Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090161384 | Beveled Tip Surgical Wide-Angle Illuminator - A beveled tip, wide-angle illuminator is disclosed, one embodiment comprising: a light source for providing a light beam; an optical cable, optically coupled to the light source for receiving and transmitting the light beam; a handpiece, operably coupled to the optical cable to receive the light beam; an optical fiber, operably coupled to the handpiece, wherein the optical fiber is optically coupled to the optical cable to receive and transmit the light beam; an optical element, optically coupled to a distal end of the optical fiber, for receiving the light beam and scattering the light beam to illuminate a surgical field, wherein the optical element comprises a beveled sapphire; and a beveled cannula, operably coupled to the handpiece, for housing and directing the optical fiber and the optical element. The optical element can be a small-gauge, diffusive sapphire element having a polished distal surface co-incident with the distal end of the cannula and a light refracting hemispherical surface facing the optical fiber. | 06-25-2009 |
20100042080 | Preconditioned Illuminator System and Method - Embodiments of endo-illuminators and related methods are disclosed. One embodiment of an illuminator can comprise a cannula defining a passage, an optical element disposed at an end of the cannula, and an optical fiber running through the passage with the distal end of the optical fiber in contact with the optical element. The optical fiber includes at least a heat preconditioned distal portion that terminates in the distal end that is in contact with the optical element. One embodiment of a method can comprise inserting an optical fiber through a proximal portion of a cannula and optical element assembly until the distal end of the optical fiber contacts the optical element, heating a distal portion of the optical fiber to between a softening temperature and a melting temperature for a period of time to cause the distal portion to axially shrink and moving the optical element so that the optical element is in contact with the distal end of the optical fiber when the distal portion of the optical fiber has axially shrunk. Moving the optical element so that the optical element is in contact with the distal end of the optical fiber when the distal portion of the optical fiber has axially shrunk can comprise applying a force to the cannula and optical element assembly to maintain the optical element in continuous contact with the distal end of the optical fiber while the optical fiber axially shrinks. | 02-18-2010 |
20110037948 | White light emitting diode (LED) illuminator for ophthalmic endoillumination - An ophthalmic endoilluminator is provided. The ophthalmic endoilluminator includes one or more white light emitting diodes (LEDs), an additional light source, a first optical assembly, an optical coupling element, and an optical fiber optically coupled to the optical coupling element. The white LED is capped with a phosphor layer. The additional light source illuminates at least a portion of an exterior surface of the phosphor layer within an absorption band of phosphor material of the phosphor layer in order to excite the phosphor layer and produce additional white light. The first optical assembly receives and substantially collimates the white light. The optical coupling element receives the substantially collimated white light from the first optical assembly and directs the light to an optical fiber. The optical fiber is then used to conduct the white light into an eye. | 02-17-2011 |
20110037949 | OPHTHALMIC ENDOILLUMINATION WITH THERMALLY ISOLATED PHOSPHOR - An illuminator configured to deliver white light into an optical fiber includes a pump light source and a white phosphor. The pump light source configured to emit short-wavelength light. The white phosphor is disposed to receive the short-wavelength light from the pump light source and to output white light in response to the pumping light. The white phosphor is thermally isolated from the pump light source. | 02-17-2011 |
20110038174 | OPHTHALMIC ENDOILLUMINATION WITH LIGHT COLLECTOR FOR WHITE PHOSPHOR - In one embodiment, an illuminator configured to emit light into an optical fiber includes at least one pump light source configured to emit short-wavelength light. The illuminator further includes a white phosphor disposed to receive the short-wavelength light and to emit white light in response. The illuminator also includes a light collector configured to collect the short-wavelength light at the white phosphor such that a brightness of the white light is greater than a brightness of the short-wavelength light. | 02-17-2011 |
