Ophthalmic treatment apparatus

An ophthalmic treatment apparatus comprising:

• a laser light source for generating a first laser beam having a given intensity;
• optical scanning means for deflecting the first laser beam from the laser light source at a predetermined frequency to scan with a variable scanning angle an eye fundus of a patient's eye into which a photosensitive substance that accumulates specifically in neovascular tissues of the eye fundus to be treated has been administered;
• output means for detecting an intensity of reflected light and fluorescent light from the eye fundus and outputting an image of the eye fundus in accordance with the scanning by the optical scanning means;
• setting means for setting position coordinates corresponding to a location of a given region of the eye fundus containing the neovascular tissues to be treated in accordance with the outputted image of the eye fundus;
• and
• control means for controlling the laser light source to generate a second laser beam having an intensity greater than that of the given intensity and to irradiate the second laser beam in the given region of the eye fundus in accordance with the position coordinates to cause a photochemical reaction between the second laser beam and the photosensitive substance and thereby destroy or seal off the neovascular tissues.

An ophthalmic treatment apparatus comprising:

• a first laser light source for generating a laser beam having a given wavelength;
• optical scanning means for deflecting the laser beam from the first laser light source at a predetermined frequency to scan with a variable scanning angle an eye fundus of a patient's eye into which a photosensitive substance that accumulates specifically in neovascular tissues of the eye fundus to be treated has been administered;
• output means for detecting an intensity of reflected light and fluorescent light from the eye fundus and outputting an image of the eye fundus in accordance with the scanning by the optical scanning means;
• setting means for setting position coordinates corresponding to a location of a given region of the eye fundus containing the neovascular tissues to be treated in accordance with the outputted image of the eye fundus;
• a second light source for irradiating a laser beam in the given region of the eye fundus in accordance with the position coordinates;
• and means for amplifying an intensity of the laser beam irradiated in the given region of the eye fundus to cause a photochemical reaction between the laser beam and the photosensitive substance and thereby destroy or seal off the neovascular tissues.

An ophthalmic treatment apparatus comprising:

• a first laser light source for generating a laser beam having a given wavelength;
• optical scanning means for deflecting the laser beam from the first laser light source at a predetermined frequency to scan with a variable scanning angle an eye fundus of a patient's eye into which a photosensitive substance that accumulates specifically in neovascular tissues of the eye fundus to be treated has been administered;
• detecting means for detecting an intensity of reflected light and fluorescent light from the eye fundus resulting from the scanning by the optical scanning means;
• output means for outputting an image of the eye fundus in accordance with the intensity of reflected light and fluorescent light from the eye fundus detected;
• setting means for setting position coordinates corresponding to a location of a given region of the eye fundus containing the neovascular tissues to be treated in accordance with the outputted image of the eye fundus;
• a second light source for irradiating a laser beam having a given wavelength in the given region of the eye fundus in accordance with the position coordinates;
• and means for amplifying an intensity of the laser beam irradiated in the given region of the eye fundus to cause a photochemical reaction between the laser beam and the photosensitive substance and thereby destroy or seal off the neovascular tissues.

An ophthalmic treatment method, comprising the steps of:

• administering into an eye fundus of a patient's eye a photosensitive substance that accumulates specifically in neovascular tissues of the eye fundus to be treated;
• scanning the eye fundus with a variable scanning angle using a first laser beam at a predetermined frequency;
• detecting an intensity of reflected light and fluorescent light from the eye fundus in accordance with the scanning of the eye fundus;
• generating an image of the eye fundus in accordance with the detected intensity of reflected light and fluorescent light;
• identifying a location of the eye fundus containing the neovascular tissues to be treated in accordance with the generated image of the eye fundus and storing position coordinates corresponding to the identified location;
• and scanning the location of the eye fundus corresponding to the position coordinates with a variable scanning angle using a second laser beam to cause a photochemical reaction between the second laser beam and the photosensitive substance and thereby destroy or seal off the neovascular tissues.