Granted Patent B2

US 12,599,502 · App. 18/049,550 · Granted Apr 14, 2026

Inventor: Zsolt Bor (San Clemente, CA)

Assignee: Alcon Inc.

A61F9/008A61B2018/00904A61B2018/20353A61B2090/049A61F2009/00874

Abstract

Claims (27)

1 . An ophthalmic laser surgical system for treating a floater in an eye, comprising:

a floater detection system configured to determine a location of the floater in the eye;

a laser device configured to direct a laser beam along a laser beam path towards the floater; and

a computer configured to:

calculate a radiant exposure at a component of the eye according to a floater-to-component distance between a z-location of the floater and the component;

calculate a safety factor from the radiant exposure, the safety factor describing a mathematical relationship between the radiant exposure and a maximum exposure;

determine if directing the laser beam along the laser beam path towards the floater is allowable according to a predetermined boundary of the safety factor;

instruct the laser device to direct the laser beam along the laser beam path towards the floater if that is allowable; and

if directing the laser beam along the laser beam path towards the floater is not allowable, prevent the laser device from directing the laser beam towards the floater.

2 . The ophthalmic laser system of claim 1 , the safety factor equal to the ratio of the maximum exposure and the radiant exposure.

3 . The ophthalmic laser system of claim 1 , wherein:

the radiant exposure describes radiant exposure at a retina of the eye; and

the maximum radiant exposure describes a maximum radiant exposure for a single pulse at the retina.

4 . The ophthalmic laser system of claim 1 , wherein:

the radiant exposure describes radiant exposure at a retina of the eye; and

the maximum radiant exposure describes a maximum average power at the retina.

5 . The ophthalmic laser system of claim 1 , wherein:

the radiant exposure describes radiant exposure at a lens of the eye; and

the maximum exposure describes a maximum radiant exposure at the lens.

6 . The ophthalmic laser system of claim 1 , the computer configured to calculate the radiant exposure at the component of the eye according to the z-location of the floater by:

determining a laser spot size of the laser beam on the component; and

calculating the radiant exposure according to the laser spot size of the laser beam and the floater-to-component distance.

7 . The ophthalmic laser system of claim 1 , the computer configured to:

calculate a closest floater-to-component distance at which the eye can be treated, given a laser pulse energy of the laser beam.

8 . The ophthalmic laser system of claim 1 , the computer configured to:

calculate a maximum laser pulse energy at which the eye can be treated, given the floater to-component distance.

9 . The ophthalmic laser system of claim 1 , wherein the floater detection system is configured to determine the location of the floater based on a location of a shadow of the floater cast at a retina of the eye.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (206)