Patent ID: 7717908

Claim:
A method for performing intrastromal ophthalmic laser surgery, wherein the cornea defines a visual axis and has a thickness “T”, and wherein the method comprises the steps of: generating a pulsed laser beam, wherein the duration of each pulse in the beam is less than approximately one picosecond; directing and focusing the beam onto a series of focal spots in the stroma for Laser Induced Optical Breakdown (LIOB) of stromal tissue at each focal spot to weaken stromal tissue by redistributing biomechanical forces in the stroma; and moving the focal spot in the stroma to create a pattern of unconnected radial cuts, wherein each radial cut is made coplanar with the visual axis to remove an insignificant amount of tissue to substantially maintain the integrity of the cornea and is defined by an azimuthal angle θ, wherein each radial cut has an anterior end and a posterior end extending from an inner radius “r i ” to an outer radius “r o ”, with both “r i ” and “r o ” being measured from the visual axis, with the posterior end of each radial cut being located in the stroma within less than approximately 0.9 T from an anterior surface of the eye, and the anterior end of the radial cut is located in the stroma more than at least eight microns in a posterior direction from Bowman's capsule, and further wherein each radial cut has a thickness of approximately two microns, with the weakened stromal tissue being responsive to an intraocular pressure for surgically reshaping the cornea.