ANTI-ASTIGMATIC OPHTHALMIC CONTACT LENS FOR USE IN PERFORMING LASER SURGERY

摘要

A contact lens for viewing the interior of a patient's eye during an argon laser trabeculoplasty (ALT) procedure and for delivering laser energy to desired regions of the trabecular meshwork of the eye. The contact lens is fabricated from a hollow plastic body which is filled with a medium having an index of refraction which is substantially the same as that of the aqueous humor within a patient's eye. Visible and laser light enter the lens by means of a thin window of substantially uniform thickness and exit the lens (thereby entering the eye) at a front face of substantially uniform thickness whose outer curvature is approximately the same as that of the patients's eye. The degree of astigmatic focusing which normally occurs as the visible light and laser beam pass through the contact lens and cornea and into the aqueous humor is substantially reduced. This assists the surgeon performing the procedure to better view the interior of the eye and to place a better defined laser spot on the desired regions of the trabecular meshwork.