DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING AN OPHTHALMOLOGICAL SYSTEM AND AN OPHTHALMOLOGICAL SYSTEM

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a (unclaimed) method for controlling an ophthalmological system, in particular a phacoemulsification system. Furthermore, the invention relates to an ophthalmological system, in particular a phacoemulsification system, preferably for implementing the method. A prior art system is known from DE 10 2015 003799 A1.

[0002] Ophthalmological systems and methods for controlling them have been known in practice for years. One such system could be a phacoemulsification system, for example. This consists of a console to which a handpiece can be connected. The console supplies the handpiece with irrigation fluid, negative pressure, and electrical power. During cataract surgery, in which a patient's clouded lens is to be removed from the eye, a needle carried by the handpiece is inserted into the eye and subjected to an ultrasonic vibration. The vibration destroys or emulsifies the lens. The lens debris is sucked out of the eye by the needle and handpiece - aspirated - with a negative pressure being generated by the console.

[0003] To protect the eye from injury, the chamber pressure must be maintained during the procedure. For this purpose, irrigation fluid is supplied to the eye via the console and handpiece, whereby the chamber pressure is specifically kept at the required level. It is essential that neither too much nor too little irrigation fluid is supplied to the eye. Consequently, a balance must be maintained between irrigation and aspiration. For this purpose, flow sensors are known to detect the supplied irrigation fluid and the aspirated fluid in order to coordinate the irrigation pressure and aspiration pressure based on the information obtained. Since the procedure in question on the eye has to be performed under sterile conditions, the flow sensors used face particular challenges and are therefore complex in design.

[0004] Although the ophthalmological systems and methods for operating these systems known from the state of the art enable the chamber pressure in the eye to be maintained during a procedure, they are extremely complex in terms of design, functionality and operation.

[0005] The present invention is therefore based on the object of designing and developing such a system in such a way that a stable chamber pressure is ensured during an intervention using simple means.

[0006] According to the invention, the above object is achieved by the features of claim 1. Furthermore, a method for controlling an ophthalmological system, in particular a phacoemulsification system, is disclosed, comprising a control unit, an irrigation unit, and an aspiration unit, wherein the irrigation unit has an irrigation peristaltic pump with an irrigation drive and the aspiration unit has an aspiration peristaltic pump with an aspiration drive, and wherein the irrigation drive is operated at an at least slightly higher speed than the aspiration drive.

[0007] In accordance with the invention, it was first recognized that the underlying problem can be solved in a simple manner if irrigation and aspiration are carried out via identical peristaltic pumps, which in particular have at least substantially identical tubes. The invention is based on the idea that if these peristaltic pumps are operated at identical speeds, the flow rates are also identical. Thus, the same volumes are pumped, so that a balance exists between irrigation and aspiration. In a further embodiment of the invention, it was recognized that a safe intraoperative scenario can be achieved if the speed of the irrigation pump is at least slightly higher than the speed of the aspiration pump. With such a control, the eye is constantly toned with an irrigation overpressure and, furthermore, a constantly occurring leakage of fluid from the incision of the eye is compensated.This makes it easy to ensure stable chamber pressure during the procedure.

[0008] Advantageously, a stepper motor is used for both the irrigation drive and the aspiration drive. The stepper motors can be operated particularly advantageously in partial step mode, with acceleration and deceleration occurring in ramp mode. For example, the motor can be designed such that 200 full steps are required per revolution, with one full step being resolvable into 8 partial steps. Thus, 1600 full steps would be required for one revolution. Finer or coarser resolutions are generally conceivable.

[0009] In a further advantageous manner, an irrigation speed of the irrigation drive can be determined depending on the height at which an irrigation container is located. This takes into account the irrigation pressure already generated by the height of the container and the associated irrigation flow. Alternatively or additionally, it is conceivable that an aspiration speed of the aspiration drive is determined depending on a selected aspiration negative pressure and / or a selected aspiration flow and / or a measured aspiration negative pressure. For example, the surgeon can select an aspiration negative pressure or an aspiration flow via an interface.

[0010] In a particularly advantageous manner, the irrigation speed and the aspiration speed are used to determine the difference by which the actual irrigation speed must exceed the actual aspiration speed. By determining or calculating the difference in this way, it is determined how much higher the speed of the irrigation drive is than the speed of the aspiration drive.

[0011] To ensure safe operation of the system, the actual speed of the irrigation drive and the actual speed of the aspiration drive can be recorded during operation. Additionally, it is conceivable that the speed of the irrigation drive is increased if the recorded actual speed of the irrigation drive is not higher than the actual speed of the aspiration drive by at least the difference. It may also be possible to reduce the speed of the aspiration drive in such a case. It is essential that the speeds of the irrigation drive and aspiration drive are monitored to ensure that the speed of the irrigation drive is higher than the speed of the aspiration drive.

[0012] The underlying problem is solved by the features of claim 1. This provides an ophthalmological system, in particular a phacoemulsification system, with a control unit, an irrigation unit comprising an irrigation peristaltic pump with an irrigation drive, and an aspiration unit comprising an aspiration peristaltic pump with an aspiration drive, wherein the aspiration drive and the irrigation drive are controllable by means of the control unit such that the speed of the irrigation drive is at least slightly higher than the speed of the aspiration drive.

[0013] According to the invention, it has been recognized that the underlying problem can be solved by the irrigation unit and the aspiration unit each having an identical peristaltic pump, in particular with identical tubes. With such a configuration, the speed of the irrigation drive and the speed of the aspiration drive can be easily controlled by a control unit such that the irrigation drive operates at at least a slightly higher speed than the aspiration drive. With such a configuration, the irrigation pressure is always higher than the aspiration pressure, so that leakage losses are compensated and the eye is toned.