20110043760 | Fixed optical system having an adjustable target - A fiber optic illuminator is provided comprising an optics bed, a light source, a collimating lens, and a condensing lens. The light source is mounted in a fixed position with respect to the optics bed. The collimating lens is mounted in a fixed position with respect to the optics bed and collimates at least a portion of the light from the light source. A condensing lens receives the substantially collimated light output and focuses the collimated light output to optically couple to an optical fiber. The condensing lens may be mounted on an adjustable mount. The tolerances of the fixed optical elements i.e. light source and collimating lens allow the fixed optical elements to be positioned with a minimal amount of variation where the variation is determined by manufacturing tolerances associated with these individual elements and their mounts and couple them to the optics bed. | 02-24-2011 |
20110110114 | Structured illumination probe and method - A structured illumination surgical system is disclosed, one embodiment comprising: a light source for providing a light beam; an optical cable, comprising an optical fiber, optically coupled to the light source for receiving and transmitting the light beam; a handpiece, operably coupled to the optical cable; an optical element, a proximal end of the optical element optically coupled to a distal end of the optical fiber, for receiving the light beam and scattering the light beam to illuminate an area (e.g., a surgical site), wherein the surface area of the proximal end of the optical element is greater than the surface area of the distal end of the optical fiber; and a cannula, operably coupled to the handpiece, for housing and directing the optical fiber and the optical element. | 05-12-2011 |
20110112377 | Structured illumination probe and method - A structured illumination probe is disclosed, one embodiment comprising: an optical fiber, to receive and transmit a light beam; a handpiece, coupled to the optical fiber; an optical element, comprising a distal optical fiber and a distal light guide, wherein the proximal ends of the distal optical fiber and the distal light guide can be selectably optically coupled to the optical fiber, for receiving the light beam and scattering the light beam to illuminate an area, and wherein the surface area of the proximal end of the distal light guide is greater than the surface area of the distal end of the optical fiber; an actuator, coupled to the handpiece, for selectably coupling the optical fiber to the distal optical fiber and the distal light guide; and a cannula, coupled to the handpiece, for housing and directing the optical fiber and the optical element. | 05-12-2011 |
20110122366 | Single-fiber multi-spot laser probe for ophthalmic endoillumination - An ophthalmic endoilluminator is provided. The ophthalmic endoilluminator includes a light source, a first optical assembly, an optical coupling element, and an optical fiber having an optical grating located distally on the optical fiber, the optical fiber optically coupled to the optical coupling element. The first optical assembly receives and substantially collimates the white light. The optical coupling element receives the substantially collimated white light from the first optical assembly and directs the light to an optical fiber. The optical grating couples to the distal end of the optical fiber, the optical grating having a surface relief grating, and an overlayer optically coupled to the surface relief grating. The optical grating is operable to substantially diffract incident light into N diffraction orders, the N diffraction orders having a substantially uniform intensity. | 05-26-2011 |
20110141759 | MULTI-SPOT LASER SURGICAL PROBE USING FACETED OPTICAL ELEMENTS - An optical surgical probe includes a handpiece, a light guide within the handpiece, and a multi-spot generator at a distal end of the handpiece. The handpiece is configured to optically couple to a light source. The light guide is configured to carry a light beam from the light source to a distal end of the handpiece. The multi-spot generator includes a faceted optical element with a faceted end surface spaced from a distal end of the light guide. The faceted end surface includes at least one facet oblique to a path of the light beam. | 06-16-2011 |
20110144627 | Multi-spot laser probe - A multi-spot/multi-fiber laser probe is provided that includes a first adapter; a GRIN lens within the first adapter, the GRIN lens configured to receive a laser beam from a laser source at a proximal end of the GRIN lens and to relay the received laser beam towards a distal end of the GRIN lens; and a multi-fiber array having a proximal end configured to receive the relayed laser light. In addition, a multi-spot/single-fiber laser probe is provided that includes a cannula; an optical fiber positioned within the cannula; a diffractive beam splitter within the cannula; and a GRIN lens within the cannula and arranged between a distal end of the optical fiber and the diffractive beam splitter, wherein the diffractive beam splitter is configured to split a focused laser beam from the GRIN lens into multiple diffracted laser beams. | 06-16-2011 |
