BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a medical or cosmetic hand-held laser device.
FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a reflector contained in a hand-held laser device having an elliptical reflective surface in the form of a concave mirror.
FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a reflector having an elliptical reflective surface in the form of a solid body contained in a hand-held laser device.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The medical or cosmetic hand-held laser device 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 can be used in particular for dental treatments. It comprises an elongated cylindrical outer sleeve 2 that is hollow on the inside and is subdivided into a handle part 2A and a head part 2B. The handle part 2A and head part 2B are arranged at an angle to one another, with the angle being approximately 90°. Handle part 2A and head part 2B may be manufactured in two parts and joined together or they may be manufactured from one workpiece. On the end of the handle part 2A opposite the head part 2B, there is a connecting device 4 for connecting the hand-held laser device 1 to a source of laser beam (not shown). Since the connecting device and/or the various types of connecting devices that can be used with such a hand-held device 1 are known, details are not given here. A rotating joint that allows the user free rotatability and thus good handling of the hand-held device 1 is preferably provided as the connecting device 4. The rotating joint and the hand-held device 1 are especially preferably designed so that they can be connected to a supply tubing with an optical fiber protruding beyond the supply tubing. The optical fiber is inserted into the hand-held device 1 only while the hand-held device 1 is coupled to the supply tubing, in which case it extends preferably to the vicinity of the head part 2B or into the head part 2B.
At the distal end of the outer sleeve 2, especially in the head part 2B, a light exit opening 3 is provided at the side so that laser beam 10 (FIG. 2) can be emitted onto a treatment location. Preferably an optical fiber 14, e.g., a so-called sapphire tip, is or may be inserted into the head part 2B, conducting the laser beam 10 through the light exit opening 3 to the treatment location. The distal end of the optical fiber 14 may preferably be designed so that the optical fiber 14 can also be placed directly on the treatment location, so that targeted application of the laser beam and support of the hand-held device 1 are possible.
An optical waveguide device 5 which is subdivided into a first section 5A and a second section 5B arranged at an angle to the former, extends through the hand-held device 1 from the connecting device 4 to the light exit opening 3. The optical waveguide device 5 comprises a first bore and a second bore corresponding to the sections 5A, 5B and optical waveguides that can be accommodated therein, e.g., in the form of an optical glass fiber rod 11, an optical crystal, in particular a sapphire crystals or a glass rod 13, which also have a first section 11A, 13A and a second section 11B, 13B arranged at an angle thereto (see FIGS. 2 and 3). The sections 5A, 11A, 13A of the optical waveguide device 5 are arranged in the handle part 2A, and sections 5B, 11B, 13B are arranged in the head part 2B of the hand-held device 1. Section 11A is preferably the end piece of the waveguide accommodated in the supply line, by means of which the hand-held device 1 can be connected to the laser light source. The end piece protrudes beyond the coupling section of the supply line so that, when the hand-held device 1 is connected to the supply line, this end piece can be inserted into the bore of the handle part 2A and protrudes up to or into the head part 2B of the hand-held device 1. Section 11B of the optical waveguide device 5 may preferably be designed as part of the optical fiber 14.
FIG. 2 shows in a schematic diagram how the laser beam 10 is transmitted from the first section 5A into the second section 5B, which is arranged at an angle to the former, of the optical waveguide device 5. A reflector 6 whose reflective surface 7 is designed to be essentially elliptical, preferably as a partial face of an ellipsoid, is arranged between the two sections 5A and 5B. The glass fiber rod 11A as part of the first section SA conducts the laser beam 10 in the direction of the reflector 6 and emits it at its end 12 that faces the reflector 6. The laser beam 10 emitted strikes the reflector 6, designed as a concave mirror 6A, and is deflected by it into the second section 5B of the optical waveguide device 5 with the fiberglass rod 11B and conducted further in the direction of the treatment location. The elliptical reflective surface 7 has two focal points F1, F2, whereby each beam of the laser beam 10 emitted by one focal point F1 is reflected into the second focal point F2.
FIG. 2 also shows that the sections 5A, 11A and/or 5B, 11B of the optical waveguide device 5 may be arranged differently with respect to the reflector 7. The end 12 of the fiberglass section 11A and of section 5A facing the reflector 6 is arranged between the focal point F2 and the reflective surface 7. Section 5A thus penetrates into the cavity of the concave mirror 6A. Therefore focal point F2 is shifted into the sections 5A, 11A of the optical waveguide device 5, essentially into the areas of the sections 5A, 11A where the tip of the output cone 8 of the laser beam 10 is formed. In contrast with that, the end 12 of the section 5B of the optical waveguide device 5 facing the reflector 6 is essentially in the focal point F1 of the elliptical reflective surface 7. The acceptance cone 9 of the laser beam 10 here is outside of sections 5B, 11B, accordingly.
The embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2 represents the most effective arrangement of the sections 5A, 5B, 11A, 11B because due to the displacement of the sections 5A, 11A into the concave mirror 6A and due to the positioning of the sections 5B, 11B essentially in the focal point F1, an especially effective deflection is achieved, i.e., an especially great amount of laser beam 10 is launched into the sections 5B, 11B so that it can also be routed further. Nevertheless, the embodiment shown here is only exemplary, and, if technically necessary or expedient, the sections 5B, 11B may also be inserted into the concave mirror 6A, e.g., if space conditions are tight, and/or the end 12 of the sections 5A, 11A may be situated essentially in the focal point F2.
The exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 3 corresponds in function and essential design to that from FIG. 2, so that the same components are provided with the same reference numerals. In contrast with FIG. 2, the reflector 6 is designed as a solid body 6B with a base body comprising optical glass such as quartz glass, for example, whereby a side wall of this base body is shaped as an essentially elliptical reflective surface 7, preferably as a partial area of the surface of an ellipsoid. The reflector 6 is thus itself an optical waveguide, whereby the laser beam is guided through the section 5A comprising the glass rod 13A to the solid body 6B and through the latter to the reflective surface 7. After being deflected on the reflective surface 7, the laser beam enters the glass rod 13B of section 5B and is routed further in the direction of the treatment area. As described with respect to FIG. 2, one or both ends 12 of the glass rods 13A, 13B may in turn be arranged essentially at the focal point F1, F2 of the reflective surface 7 or between the focal point F1, F2 and the reflective surface 7. In addition there is the possibility of accommodating at least one of the ends 12 in a blind hole in the solid body 6A, so that assembly of the optical waveguide device 5 with the reflector 6 is simplified and the positioning of the optical waveguide device 5 in relation to the reflective surface 7 is stabilized.
The dimensions of the reflectors 6 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 amount to approximately 3.0 mm×7.0 mm×3.5 mm (length×width×height).
The invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments described here, but instead includes all possible embodiments that do not alter the basic function principle of the invention accordingly. In particular such hand-held devices may be used not only for dental treatments but also for many other cosmetic or medical treatments such as ophthalmic procedures, for removing hair or moles, in vascular medicine or for diagnostic applications.
Patent Application
20070282315