[0014] Advantageously, the irrigation drive and the aspiration drive can each be designed as stepper motors. This design allows for particularly precise adjustment of the speeds.

[0015] At this point, it is pointed out that the disclosed method also has a device-related embodiment, so that these method features are expressly part of the disclosure of the ophthalmological system according to the invention according to claim 1.

[0016] There are now various possibilities for advantageously embodying and developing the teaching of the present invention. For this purpose, reference is made, on the one hand, to the claims subordinate to claim 1 and, on the other hand, to the following explanation of preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the drawing. In conjunction with the explanation of the preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the drawing, generally preferred embodiments and developments of the teaching are also explained. The drawing shows Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a system according to the invention, which also explains the method according to the invention, and Fig. 2 shows a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method according to the invention.

[0017] Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an ophthalmological system. The system comprises a console 1 with an irrigation unit 2 and an aspiration unit 3. The irrigation unit 2 has an irrigation peristaltic pump 4 and an irrigation drive 5. The aspiration unit 3 further comprises an aspiration peristaltic pump 6 and an aspiration drive 7.

[0018] Irrigation fluid is supplied to a handpiece 9 via an irrigation tube 8, and fluid and, if present, tissue debris are suctioned from the handpiece 9 via an aspiration tube 10. It should be noted that the irrigation unit 2 and / or the aspiration unit 3 do not necessarily have to be arranged in a console 1 or in the same console 1.

[0019] Furthermore, a control unit 11 is provided, via which the irrigation unit 2 and the aspiration unit 3, in particular the speed of the irrigation pump 4 and the speed of the aspiration pump 6, can be controlled. According to the invention, the irrigation pump 4 and the aspiration pump 6 are identically designed, as are the irrigation drive 5 and the aspiration drive 7.

[0020] The speed of the irrigation drive 5 is controlled such that it is at least slightly higher than the speed of the aspiration drive 7. This ensures that the eye is toned and leakage is compensated. The irrigation fluid can be stored in an irrigation container (not shown), which can be vertically adjustable, for example.

[0021] Fig. 2 shows a flow chart of a method according to the invention, in particular for controlling a device according to the invention according to Fig. 1 After starting the ophthalmic system, the system first checks whether the surgeon or an assistant has activated a switch. This could be, for example, a foot switch, which must be set to position A to begin the procedure. The irrigation speed is then set or determined based on the height of the irrigation container selected by the user.

[0022] If the switch is then set to position B, the aspiration speed is calculated or determined based on a flow and / or vacuum value selected by the user and / or the currently measured aspiration negative pressure. The calculated or determined values ​​of the irrigation speed and the aspiration speed are read as variables X and Y, and the difference D is determined based on these values.

[0023] During use, the system continuously checks whether the irrigation speed X is at least D higher than the aspiration speed Y. If this is the case, the irrigation speed and the aspiration speed remain unchanged. Otherwise, the irrigation speed is increased and / or the aspiration speed is decreased.

[0024] With regard to further advantageous embodiments of the method and device according to the invention, reference is made to the general part of the description and to the appended claims in order to avoid repetition.

[0025] Finally, it should be expressly noted that the above-described embodiments of the disclosed method and device according to the invention serve merely to illustrate the claimed teaching, but do not limit it to the embodiments. The invention is defined by the claims. List of reference symbols

[0026] 1 Console 2 Irrigation unit 3 Aspiration unit 4 Irrigation peristaltic pump 5 Irrigation drive 6 Aspiration peristaltic pump 7 Aspiration drive 8 Irrigation tube 9 Handpiece 10 Aspiration tube 11 Control unit

Claims

1. Ophthalmological system, in particular phacoemulsification system, having a control unit (11), an irrigation unit (2) comprising a peristaltic irrigation pump (4) having an irrigation drive (5) and an aspiration unit (3) comprising a peristaltic aspiration pump (6) having an aspiration drive (7), wherein the aspiration drive (7) and the irrigation drive (5) can be controlled by means of the control unit (11) in such a manner that the speed of the irrigation drive (5) is at least slightly greater than the speed of the aspiration drive (7) and wherein the peristaltic irrigation pump (4) and the peristaltic aspiration pump (6) are constructed in an identical manner.

2. System according to claim 1, characterised in that the irrigation drive (5) and the aspiration drive (7) are in each case in the form of a step motor.

3. System according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that, depending on the height at which an irrigation container is located, an irrigation speed of the irrigation drive (5) can be determined.

4. System according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that, depending on a selected reduced aspiration pressure and / or aspiration throughflow, an aspiration speed of the aspiration drive (7) can be determined.

5. System according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterised in that, depending on a measured reduced aspiration pressure, an aspiration speed of the aspiration drive (7) can be determined.

6. System according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterised in that with reference to the irrigation speed and the aspiration speed it is possible to determine the difference amount D by which the actual irrigation speed has to be above the actual aspiration speed.

7. System according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterised in that during operation the actual speed of the irrigation drive (5) and the actual speed of the aspiration drive (7) can be detected.

8. System according to claim 7, characterised in that the speed of the irrigation drive (5) can be increased when the actual speed of the irrigation drive (5) is not higher than the actual speed of the aspiration drive (7) by at least the difference amount D.

9. System according to claim 7 or 8, characterised in that the speed of the aspiration drive (7) can be decreased when the actual speed of the irrigation drive (5) is not higher than the actual speed of the aspiration drive (7) by at least the difference amount D.