Short pulse mid-infrared laser source for surgery

A mid-infrared laser system for performing a laser surgical procedure on a tissue, said system comprising:

• a laser resonator cavity;
• a laser rod within said cavity operatively configured and adapted to produce a laser beam having a wavelength in the mid-infrared range approximately between about 2.7 and about 3.0, said laser rod being pumped by a pump source;
• and
• an electro-optical Q-switch to control the oscillation of said laser beam within the resonator cavity to produce pulses of said laser beam, wherein the length of said resonator cavity is less than about 30 cm and sufficiently short to provide pulse durations shorter than 50 ns.

A method for performing a laser surgical procedure on a tissue, said method comprising the steps of:

• generating a laser beam in the mid-infrared range approximately between 2.79 and 3.02 .mu.m;
• oscillating said beam in a resonator cavity;
• and
• controlling said oscillation using a Q-switch to produce pulses of said laser beam, wherein the length of said resonator cavity is sufficiently short to provide pulse durations shorter than 50 ns.

A method for performing a laser surgical procedure on a tissue, said method comprising the steps of:

• generating a laser beam in the mid-infrared range corresponding approximately to an absorption peak of said tissue;
• oscillating said beam in a resonator cavity;
• and
• controlling said oscillation using a Q-switch to produce pulses of said laser beam, wherein the length of said resonator cavity is sufficiently short to provide pulse durations shorter than 50 ns.

A method for removing corneal tissue from an eye of a patient, said method comprising the steps of:

• generating a laser beam in the mid-infrared range approximately to an absorption peak of said corneal tissue;
• oscillating said beam in a resonator cavity;
• controlling said oscillation using a Q-switch to produce pulses of said laser beam, wherein the length of said resonator cavity is sufficiently short to provide pulse durations shorter than 50 ns;
• and
• directing said beam across an area of said corneal tissue in a predefined pattern to remove portions of said corneal tissue primarily by a photo-mechanical ablation process.

A mid-infrared laser system for removing corneal tissue from any eye of a patient, said system comprising:

• a laser resonator cavity;
• a laser rod within said cavity operatively configured and adapted to produce a laser beam having a wavelength in the mid-infrared range corresponding approximately to an absorption peak of said corneal tissue, said laser rod being pumped by a pump source;
• an electro-optical Q-switch to control the oscillation of said laser beam within the resonator cavity to produce pulses of said laser beam, wherein the length of said resonator cavity is sufficiently short to provide pulse durations shorter than 50 ns;
• and
• means for directing said laser beam onto said eye in a pre-defined pattern to remove portions of said corneal tissue primarily by a photo-mechanical ablation process.

A mid-infrared laser system for performing a laser surgical procedure on a tissue, said system comprising:

• a laser resonator cavity;
• a laser rod within said cavity, said laser rod being pumped by a pump source to produce a laser beam having a wavelength in the mid-infrared range corresponding approximately to an absorption peak of said tissue;
• and
• a Q-switch to control the oscillation of said laser beam within the resonator cavity to produce pulses of said laser beam, wherein the length of said resonator cavity is sufficiently short to provide pulse durations shorter than 50 ns and wherein the ends of said laser rod are cut at the Brewster angle.

A mid-infrared laser system for performing a laser surgical procedure on a tissue, said system comprising:

• a laser resonator cavity;
• a laser rod within said cavity, said laser rod being pumped by a pump source to produce a laser beam having a wavelength in the mid-infrared range corresponding approximately to an absorption peak of said tissue;
• and
• a Q-switch to control the oscillation of said laser beam within the resonator cavity to produce pulses of said laser beam, wherein the length of said resonator cavity is less than about 30 cm and sufficiently short to provide pulse durations shorter than 50 ns and wherein the ends of said Q-switch material are cut at the Brewster angle.

