Initiation sequences for ramping-up pulse power in a medical laser having high-intensity leading subpulses

摘要

A gradual ramp-up of output power in a medical laser prevents rapid temperature rise at a fiber tip of a laser handpiece when residual contamination from a prior medical procedure remains on the fiber tip after an extended cooling period. The gradual ramp-up eliminates effects of an acoustic shock wave resulting from the rapid temperature rise to prevent damage to fiber and optical components in the laser device.

主权项

1. A method of activating a medical laser, the method comprising:
detecting a turn-on event; determining if the turn-on event has occurred after an extended period of non-use of the medical laser, wherein the extended period of non-use causes debris or moisture to form on one or more optical components of the medical laser, wherein the determining if the turn-on event has occurred after the extended period of non-use includes: determining if the turn-on event is a first-time-ever turn-on event; generating a ramp-up sequence of pulsed energy output of the medical laser conditional upon determining that the turn-on event is a first-time-ever turn-on event; determining if a turn-off timer has expired conditional upon determining that the turn-on event is not a first-time-ever turn-on event, the turn-off timer being a timer that begins to run when the medical laser is turned off and that expires after a period of time; generating a ramp-up sequence of pulsed energy output of the medical laser conditional upon determining that the turn-off timer has expired; initiating a normal startup sequence of pulsed energy output of the medical laser, without using the ramp-up sequence of pulsed energy output, conditional upon determining that the turn-off timer has not expired.