Laser spot projector

Claim 1

An apparatus for ophthalmic laser treatment of the eye of a patient, comprising: slit image projecting means for producing a slit of light and projecting a slit image into the eye of a patient to illuminate the eye to enable a determination as to the treatment portion of the eye to be treated, the slit image projecting means including a source of light, and means for forming the light from the light source into a slit image composed of two slit image components; laser beam projecting means for projecting a laser beam into the eye of the patient for treating the eye; wherein both the slit image projecting means and the laser beam projecting means include a common reflecting means for selectively reflecting the slit image and the laser beam toward the eye, the common reflecting means having two side portions positioned to reflect and direct the respective slit image components toward the eye to illuminate the eye to thereby determine the treatment portion, and a central portion positioned to reflect and direct the laser beam toward the determined treatment portion to treat the eye; and wherein the laser beam projecting means includes a laser source for producing the laser beam, a focussing lens for focussing the laser beam on the determined treatment portion of the eye in the form of a focussed laser spot, and a variator lens displaceably arranged between the laser source and focussing lens for changing the magnification of the focussed laser spot according to the position of the variator lens, the variator lens being displaceable to a first position such that its object point corresponds to one conjugate point of the variator lens and its image point corresponds to the other conjugate point thereof with the object and image points spaced apart a given axial distance from one another so that the focussing lens forms a first focussed laser spot on the determined treatment portion, and being displaceable to a second position such that its object point corresponds to the other conjugate point and its image point corresponds to said one conjugate point while maintaining the given axial distance between the object and image points so that the focussing lens forms on the determined treatment portion a second focussed laser spot having a spot diameter different from that of the first focussed laser spot.

Claim 2

An apparatus for ophthalmic laser treatment of the eye of a patient, comprising: slit image projecting means for producing a slit of light and projecting a slit image into the eye of a patient to illuminate the eye to enable a determination as to the treatment portion of the eye to be treated, the slit image projecting means including a source of light, and means for forming the light from the light source into a slit image composed of two slit image components; laser beam projecting means for projecting a laser beam into the eye of the patient for treating the eye; wherein both the slit image projecting means and the laser beam projecting means include a common reflecting means for selectively reflecting the slit image and the laser beam toward the eye, the common reflecting means having two side portions positioned to reflect and direct the respective slit image components toward the eye to illuminate the eye to thereby determine the treatment portion, and a central portion positioned to reflect and direct the laser beam toward the determined treatment portion to treat the eye; and wherein the laser beam projecting means includes a laser source for producing the laser beam, a focussing lens for focussing the laser beam on the determined treatment portion of the eye in the form of a focussed laser spot, and a variator lens displaceably arranged between the laser source and focussing lens for changing the magnification of the focussed laser spot according to the position of the variator lens, the variator lens being displaceable to a first position such that its object point corresponds to one conjugate point of the variator lens and its image point corresponds to the other conjugate point thereof with the object and image points spaced apart a given axial distance from one another so that the focussing lens forms a first focussed laser spot on the determined treatment portion, and being displaceable to a second position such that its object point corresponds to the other conjugate point and its image point corresponds to said one conjugate point while maintaining the given axial distance between the object and image points so that the focussing lens forms on the determined treatment portion a second focussed laser spot having a spot diameter different from that of the first focussed laser spot.

Claim 8

An apparatus for directing a laser beam along an optical axis to a treatment point for use during a surgical operation, comprising: emitting means having means defining an aperture disposed at a definite object point on an optical axis for emitting a laser beam from the aperture along the optical axis; image forming means selectively displaceable along the optical axis to one of two selected positions for selectively forming two aperture images different in size according to the selected position of the image forming means at a common image point conjugated with the object point with respect to the image forming means to thereby maintain the axial distances between the aperture and one of the two aperture images and between the aperture and the other of the two aperture images equal to each other; and focussing means disposed between the common image point and the treatment point on the optical axis for focussing the aperture image selectively formed at the common image point onto the treatment point to form thereon a corresponding focussed aperture image so that the laser beam travelling along the optical axis is irradiated onto the treatment point in the form of a focussed spot which corresponds to the focussed aperture image and which has a size determined according to the selected position of the image forming means.

Claim 9

An apparatus for directing a laser beam along an optical axis to a treatment point for use during a surgical operation, comprising: emitting means having means defining an aperture disposed at a definite object point on an optical axis for emitting a laser beam from the aperture along the optical axis; image forming means selectively displaceable along the optical axis to one of two selected positions for selectively forming two aperture images different in size according to the selected position of the image forming means at a common image point conjugated with the object point with respect to the image forming means to thereby maintain the axial distances between the aperture and one of the two aperture images and between the aperture and the other of the two aperture images equal to each other; and focussing means disposed between the common image point and the treatment point on the optical axis for focussing the aperture image selectively formed at the common image point onto the treatment point to form thereon a corresponding focussed aperture image so that the laser beam travelling along the optical axis is irradiated onto the treatment point in the form of a focussed spot which corresponds to the focussed aperture image and which has a size determined according to the selected position of the image forming means.