Photonic lattice LEDs for ophthalmic illumination

1. An ophthalmic illuminator, comprising:

a red photonic lattice LED;

a blue photonic lattice LED;

a green photonic lattice LED;

an optical combiner operable to combine light beams from the red, blue, and green photonic lattice LEDs into a single beam;

a lens;

an optical fiber, wherein the lens is operable to focus the single beam onto a proximal end of the optical fiber; and

a controller operable to modulate the red, green, and blue photonic lattice LEDs to change a color of the single beam.

2. The ophthalmic illuminator of claim 1 , wherein the optical combiner is an X-prism optical combiner.

3. The ophthalmic illuminator of claim 1 , further comprising:

a handpiece; and

a probe extending from a distal end of the handpiece, wherein a distal portion of the optical fiber extends through the handpiece and into the probe.

4. The ophthalmic illuminator of claim 3 , wherein the probe is a stainless steel probe.

5. The ophthalmic illuminator of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of heat sinks operable to sink heat from the red, green, and blue photonic lattice LEDs.

6. The ophthalmic illuminator of claim 1 , wherein the lens is an aspheric lens.

7. An ophthalmic illuminator, comprising:

a first photonic lattice LED;

a second photonic lattice LED;

an optical combiner operable to combine light beams from the first and second photonic lattice LEDs into a single beam;

a lens;

an optical fiber, wherein the lens is operable to focus the single beam onto a proximal end of the optical fiber; and

a controller operable to modulate the first and second photonic lattice LEDs to change a color of the single beam.

8. The ophthalmic illuminator of claim 7 , wherein the first photonic lattice LED produces a light beam having a first wavelength and the second photonic lattice LED produces a light beam having a second wavelength, and wherein the single beam is a white beam as a result of the first and second wavelengths.

9. The ophthalmic illuminator of claim 8 , wherein the first wavelength corresponds to yellow light and the second wavelength corresponds to violet light.

10. The ophthalmic illuminator of claim 8 , wherein the first wavelength corresponds to turquoise light and the second wavelength corresponds to red light.

11. The ophthalmic illuminator of claim 7 , wherein the optical combiner is a dichroic mirror.

12. The ophthalmic illuminator of claim 7 , wherein the lens is an aspheric lens.

13. The ophthalmic illuminator of claim 7 , further comprising:

a handpiece; and

a probe extending from a distal end of the handpiece, wherein a distal portion of the optical fiber extends through the handpiece and into the probe.

14. A method of providing illumination to the interior of an eye, the method comprising:

providing a first photonic lattice LED and a second photonic lattice LED;

driving the first and second photonic lattice LEDs with respective currents so that each LED produces a light beam

combining the light beams from the first and second photonic lattice LEDs into a single light beam;

focusing the single light beam onto a proximal end of an optical fiber;

transmitting light from a distal end of the optical fiber to illuminate the interior of the eye; and

modulating the respective currents to change a color of the single light beam.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein a first wavelength of light emitted by the first photonic lattice LED and a second wavelength of light emitted by the second photonic lattice LED define a light axis that intersects a white region of a chromaticity graph.

16. The method of claim 14 , further comprising modulating the respective currents so that the color of the single light beam lies within the white region.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the modulation comprises one of pulse width modulation and amplitude modulation.