20110149591 | Enhanced LED illuminator - An ophthalmic illuminator is disclosed, one embodiment comprising: an illumination source and an optical fiber for transmitting a combined light beam from the illumination source to a site, such as a surgical site within an eye, wherein the illumination source comprises a plurality of light emitting diode (LED) chips optically coupled to a corresponding plurality of light pipes, the LED chips and light pipes arranged in a configuration such that the light pipes converge together at their distal ends to form a cubic box having five sides formed by the distal ends of the light guides and an open side from which the combined light beam, composed of light from a plurality of light beams generated by the LED chips and transmitted to the cubic box by the light guides, is emitted. The luminance of the combined light beam has a luminance greater than the luminance of any one of the plurality of LED chips. | 06-23-2011 |
20110149592 | LIGHT COLLECTOR FOR A WHITE LIGHT LED ILLUMINATOR - A white light source includes a light-emitting diode (LED) configured to emit white light in an angular distribution. The white light source further includes a light guide and a light collector configured to collect light across the angular distribution. The light collected by the light collector contributes to a total luminous flux of the white light coupled into the light guide. | 06-23-2011 |
20110292343 | Spectrally-adjustable ophthalmic illumination with discrete sources - An ophthalmic illuminator includes a one or more light combining stages arranged in series to augment a white light source with various color spectral bands. A first stage combines white light from a white light source with colored light from a first color source. Each subsequent stage in the series adds its own respective colored light. The color sources may be selectively turned on/off or driven with variable amounts of power. In this fashion, a combined light is produced by the final stage that represents a desired chromaticity and brightness as desired for a particular ophthalmic therapeutic procedure. | 12-01-2011 |
20110292344 | Real-time spectrally-adjustable ophthalmic illumination - An ophthalmic illuminator is provided that includes a plurality of color sources, each color source producing a light of a corresponding color; a combiner for combining the light from the color sources to produced a combined light; at least one optical fiber configured to receive the combined light and propagate the received combined light towards a distal end of the ophthalmic illuminator; and a controller configured to control an intensity for each of the color sources responsive to a sampling of a spectral content for the combined light. | 12-01-2011 |
20120147329 | WAVELENGTH CONVERTING ILLUMINATION PROBE - Disclosed is an exemplary wavelength converting illumination probe having an illumination probe that can be selectively connected to a light source configured to generate light at a first wavelength range. The illumination probe including a lumen defining an aperture in a distal end of the illumination probe for emitting light. The wavelength converting illumination probe further including a wavelength converting element disposed within the lumen of the illumination probe. The wavelength converting element operable for receiving light from the light source at the first wavelength range, and converting the light to a second wavelength range. | 06-14-2012 |
20120203075 | White coherent laser light launched into nano fibers for surgical illumination - Disclosed is an exemplary surgical illumination system that includes a first laser configured to emit a first light beam having a first spectral range, and an illumination probe optically connectable to the first laser. The first laser may be configured as a supercontinuum laser. The surgical illumination system may include a second laser configured to emit a second light beam having a second spectral range, and a beam combiner for combing the first and second laser beams to form a third laser beam having a spectral range of the first and second lasers. The illumination probe includes a fiber optic cable for delivering at least a portion of the first light beam to a surgical site. The fiber optic cable includes a fiber optic core having a diameter of 100 microns or less. | 08-09-2012 |
20130038836 | PORTABLE PATTERN-GENERATING OPHTHALMIC PROBE - A pattern-generating intraocular probe is provided that includes a cannula including a diffractive optical element (DOE), the DOE being patterned such that an on-axis illumination of the DOE produces an emitted beam forming a linear pattern; and a handpiece connected to a proximal of the cannula. | 02-14-2013 |
