Abstract: An apparatus for disruption of tissue. The apparatus includes a housing; a source of pulsed laser radiation; and an optical waveguide. The optical waveguide is configured to transmit the pulsed laser radiation from the source of pulsed laser radiation, and is coupleable to the source of pulsed laser radiation at a proximal end of the optical waveguide to receive the pulsed laser radiation from the source of pulsed laser radiation. The apparatus also includes a driving mechanism coupled to the optical waveguide for controllably changing the position of the optical waveguide relative to a distal end of the housing.

Abstract: An apparatus for aiding the removal of cataracts in which an optical fiber delivers sufficient optical energy of the correct wavelength, pulse duration to achieve controlled non-thermal and non-acoustic dissolution of hard cataract tissue.

Abstract: An apparatus for aiding the removal of cataracts in which an optical fiber delivers sufficient optical energy of the correct wavelength, pulse duration to achieve controlled non-thermal and non-acoustic dissolution of hard cataract tissue.

Abstract: An apparatus for disruption of tissue. The apparatus includes a housing; a source of pulsed laser radiation; and an optical waveguide. The optical waveguide is configured to transmit the pulsed laser radiation from the source of pulsed laser radiation, and is coupleable to the source of pulsed laser radiation at a proximal end of the optical waveguide to receive the pulsed laser radiation from the source of pulsed laser radiation. The apparatus also includes a driving mechanism coupled to the optical waveguide for controllably changing the position of the optical waveguide relative to a distal end of the housing.

Abstract: An apparatus for aiding the removal of cataracts in which an optical fiber delivers sufficient optical energy of the correct wavelength, pulse duration to achieve controlled non-thermal and non-acoustic dissolution of hard cataract tissue.

Abstract: An apparatus for disruption of cataracts in lens tissue. The apparatus includes a housing; a source of pulsed laser radiation; and an optical waveguide. The optical waveguide is configured to transmit the pulsed laser radiation from the source of pulsed laser radiation, and is coupleable to the source of pulsed laser radiation at a proximal end of the optical waveguide to receive the pulsed laser radiation from the source of pulsed laser radiation. The apparatus also includes a driving mechanism coupled to the optical waveguide for controllably changing the position of the optical waveguide relative to a distal end of the housing.

Abstract: An apparatus for microdisruption of cataracts in lens tissue by impulsive heat deposition comprising: a source of pulsed laser radiation, a user input device, a control circuit, and an optical waveguide configured to transmit the pulsed laser radiation. The light intensity which exits the optical waveguide has a wavelength selected to match an absorption peak of at least one component of the lens tissue, a pulse duration time shorter than a time required for thermal diffusion out of the laser irradiation volume and shorter than a time required for a thermally driven expansion of the laser irradiated volume, and a pulse energy resulting in a peak intensity of each laser pulse below a threshold for ionization-driven ablation to occur.

Abstract: An apparatus for disruption of cataracts in lens tissue. The apparatus includes a housing; a source of pulsed laser radiation; and an optical waveguide. The optical waveguide is configured to transmit the pulsed laser radiation from the source of pulsed laser radiation, and is coupleable to the source of pulsed laser radiation at a proximal end of the optical waveguide to receive the pulsed laser radiation from the source of pulsed laser radiation. The apparatus also includes a driving mechanism coupled to the optical waveguide for controllably changing the position of the optical waveguide relative to a distal end of the housing.

Abstract: An apparatus for microdisruption of cataracts in lens tissue by impulsive heat deposition comprising: a source of pulsed laser radiation, a user input device, a control circuit, and an optical waveguide configured to transmit the pulsed laser radiation. The light intensity which exits the optical waveguide has a wavelength selected to match an absorption peak of at least one component of the lens tissue, a pulse duration time shorter than a time required for thermal diffusion out of the laser irradiation volume and shorter than a time required for a thermally driven expansion of the laser irradiated volume, and a pulse energy resulting in a peak intensity of each laser pulse below a threshold for ionization-driven ablation to occur.

