An ophthalmic surgical system for treating eye tissue by performing capsulotomy, comprising: a light source (10, LS) for generating a beam of light comprising a plurality of short laser pulses; a delivery system (16, L1, G1, G2) for focusing the beam onto the eye tissue ; and a controller (12, CPU) for controlling the light source and the delivery system such that the light beam is focused at multiple focal points in the eye tissue at multiple depths within the eye tissue, and an image device for generating an image of the eye tissue from which a target portion of the eye tissue can be identified, the imaging device being an Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) device and the target portion comprising the lens capsule, wherein the delivery system (16, L1, G1, G2) includes at least one moving optical element under the control of the controller for deflecting the light beam in a pattern and for changing the depths of the focal points in the eye tissue; the short laser pulses focused into the eye tissue producing dielectric breakdown at the focal point, rupturing the eye tissue in the vicinity of the photo-induced plasma; the controller (12, CPU) is configured to determine parameters related to the procedure including the upper and lower axial limits of the focal planes for cutting the lens capsule based on the generated image; the controller (12, CPU) is configured to cause the light beam to scan across the eye tissue in the pattern a first time with the focal point at a first depth within the eye tissue and a second time with the focal point at a second depth within the eye tissue different than the first depth; and the controller (12, CPU) is configured to cause the scanning of the pattern to occur at the identified target portion of the eye tissue so as to perform the capsulotomy. a light source (10, LS) for generating a beam of light comprising a plurality of short laser pulses; a delivery system (16, L1, G1, G2) for focusing the beam onto the eye tissue ; and a controller (12, CPU) for controlling the light source and the delivery system such that the light beam is focused at multiple focal points in the eye tissue at multiple depths within the eye tissue, and an image device for generating an image of the eye tissue from which a target portion of the eye tissue can be identified, the imaging device being an Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) device and the target portion comprising the lens capsule, wherein the delivery system (16, L1, G1, G2) includes at least one moving optical element under the control of the controller for deflecting the light beam in a pattern and for changing the depths of the focal points in the eye tissue; the short laser pulses focused into the eye tissue producing dielectric breakdown at the focal point, rupturing the eye tissue in the vicinity of the photo-induced plasma; the controller (12, CPU) is configured to determine parameters related to the procedure including the upper and lower axial limits of the focal planes for cutting the lens capsule based on the generated image; the controller (12, CPU) is configured to cause the light beam to scan across the eye tissue in the pattern a first time with the focal point at a first depth within the eye tissue and a second time with the focal point at a second depth within the eye tissue different than the first depth; and the controller (12, CPU) is configured to cause the scanning of the pattern to occur at the identified target portion of the eye tissue so as to perform the capsulotomy. <EOS>