Image processor for intra-surgical optical coherence tomographic imaging of laser cataract procedures

1. A cataract surgical system, comprising:

a laser source, configured to generate a first set of laser pulses;

a guiding optic, coupled to the laser source, configured to guide the first set of laser pulses to a cataract target region in an eye;

a laser controller, configured

to generate an electronic representation of a target scan pattern, and

to control the guiding optic to scan the first set of laser pulses according to a portion of the target scan pattern to create a first photo-disrupted region in the cataract target region;

a Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomographic (SS-OCT) imaging system, configured to generate an image that includes a portion of the first photo-disrupted region with an image resolution in the range of 0.5-10 million image points per image and a frame-rate in the range of 20-500 frames/sec; and

an OCT image processor, configured to perform an image analysis of the image, wherein

the laser controller is configured

to generate an electronic representation of a modified scan pattern in relation to the image analysis performed by the OCT image processor, and

to control the guiding optic to scan a second set of laser pulses according the modified scan pattern to create a second photo-disrupted region.

2. The cataract surgical system of claim 1 , wherein:

the Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomographic (SS-OCT) imaging system is configured to generate the image that includes a portion of the first photo-disrupted region with an image resolution in the range of 0.5-2 million image points per image and a frame-rate in the range of 20-200 frames/sec.

3. The cataract surgical system of claim 1 , wherein:

the Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomographic (SS-OCT) imaging system is configured to generate the image that includes a portion of the first photo-disrupted region with an image resolution in the range of 2-10 million image points per image and a frame-rate in the range of 25-500 frames/sec.

4. The cataract surgical system of claim 1 , wherein:

the Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomographic (SS-OCT) imaging system is configured to generate the image that includes a portion of the first photo-disrupted region with a resolution in the range of 2,000-5,000 A-scans per B-scan.

5. The cataract surgical system of claim 1 , wherein:

the Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomographic (SS-OCT) imaging system is configured to generate the image that includes a portion of the first photo-disrupted region with an A-scan acquisition rate of 30-300 kHz.

6. The cataract surgical system of claim 1 , wherein:

the Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomographic (SS-OCT) imaging system is configured to generate the image that includes a portion of the first photo-disrupted region with an A-scan acquisition rate of 100-1,000 kHz.

7. The cataract surgical system of claim 1 , wherein:

the cataract target region comprises an anterior capsular layer; and

the target scan pattern comprises a set of target points on a cylinder to form at least one of a circular capsulotomy, an anterior capsulotomy, and a curvilinear capsulotomy.

8. The cataract surgical system of claim 1 , wherein:

the cataract target region comprises a portion of the lens; and

the target scan pattern comprises a set of target points on at least one of radial chop planes, cylinders, a spiral pattern and a mesh pattern to induce at least one of a chop, a photo-disruption and a lysis of the lens.

9. The cataract surgical system of claim 1 , wherein:

the SS-OCT imaging system is configured to have a z-imaging range greater than 4 mm.

10. The cataract surgical system of claim 1 , wherein:

the SS-OCT imaging system is configured to have a z-imaging range greater than 6 mm.

11. The cataract surgical system of claim 1 , wherein:

the SS-OCT imaging system is configured to generate the image in an imaging time less than 0.1 sec.

12. The cataract surgical system of claim 1 , wherein:

the OCT image processor is configured to display a feedback for a system operator based on the performed image analysis.

13. The cataract surgical system of claim 12 , wherein:

the OCT image processor is configured

to determine a recommended modification input based on the performed image analysis, and

to display the recommended modification input for the system operator.

14. The cataract surgical system of claim 12 , wherein:

the OCT image processor is configured

to determine a difference between a reference image taken before the first set of laser pulses were generated and an image taken after the first set of laser pulses generated the first photo-disrupted region; and

to display an indication of the determined difference.

15. The cataract surgical laser system of claim 1 , wherein:

the OCT image processor is configured to generate a control signal based on the performed image analysis to cause the laser controller to generate the electronic representation of the modified scan pattern.

16. The cataract surgical laser system of claim 15 , wherein:

the OCT image processor is configured to determine a deviation of at least one of a location, an orientation and a shape of the first photo-disrupted region relative to the target scan pattern; and

the laser controller is configured to generate the electronic representation of the modified scan pattern to reduce the determined deviation.

17. The cataract surgical system of claim 15 , wherein:

the OCT image processor is configured to determine whether the first photo-disrupted region extends into a region of risk; and

the laser controller is configured to generate the electronic representation of the modified scan pattern to scan the second set of laser pulses outside of the region of risk.

18. The cataract surgical system of claim 15 , wherein:

the OCT image processor and the laser controller are integrated.

19. The cataract surgical system of claim 15 , wherein:

the OCT image processor is configured to recognize a surgical byproduct; and

the laser controller is configured to generate the electronic representation of the modified scan pattern so that the modified scan pattern is non-overlapping with the surgical byproduct.

20. The cataract surgical system of claim 19 , wherein:

the target scan pattern is a chop pattern;

the OCT image processor is configured to recognize a gas bubble as the surgical byproduct; and

the laser controller is configured to generate an electronic representation of a rotated chop pattern as the modified scan pattern such that the rotated chop pattern is non-overlapping with the gas bubble.

21. The cataract surgical system of claim 15 , wherein:

the OCT image processor is configured to identify a portion of the first photo-disrupted region where a photo-disruption efficiency was limited; and

the laser controller is configured to generate the electronic representation of the modified scan pattern to rescan part of the identified portion.

22. The cataract surgical system of claim 15 , wherein:

the OCT image processor is configured

to analyze a portion of the image that is distinct from the first photo-disrupted region, and

to generate a feedback based on this analysis.

23. The cataract surgical system of claim 1 , the Swept-Source-OCT imaging system comprising:

a swept wavelength light source to generate a swept-wavelength beam;

a beam guidance system, configured

to split the swept-wavelength beam into an image beam and a reference beam,

to guide the image beam to the eye and to guide a returned image beam from the eye,

to guide the reference beam to a reference mirror and to guide a returned reference beam from the reference mirror, and

to combine the returned image beam and the returned reference beam into a combined beam; and

an OCT camera, configured to receive the combined beam, comprising a detector to detect the combined beam;

a data binner to detect the combined beam as a time sequence of data;

a Fast-Fourier-Transform-system to Fourier transform the detected time sequence of data; and

an image generator to generate an image from the Fourier transform.