Methods and apparatus for light induced processing of biological tissues and of dental materials

Abstract

The invention relates to methods and apparatus for processing biological tissue and dental materials which involves providing or distributing a substance containing abrasive particles to an area in front of at least a portion of a surface of the tissue/material and irradiating both the substance and the portion of the surface with light from a selected source, the light being selected and delivered in a manner such that selective ablation is caused on the substance sufficient to force the abrasive particles under a selected pulse against the portion of the surface. Ablation may be of the particles themselves or the particles may be contained within a shell, with ablation being of the shell. The substance is preferably delivered as a series of distribution pulses with the light being delivered either continuously or as light pulses having a predetermined relationship to the distribution pulses.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.