A mid-infrared laser system for performing a laser surgical procedure on a tissue, said system comprising:

• a laser resonator cavity;
• a laser rod within said cavity, said laser rod being pumped by a pump source to produce a laser beam having a wavelength in the mid-infrared range corresponding approximately to an absorption peak of said tissue;
• and
• a Q-switch to control the oscillation of said laser beam within the resonator cavity to produce pulses of said laser beam, wherein the length of said resonator cavity is sufficiently short to provide pulse durations shorter than 50 ns and wherein said pump source is a diode array, and wherein said diode array pumps said laser rod in an end-pumped configuration, and wherein said laser rod is comprised of a plurality of sections N, each end-pumped individually, whereby an overall repetition rate of at least 20 Hz*N is achieved in a laser beam combined by a beam delivery system.

A method for performing a laser surgical procedure on a tissue, said method comprising the steps of:

• generating a laser beam in the mid-infrared range corresponding approximately to an absorption peak of said tissue using an erbium-doped laser rod;
• oscillating said beam in a resonator cavity;
• and
• controlling said oscillation using a Q-switch to produce pulses of said laser beam, wherein the length of said resonator cavity is sufficiently short to provide pulse durations shorter than 50 ns;
• directing said laser beam onto said tissue to remove portions of said tissue primarily by a photo-mechanical ablation process.

A method for performing a laser surgical procedure on a tissue, said procedure being selected from the group consisting of:

• a corneal ablation procedure, an endoscopic procedure and a micro-ocular procedure, said method comprising the steps of:
• generating a laser beam in the mid-infrared range corresponding approximately to an absorption peak of said tissue using an erbium-doped laser rod;
• oscillating said beam in a resonator cavity;
• and
• controlling said oscillation using a Q-switch to produce pulses of said laser beam, wherein the length of said resonator cavity is less than about 30 cm and sufficiently short to provide pulse durations shorter than 50 ns.

A method for performing a corneal ablation procedure based on a photospallation mechanism, said method comprising the steps of:

• generating a laser beam in the mid-infrared range corresponding approximately to an absorption peak of said tissue using an erbium-doped laser rod;
• oscillating said beam in a resonator cavity;
• and
• controlling said oscillation using a Q-switch to produce pulses of said laser beam, wherein the length of said resonator cavity is less than about 30 cm and sufficiently short to provide pulse durations shorter than 50 ns.

A method for performing a laser surgical procedure on a tissue, said method comprising the steps of:

• generating a laser beam in the mid-infrared range corresponding approximately to an absorption peak of said tissue using a laser rod;
• oscillating said beam in a resonator cavity;
• and controlling said oscillation using a Q-switch to produce pulses of said laser beam;
• wherein the length of said resonator cavity is sufficiently short to provide pulse durations shorter than 50 ns and the hold-off voltage for generating the laser beam is less than about 2.5 KV.

A mid-infrared laser system for performing a laser surgical procedure on a tissue, said system comprising:

• a laser resonator cavity;
• a laser rod within said cavity, said laser rod being pumped by a pump source to produce a laser beam having a wavelength in the mid-infrared range corresponding approximately to an absorption peak of said tissue;
• and
• a Q-switch to control the oscillation of said laser beam within the resonator cavity to produce pulses of said laser beam, wherein the length of said resonator cavity is sufficiently short to provide pulse durations shorter than 50 ns and wherein the hold-off voltage for generating the laser beam is less than about 2.5 KV.

A mid-infrared laser system for performing a laser surgical procedure on a tissue, said system comprising:

• a laser resonator cavity;
• a laser rod within said cavity, said laser rod being pumped by a pump source to produce a laser beam having a wavelength in the mid-infrared range corresponding approximately to an absorption peak of said tissue;
• and
• a Q-switch to control the oscillation of said laser beam within the resonator cavity to produce pulses of said laser beam, wherein the length of said resonator cavity is sufficiently short to provide pulse durations shorter than 50 ns and wherein pulses are produced at a repetition rate of at least approximately 10 Hz.

A mid-infrared laser system for performing a laser surgical procedure on a tissue, said system comprising:

• a laser resonator cavity;
• a laser rod within said cavity, said laser rod being pumped by a pump source to produce a laser beam having a wavelength in the mid-infrared range corresponding approximately to an absorption peak of said tissue;
• and
• a Q-switch to control the oscillation of said laser beam within the resonator cavity to produce pulses of said laser beam, wherein the length of said resonator cavity is sufficiently short to provide pulse durations shorter than 50 ns and wherein said pump source is a diode array.