Abstract: In a laser control system, control circuit, and method, a master oscillator laser generates a seed laser pulse train. An optical modulator receives the pulse train and modulate the pulse train based on a modulation signal to generate modulated seed pulses. A laser amplifier amplifies the modulated seed pulses to generate an amplified pulse sequence output. A control circuit controls the operation of the optical modulator. The control circuit receives a clock signal synchronized with the seed laser pulse train and a trigger input for asynchronous modulation of the seed laser pulse train, generates the modulation signal, and communicates the modulation signal to the optical modulator. The modulation signal controls the optical modulator to selectively transmit and attenuate seed pulses from the seed laser pulse train to produce modulated seed pulses corresponding to the trigger input and attenuated to maintain a predetermined amplitude envelope in the pulse sequence output.

Abstract: A laser system capable of efficient production of high energy sub-nanosecond pulses in the 2-15 ?m spectral region is disclosed. Diode pumped solid state lasers are used as pump sources. The system design is simple, reliable and compact allowing for easy integration. The laser system includes a combination of compact solid-state ˜1 micron laser sources, producing high power picosecond pulses, with optical parametric amplification and a quasi-continuous wave laser for seeding the amplification process that enables the efficient conversion of the high power ˜1 micron laser radiation to tuneable mid-infrared sub-ns pulses. New parametric processes are presented for achieving high gains in bulk nonlinear crystals. Furthermore, a method of exceeding the fundamental conversion efficiency limit of direct three wave mixing is presented.

Abstract: A laser system capable of efficient production of high energy sub-nanosecond pulses in the 2-15 ?m spectral region is disclosed. Diode pumped solid state lasers are used as pump sources. The system design is simple, reliable and compact allowing for easy integration. The laser system includes a combination of compact solid-state ˜1 micron laser sources, producing high power picosecond pulses, with optical parametric amplification and a quasi-continuous wave laser for seeding the amplification process that enables the efficient conversion of the high power ˜1 micron laser radiation to tuneable mid-infrared sub-ns pulses. New parametric processes are presented for achieving high gains in bulk nonlinear crystals. Furthermore, a method of exceeding the fundamental conversion efficiency limit of direct three wave mixing is presented.

Abstract: A novel method for high power optical amplification of ultrashort pulses in IR wavelength range (0.7-20 Ãm) is disclosed. The method is based on the optical parametric chirp pulse amplification (OPCPA) technique where a picosecond or nanosecond mode locked laser system synchronized to a signal laser oscillator is used as a pump source or alternatively the pump pulse is created from the signal pulse by using certain types of optical nonlinear processes described later in the document. This significantly increases stability, extraction efficiency and bandwidth of the amplified signal pulse. Further, we disclose five new practical methods of shaping the temporal and spatial profiles of the signal and pump pulses in the OPCPA interaction which significantly increases its efficiency. In the first, passive preshaping of the pump pulses has been made by a three wave mixing process separate from the one occurring in the OPCPA.

Abstract: This invention provides a method of acquisition of binary information that has been stored physically in a periodic storage medium. The method, referred to as matrix-method deconvolution (MMD), is useful for use with optical storage media using an optical addressing system that reads and writes binary information in a periodic array of nano-particles. With this MMD method, the density of existing memory systems can be boosted to between 10 and 100 Terabytes of data per cubic centimeter. This matrix-method deconvolution method compensates for the effects of the optical addressing system's point spread function. Prior knowledge of a system's point spread function and inter memory-center spacing is used.

Abstract: This invention provides a method of acquisition of binary information that has been stored physically in a periodic storage medium. The method, referred to as matrix-method deconvolution (MMD), is useful for use with optical storage media using an optical addressing system that reads and writes binary information in a periodic array of nano-particles. With this MMD method, the density of existing memory systems can be boosted to between 10 and 100 Terabytes of data per cubic centimeter. This matrix-method deconvolution method compensates for the effects of the optical addressing system's point spread function. Prior knowledge of a system's point spread function and inter memory-center spacing is used.