Appeal No. 95-0065
Application 07/568,348
absorption as the wavelengths of the CO laser or of lasers in
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the 2.7 to 3.1 µm range.
The Horn article, as the examiner points out, does
disclose the use of an erbium-YLF laser, which is one of the
lasers disclosed by appellant as useable in his invention.
However, Horn's only reference to this laser is on page 338
(quoted supra), and there he stated that it produces short
pulses
at a wavelength of 1.228 µm, which is outside of appellant's
claimed range.
In the paragraph on page 340 which is quoted above,
Horn discloses certain criteria for a lens capsulotomy laser,
including, inter alia, high corneal transmission, low ocular
media transmission, and low retinal absorption. Figs 3b and
3c on the same page show that a wavelength of 1.4 or 1.5 µm
would meet the latter two criteria. On the other hand,
however, Fig. 3a shows that at Horn's recommended wavelengths
of 1.20 to 1.29 µm (1200 to 1290 nm), the corneal
transmission is in the 90% region, while at wavelengths of
1.4 to 2.2 µm corneal transmission is lower, with a peak of
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