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US 5,743,902 AGranted
Hand-held laser scanner
AssigneeCoherent, Inc.
InventorDavid Trost
Life of this patent
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AssigneeCoherent, Inc.
InventorDavid Trost
Estimating the term…
A surgical laser scanner having optics that scans a pulsed laser beam onto a target tissue is disclosed. The laser scanner has a lens and a scanning mirror or mirrors located upstream of the lens at a distance substantially equal to the focal length of the lens. The laser beam hits the scanning mirror and is reflected onto the lens in a pattern defined by sequential positions of the scanning mirror. The laser beam is projected onto the target tissue by the lens in a direction parallel to the optical axis of the lens. The projected pattern has a constant size regardless of the distance between the laser scanner and the target tissue.
A surgical handpiece for connection to a laser that generates a laser beam, wherein the handpiece scans the laser beam onto a target tissue, the handpiece comprising:
A surgical handpiece that receives a laser beam and produces a pattern of laser spots on a target tissue, the handpiece comprising:
A surgical handpiece for connection to a laser that generates a laser beam, wherein the handpiece scans the laser beam in a two-dimensional pattern onto a target tissue, the handpiece comprising:
A surgical system for scanning a laser beam onto a target tissue comprising:
A method of scanning a laser beam onto a target tissue, said method comprising the steps of:
A method of ablating a pattern of tissue using a laser beam generated by a laser and delivered to the tissue by a delivery device having a housing comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
No related US applications are recorded in the indexed filing history.
Using laser: applying laser energy to the outside of the body
Using laser: with beam delivery through a hollow tube, e.g. forming an articulated arm ; Hand-pieces therefor
Type of operation; Specification of treatment sites: dermatology
Surgical instruments, devices or methods: pedal-operated
Term ended 28 Apr 2015 (estimated)
USPTO file history isn’t available for this patent, so only indexed dates are shown.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to medical lasers, and relates more particularly to a hand-held laser scanner that generates a scanned pattern of constant size regardless of the positioning of the laser scanner with respect to a treatment surface.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a scanning mirror that receives a focused laser beam and a lens that projects a pattern of collimated laser beams, which is used in one embodiment of a hand-held laser scanner according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a scanning mirror that receives a collimated laser beam and a lens that projects a pattern of focused laser beams, which is used in another embodiment of a hand-held laser scanner according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is an overall view of a hand-held laser scanner according to the present invention.
FIGS. 1 through 12 of the drawings depict various preferred embodiments of the present invention for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein.
The preferred embodiment of the present invention is a hand-held laser scanner or surgical handpiece that scans a laser beam in a uniform pattern over a target tissue. The theory of operation of the laser scanner 10, 12 can be explained by reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. In FIG. 1, an incident laser beam 14 is focused on a scanning mirror 16, which reflects the laser beam onto a lens 18. The scanning mirror 16 pivots so that the laser beam strikes the mirror at a point 20 that is one focal length L upstream of and along the optical axis of the lens.
The scanning mirror 16 moves between position 22 and position 24. At position 22, the mirror 16 reflects the laser beam to the top of the lens 18 along path 26. The angle 28 of the incident beam is the same as the angle 30 of the reflected beam along path 26 because the mirror 16 is a flat mirror. Each ray of the reflected beam is refracted by the lens 18 to a path 32 that is parallel to an optical axis 34 of the lens. The result is that the output laser beam is collimated and parallel to the optical axis 34.