Patent ID: 6824541
Filing Date: 2004-11-30
Classification: B23K,H01S

Abstract:
A method of corneal sculpting, comprising:directing a beam of infrared laser light having a wavelength of between 1.9 and 5.0 microns onto corneal tissue; supplying the beam in the form of pulses, each of which: (a) has a peak energy density above the ablation threshold for the corneal tissue but whose energy density is sufficiently low to limit the ablation rate to no more than about 3 microns per pulse; (b) has a pulse duration whose full width half maximum (FWHM) is greater than about 300 nsec and is less than the thermal relaxation time of untreated corneal tissue; and (c) has a rise time and a fall time which are both less than 10 microseconds; and ablating a surface of the corneal tissue using the laser light, whereby no substantial tissue damage occurs more than 30 microns below the ablated surface.