METHOD FOR PATTERNED PLASMA-MEDIATED MODIFICATION OF THE CRYSTALLINE LENS
A method of treating a lens of a patient's eye includes generating a light beam, deflecting the light beam using a scanner to form a treatment pattern of the light beam, delivering the treatment pattern to the lens of a patient's eye to create a plurality of cuts in the lens in the form of the treatment pattern to break the lens up into a plurality of pieces, and removing the lens pieces from the patient's eye. The lens pieces can then be mechanically removed. The light beam can be used to create larger segmenting cuts into the lens, as well as smaller softening cuts that soften the lens for easier removal.
1 . A method of treating a lens of a patient's eye, comprising:
generating a light beam;
deflecting the light beam using a scanner to form a treatment pattern of the light beam;
delivering the treatment pattern to the lens of a patient's eye to create a plurality of cuts in the lens in the form of the treatment pattern to break the lens up into a plurality of pieces; and
removing the lens pieces from the patient's eye.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
forming an incision in a capsule of the patient's eye, wherein the lens pieces are removed from the patient's eye through the incision.
3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
deflecting the light beam using a scanner to form a softening treatment pattern of the light beam;
delivering the softening treatment pattern to the lens of the patient's eye to soften one or more portions of the lens before the removal of the lens pieces from the patient's eye.
4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
deflecting the light beam using a scanner to form a softening treatment pattern of the light beam;
delivering the softening treatment pattern to the lens of the patient's eye to further break up the lens into smaller pieces.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the cuts comprise a plurality of intersecting line cuts.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the cuts comprise a plurality of intersecting line cuts that exhibit a lateral shift as a function of depth in the lens.
7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the line cuts form a segment of the lens that is shaped as an inverted pyramid.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the line cuts form a segment of the lens that is cross shaped.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the cuts comprise a plurality of concentric circle cuts.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the cuts comprise a plurality of concentric circle cuts and a plurality of intersecting line cuts.
11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the cuts comprise a pattern of smaller softening cuts and at least one larger segmenting cut.
12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the segmenting cut extends across the softening cut pattern and has a length greater than that of the softening cut pattern.
13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the cuts comprise a pattern of intersecting smaller softening cuts and larger intersecting segmenting cuts.
14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the pattern of softening cuts is circular shaped with a diameter, and wherein the segmenting cuts extend across the softening cut pattern and have a length greater than the diameter.
15 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
deflecting the light beam using a scanner to form a second treatment pattern of the light beam;
delivering the second treatment pattern to the lens pieces to break the lens pieces up into smaller lens pieces.
16 . A method of treating a lens of a patient's eye, comprising:
generating a light beam;
deflecting the light beam using a scanner to form a treatment pattern of the light beam;
delivering the treatment pattern to the lens of a patient's eye to create a spiral shaped cut in the lens in the form of the treatment pattern; and
removing the lens from the patient's eye by unfurling the lens along the spiral shaped cut.
17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the treatment pattern further creates a plurality of line cuts extending between adjacent portions of the spiral shaped cut.
18 . A method of treating a lens of a patient's eye, comprising:
generating a light beam;
deflecting the light beam using a scanner to form a treatment pattern of the light beam;
delivering the treatment pattern to the lens of a patient's eye to create a plurality of cuts in the lens in the form of the treatment pattern;
mechanically breaking the lens into a plurality of pieces along the cuts; and
removing the lens pieces from the patient's eye.
19 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising:
deflecting the light beam using a scanner to form a softening treatment pattern of the light beam;
delivering the softening treatment pattern to the lens of the patient's eye to create a plurality of softening cuts that soften one or more portions of the lens before the removal of the lens pieces from the patient's eye.
20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein:
the cuts formed by the treatment pattern are larger than the softening cuts formed by the softening treatment pattern.