OPHTALMIC ASPIRATOR-IRRIGATOR

摘要

An ophthalmic aspirator-irrigator system (10) for use during cataract surgery is disclosed. The system frees both hands of the surgeon for the surgical tasks. and leaves the automatic operation of the system to a single control input operated by a foot pedal (24). The pedal controls both the aspiration and ejection functions as well as their respective speeds. The ophthalmic aspirator-irrigator system essentially comprises a hand-held device (12), a control box (20) operable by the foot pedal and a power cord (22) connecting the device with the box. A source of fluid is connected via a tube to the device to effect the irrigation function. The control box includes a power source and a circuit coupled to the source and via the cord to the device. Preferably, the circuit includes a bridge output network controlled by a linear motion slide type potentiometer controlled by the foot pedal. The circuit further includes dual DC amplifiers and a pulse-width modulated gate circuit to operate the device bidirectionally with a smooth, continuous and variable speed. The foot pedal has two zero control positions: in its off, non-depressed position and in its off position about midway through the pedal's downward travel.