20130041356 | MULTI-SPOT LASER SURGICAL PROBE USING FACETED OPTICAL ELEMENTS - In particular embodiments of the present invention, an optical surgical probe includes a handpiece configured to optically couple to a light source and a cannula at a distal end of the handpiece. The probe further includes at least one light guide within the handpiece. The light guide is configured to carry a light beam from the light source to a distal end of the handpiece. The probe also includes a multi-spot generator in the cannula that includes a faceted optical adhesive with a faceted end surface spaced from a distal end of the light guide. The faceted end surface includes at least one facet oblique to a path of the light beam. In some embodiments, the probe also includes a high-conductivity ferrule at the distal end of the light guide. In other embodiments, the cannula is formed from a transparent material. | 02-14-2013 |
20130057821 | Laser probe with an electrically steerable light beam - Certain embodiments are directed towards a laser probe that electrically steers emitted light beam. The laser probe may include a housing, an optical waveguide, and a beam steering cell. The housing has a tubular shape defining an interior region. The optical waveguide is disposed within the interior region and is configured to emit a light beam travelling in a first direction. The beam steering cell is disposed within the housing and comprises an electro-optical (EO) material. The beam steering cell is configured to receive one or more voltages and electrically steer the light beam with the OE material to a second direction. The laser probe may be a directional laser probe or a multi-spot laser probe. | 03-07-2013 |
20130079598 | Ophthalmic endoilluminators with directed light - Certain embodiments of an endoilluminator may include a cannula, an intermediate material, and an optical fiber. The cannula has a substantially cylindrical shape that defines an interior region and has a cylindrical axis. The intermediate material is disposed within the interior region. The optical fiber is disposed within the intermediate material and has a fiber optical axis and a distal end configured to emit light. The emitted light has an illumination pattern with an illumination axis that is not parallel to the cylindrical axis. | 03-28-2013 |
20130081253 | PRECONDITIONED ILLUMINATOR SYSTEM AND METHOD - Embodiments of endo-illuminators and related methods are disclosed. One embodiment of an illuminator can comprise a cannula defining a passage, an optical element disposed at an end of the cannula, and an optical fiber running through the passage with the distal end of the optical fiber in contact with the optical element. The optical fiber includes at least a heat preconditioned distal portion that terminates in the distal end that is in contact with the optical element. | 04-04-2013 |
20130097843 | Assembling a multi-fiber multi-spot laser probe - In certain embodiments, assembling a multi-fiber multi-spot laser system includes heating a ferrule until an interior diameter of an interior volume of the ferrule has expanded to greater than a predetermined diameter. End portions of a number of optical fibers are disposed within the interior volume. The ferrule is cooled to allow a cross-section of the fibers to conform to a fiber pattern having the predetermined diameter. At least a portion of the ferrule is disposed within a connector body to yield at least a portion of an optical fiber connector. In certain embodiments, the ferrule is rotated with respect to the connector body to align the fiber pattern with a laser spot pattern. | 04-25-2013 |
20130114927 | Multi-spot laser probe with faceted optical element - In certain embodiments, a method includes forming a ferrule from a portion of a tube. The tube is cut to yield the ferrule and a short cannula. A multi-spot generator with a faceted optical element is added to the short cannula. An optical fiber is placed into the ferrule, and the ferrule and the short cannula are assembled. In certain embodiments, a system includes a long cannula, an optical fiber, and a multi-spot generator. The optical fiber can carry a laser beam to a distal end of the long cannula. The multi-spot generator is located at the distal end and comprises a faceted optical element and a ball lens. The faceted optical element can be formed directly onto or separately from the ball lens. The ball lens can be spherical or hemispherical. | 05-09-2013 |
20130141672 | Electrically switchable multi-spot laser probe - In certain embodiments, a system may include a housing, one or more lenses, and a scanning system. The housing has an interior region. A lens is disposed within the interior region and transmits a light beam. The scanning system is disposed within the interior region and comprises a number of scanning cells, where each scanning cell comprises an electro-optical (EO) material. The scanning system performs the following for a number of iterations to yield a spot pattern: receive one or more voltages and electrically steer the light beam with the EO material from a current direction to a next direction in response to the voltages. | 06-06-2013 |
