| 摘要 |
A ophthalmic hand piece having a phaco needle or YAG laser is provided with a balloon nucleofractis irrigation sleeve. The balloon nucleofractis irrigation sleeve includes an irrigation conduit, a balloon fluid conduit, a balloon, and a connector for coupling the balloon nucleofractis irrigation sleeve to the distal end of the ophthalmic hand piece. The balloon fluid conduit is coupled adjacent to the irrigation conduit and the balloon is sealed to the distal end of the balloon fluid conduit. In practice, with the balloon contracted, the phaco needle or YAG laser is first used to carve a groove in the cataract. Once a groove has been carved, the balloon is positioned into the groove and swelled. Expansion of the balloon causes the cataract to fracture into halves or quarters. Each half or quarter can similarly be carved with a groove and fractured using swelling of the balloon. As the process is repeated, the pieces of the cataract are made smaller, and can be easily removed through standard phaco- or laser emulsification. In another embodiment, an ophthalmic instrument is provided with an irrigation sleeve fit with a fracture lever. Once a groove has been carved in a cataract, the phaco needle or tip of the YAG laser and a distal end of the fracture lever are inserted into the groove and are spread apart, thereby causing the cataract to fracture.
|
