Laser Surgical Corneal Marker Tracking for Eye Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ophthalmic laser surgical systems face challenges in maintaining precise alignment of the eye with the treatment pattern due to potential movement of the eye relative to the patient interface during surgical procedures, which can lead to misalignment and suboptimal outcomes.
Innovation Solution
An ophthalmic surgical system that includes a laser source, scanner, objective, and camera, which creates a marker in the cornea to track eye movement and provides notifications when movement exceeds acceptable limits, ensuring precise alignment by instructing the scanner to direct the laser focal point and focusing it through a patient interface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a vacuum patient interface is used to secure the eye in place, then the eye is held stable during the procedure, but eye movement can still occur causing misalignment with the treatment pattern
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors eye position using cameras that track the laser-created marker throughout the procedure. Real-time position data is fed back to the control system, which automatically adjusts the laser beam alignment to compensate for any eye movement, ensuring precise treatment pattern alignment despite changes in eye position relative to the patient interface
Solution Approach 2:
A laser-created marker in the cornea serves as an intermediary reference point between the eye and the treatment pattern. This marker provides a stable, detectable reference that allows the system to measure eye position and adjust alignment independently of the vacuum interface's holding capability
2Manufacturing precision
If the laser beam is continuously adjusted to compensate for eye movement, then alignment precision is maintained, but the complexity of the control system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the laser beam itself to create the tracking marker in the cornea, which then serves as the reference for monitoring eye position. This self-service approach eliminates the need for separate marker placement systems or additional reference features, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining precise alignment capability
Solution Approach 2:
The laser beam performs multiple functions: it creates the treatment photodisruptions, creates the tracking marker for position monitoring, and provides the reference for real-time alignment adjustments. This multi-functionality reduces the number of separate components needed and simplifies the overall control system architecture
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system effectively maintains eye alignment with the treatment pattern by creating markers in the cornea to indicate movement, providing notifications when misalignment occurs, thereby improving the precision and reliability of surgical procedures.
Implementation Method 1
The laser source generates a laser beam having ultrashort pulses
Implementation Method 2
the laser beam creates photodisruptions at specific points in the eye according to a treatment pattern
Implementation Method 3
The scanner transversely and longitudinally directs a focal point of the laser beam
Implementation Method 4
The objective focuses the focal point through a patient interface towards the eye
Implementation Method 5
The camera images movement of the eye
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~2B
Figure 3~4
AI summary
In certain embodiments, an ophthalmic surgical system for creating a marker in a cornea includes controllable components, a camera, and a computer. The controllable components include a laser source, a scanner, and an objective. The laser source generates a laser beam. The scanner transversely and longitudinally directs a focal point of the laser beam. The objective focuses the focal point towards the eye. The camera images movement of the eye. The computer creates the marker by: instructing the scanner to direct the focal point towards a peripheral region of the cornea; and instructing the controllable components to create the marker in the peripheral region. The computer also determines that movement of the marker is in an alert range indicating an unacceptable amount of movement, and provides notifications in response to determining that the movement of the marker is in the alert range.