20130150839 | Devices and Methods for Reconfigurable Multispot Scanning - An ophthalmic laser probe system comprises an array of optical waveguides and an adapter operable to connect with a laser source. The laser probe system further includes a first reflective surface within the adapter. The first reflective surface is movable about a first axis. The laser probe system also includes a second reflective surface within the adapter. The second reflective surface is movable about a second axis orthogonal to the first axis. The first reflective surface is configured to receive a laser beam emitted from the laser source and redirect the laser beam toward the second reflective surface. | 06-13-2013 |
20130265548 | LASER ILLUMINATION SYSTEM - An ophthalmic endoillumination system comprises a self-contained power source and a laser light source powered by the self-contained power source to produce light. The system further comprises an elongated member sized for insertion into an eye and for conducting the light produced by the laser light source. | 10-10-2013 |
20140066723 | White coherent laser light launched into nano fibers for surgical illumination - Disclosed is an exemplary surgical illumination system that includes a first laser configured to emit a first light beam having a first spectral range, and an illumination probe optically connectable to the first laser. The first laser may be configured as a supercontinuum laser. The surgical illumination system may include a second laser configured to emit a second light beam having a second spectral range, and a beam combiner for combing the first and second laser beams to form a third laser beam having a spectral range of the first and second lasers. The illumination probe includes a fiber optic cable for delivering at least a portion of the first light beam to a surgical site. The fiber optic cable includes a fiber optic core having a diameter of 100 microns or less. | 03-06-2014 |
20140180264 | GRIN FIBER MULTI-SPOT LASER PROBE - A surgical probe includes a cannula assembly, having a graded index (GRIN) fiber that is configured to receive a multi-spot light beam at a proximal end and to emit the multi-spot light beam at a distal end ; an adapter, having a distal end, configured to receive the cannula assembly, with the proximal end of the GRIN fiber, a proximal end, configured to couple to a light guide via a connector and to receive a light delivered by the light guide from a laser source to the adapter, and an interface, configured to couple the light delivered by the light guide to the proximal end of the GRIN fiber; wherein a length of the GRIN fiber is sufficiently long that the interface is outside a patient's eye during a photocoagulation procedure. | 06-26-2014 |
20140194862 | MULTI-SPOT LASER PROBE WITH MICRO-STRUCTURED FACETED PROXIMAL SURFACE - An optical surgical probe includes a cannula; a light guide within the cannula, configured to receive a light beam from the light source, to guide the light beam to a distal end of the light guide, and to emit the light beam at the distal end of the light guide; and a multi-spot generator at a distal end of the cannula, the multi-spot generator having a faceted proximal surface with oblique facets, configured to receive the light beam emitted at the distal end of the light guide and to split the received light beam into multiple beam-components, and a distal surface through which the multiple beam-components exit the multi-spot generator, wherein the proximal surface of the multi-spot generator is micro-structured with a modulation length smaller than a wavelength of the light beam in order to reduce the reflectance of light back into the probe. | 07-10-2014 |
20140200566 | MULTI-SPOT LASER PROBE WITH MICRO-STRUCTURED DISTAL SURFACE - An optical surgical probe, configured to optically couple to a light source; comprising a cannula; a light guide within the cannula, configured to receive a light beam from the light source, to guide the light beam to a distal end of the light guide, and to emit the light beam at the distal end of the light guide; and a multi-spot generator at a distal end of the cannula, the multi-spot generator having a faceted proximal surface with oblique facets, configured to receive the light beam emitted at the distal end of the light guide and to split the received light beam into multiple beam-components, and a distal surface through which the multiple beam-components exit the multi-spot generator, wherein the distal surface is micro-structured with a modulation length smaller than a wavelength of the light beam in order to reduce the reflectance of light back into the probe. | 07-17-2014 |
20140364699 | OPHTHALMIC ENDOILLUMINATORS WITH DIRECTED LIGHT - Certain embodiments of an endoilluminator may include a cannula, an intermediate material, and an optical fiber. The cannula has a substantially cylindrical shape that defines an interior region and has a cylindrical axis. The intermediate material is disposed within the interior region. The optical fiber is disposed within the intermediate material and has a fiber optical axis and a distal end configured to emit light. The emitted light has an illumination pattern with an illumination axis that is not parallel to the cylindrical axis. | 12-11-2014 |