Laser system for refractive surgery
A laser system for refractive surgery comprises a laser beam for generating laser beam pulses and optical means for directing these laser beam pulses as a working beam onto an eye. Some of the working radiation is extracted for optical coherence tomography, in order to measure geometrical structures in the cornea.
1. Laser system for refractive surgery, having a laser beam source configured to generate laser beam pulses and having optical means for spatially separating each of the generated laser beam pulses into a working beam and a measurement beam and for directing the working beam and the measurement beam coaxially onto or into an eye, wherein the measurement beam is also directed into a device for optical coherence tomography.
2. Laser system according to claim 1 , having means for increasing the spectral bandwidth of a separated portion of each of the generated laser beam pulses to define the measurement beam.
3. Laser system according to claim 1 , characterized in that the optical means are designed for LASIK cutting.
4. Laser system according to claim 3 , characterized in that the laser beam source emits femtosecond laser pulses.
5. Laser system according to claim 1 , characterized in that the optical means are designed for corneal ablation.
6. Laser system according to claim 1 , having means for representing data obtained by the optical coherence tomography during the refractive surgery.
7. Laser system according to claim 1 , having a selectively actuable shutter in the beam path of the work beam.
8. A system for eye surgery, comprising:
a laser beam source configured to generate at least one laser beam pulse;
a beam splitter configured to spatially divide said laser beam pulse into a working beam for tissue ablation and a measurement beam;
means for receiving said measurement beam and generating an optical coherence tomography measurement beam;
a scanner receiving both the working beam and the measurement beam, wherein the scanner is operable to direct both beams into the eye;
a photodetector configured to receive at least a portion of a reflected measurement beam traveling from the eye; and
a processor for comparing the measurement beam to the reflected measurement beam to determine the optical coherence tomography measurement for the tissue ablation of the eye.
9. The system of claim 8 , further comprising an optical system in communication with the laser beam source, the optical system configured to focus the working beam for LASIK cutting.
10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the laser beam source emits femtosecond laser beam pulses.
11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the working beam is configured for corneal tissue ablation.
12. The system of claim 8 , further comprising a selectively actuable shutter in the beam path of the work beam, the shutter configured to selectively block transmission of the working beam.
13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the means for receiving said measurement beam and generating the optical coherence tomography measurement beam is configured to generate a femtosecond continuum in the measurement beam.
14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the femtosecond continuum has a bandwidth between about 400 nm and about 800 nm.
15. The system of claim 8 , wherein the beam splitter divides between 5% and 10% of the laser beam pulse into the measurement beam.
16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the measurement beam has a repetition rate greater than the working beam.
17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the measurement beam has a pulse energy less than the working beam.