TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosure relates to medical devices, and, more particularly, to an excimer laser system including a means for calibrating laser output to compensate for increased variation in laser optical fibers.

BACKGROUND

In the medical industry, there are many surgical devices, instruments, and systems comprised of individual components that must work together properly to ensure treatment is performed safely and effectively. It is critical that any given component falls within an acceptable tolerance to ensure that the component physically fits and interacts appropriately with other components and functions as intended.

The actual production of any product (or operation of any system) involves some inherent variation of input and output. Measurement error and statistical uncertainty are also present in all measurements. Accordingly, tolerance is an inherent aspect when designing a device, instrument, or system. The concept of tolerance, sometimes referred to as engineering tolerance, relates to the permissible limit or limits of variation in a physical dimension of the component, a measured value or physical property of the component, spacing between the component and another component, and the like. Accordingly, if a component falls outside of a permissible tolerance (i.e., the component is too small, too large, fails to have acceptable properties, etc.), then the overall device, instrument, or system will fail to perform as designed.

One example of a surgical system composed of multiple components is a medical laser system. The medical laser system generally consists of a laser unit and a separate laser probe having an optical fiber for directing laser radiation from the laser unit to a treatment area. Laser units provide laser light at specific wavelengths and, as a result, may be designed to perform specific procedures. For example, certain procedures may require photocoagulation of a target tissue, which occurs upon delivery of laser radiation at a first wavelength, while other procedures may require photoablation of a target tissue, which occurs upon delivery of laser radiation at a second wavelength. In turn, optical fibers to be used with these laser systems may have specific dimensions, material compositions, and/or functional properties (i.e., operation at specific temperatures and wavelengths) so as to function as intended with the corresponding laser unit.

While current laser units allow for some tolerance (i.e., optical fiber dimensions, properties, or conditions may have some variation without significantly affecting functioning of the laser system), the range of permissible tolerance is exceedingly tight. For example, optical fibers have a very small diameter which is generally measured on the micron scale. The diameter of the optical fiber may impact the transmission of laser radiation through the optical fiber and thus may impact the laser radiation emitted from the delivery tip of the optical fiber. As such, there is very little room for variation in the manufacture of optical fibers. Manufacturing costs are increases as a result of the high degree of precision required to make sure the diameter of an optical fiber falls within the permissible tolerance. Furthermore, if a given optical fiber falls outside of a permissible tolerance (i.e., the diameter is too be or too small), use of the noncompliant optical fiber may result in transmission of laser radiation that is not at the desired wavelength. In turn, use of a noncompliant optical fiber runs the risk of providing an ineffective treatment and, in some instance, can cause additional unintended damage and harm.

SUMMARY

The present invention provides a system for calibrating output from a laser source to compensate for increased variation in laser optical fibers. In such a system, the elements generally include a laser source for generating laser energy to be provided to one of a plurality of laser probes coupleable thereto. Each laser probe includes an optical fiber, including a fiber optic core, adapted to direct laser radiation from the laser source, through the fiber, and to a desired the treatment area. The system further includes a laser management system for managing the laser source. The management system includes a control system configured to adjust laser energy output from the laser source to any given laser probe to maintain a consistent level of laser radiation delivered to the target area, despite variation in the fiber optic core of any given laser probe.

More specifically, as part of the initial setup, the control system receives data associated with a laser probe coupled to the laser source. The data may include one or more dimensions of the fiber optic core of the laser probe, including fiber optic core diameter. The data is then analyzed by the controller and, based on the analysis, a determination of an optimum level of laser energy output from the laser source is made. The optimum level of laser energy output from the laser source is based on a correlation of the laser probe data, such as specific dimensions of the fiber optic core, with calibration data. The calibration data may generally include a plurality of sets of values, wherein each set of values may include a laser energy output level from the laser source, a diameter of a fiber optic core of a laser probe to receive the laser energy output level, and the resulting wavelength value of laser radiation emitted from the delivery tip of the laser probe. In a preferred embodiment, the resulting wavelength value of laser radiation to be emitted from the delivery tip remains constant, regardless of the diameter of the fiber optic core. In such an embodiment, the laser management system (i.e., the control system) automatically adjusts the laser energy output level from the laser source (i.e., increases or decreases output level) for any given diameter of a fiber optic core so as to maintain the emission of laser radiation upon a target area at a consistent wavelength, despite variation in the diameter of fiber optic cores from the plurality of laser probes.

Accordingly, the system of the present invention is able to compensate for wide range of variations across a plurality of laser probes by simply adjusting output of the laser source to account for such variations. In turn, the manufacture tolerance for optical fibers improves as less precision is required during the manufacturing process, which reduces overall costs. Furthermore, by fine tuning of the laser output, the laser radiation is maintained at a consistent wavelength, ensuring that the target area is treated as intended and patient safety is maintained.

