US 12,232,806 B2
Compact laser-steering end effector
Peter A. York, Somerville, MA (US); Simon A. Bothner, Etoy (CH); and Robert J. Wood, Cambridge, MA (US)
Assigned to President and Fellows of Harvard College, Cambridge, MA (US)
Appl. No. 17/769,612
Filed by President and Fellows of Harvard College, Cambridge, MA (US)
PCT Filed Oct. 28, 2020, PCT No. PCT/US2020/057684
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Apr. 15, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/086928, PCT Pub. Date May 6, 2021.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/926,716, filed on Oct. 28, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2024/0130784 A1, Apr. 25, 2024
Prior Publication US 2024/0225729 A9, Jul. 11, 2024
Int. Cl. A61B 18/20 (2006.01); A61B 34/30 (2016.01)
CPC A61B 18/20 (2013.01) [A61B 34/30 (2016.02)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A compact laser-steering end effector, comprising:
a frame with a proximal end and a distal end with a greatest dimension in a plane orthogonal to a longitudinal axis of no more than 13 mm;
at least two mirrors mounted proximate to the distal end of the frame, the mirrors including a first active mirror and a second active mirror;
a first actuator mounted to the frame and configured to change the tilt of the first active mirror relative to the frame; and
a second actuator mounted to the frame and configured to change the tilt of the second active mirror relative to the frame,
wherein a pathway is provided through the frame to deliver a laser beam to the mirrors, and wherein the mirrors are positioned and configurable via the actuators to reflect the laser beam off of each mirror en route to an external target.