification apparatus having an ultrasonic handpiece with a distal end of a size suitable for insertion into a patient's eye for emulsifying cataracts, said handpiece including a transducer for converting electrical power to ultrasonic power for application to the patient, said apparatus also having a drive circuit connected to the ultrasonic handpiece transducer and also having a manually operable input device for signaling a desired transducer power level, said method comprising:

supplying electrical power from the drive circuit to the ultrasonic handpiece transducer;
sensing the electrical power supplied by the drive circuit to the ultrasonic handpiece transducer;
comparing the electrical power supplied by the drive circuit with the desired transducer power level;
and
using a switching regulator to vary the magnitude of a supply voltage to the drive circuit to efficiently supply power to the transducer, said magnitude of the supply voltage being varied to correspond to the desired output power selected by the manually operable input device.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.