Unified modeling of photothermal and photochemical damage.

Correlating damage outcomes to a retinal laser exposure is critical for diagnosis and choosing appropriate treatment modalities. Therefore, it is important to understand the causal relationships between laser parameters, such as wavelength, power density, and length of exposure, and any resulting injury. Differentiating photothermal from photochemical processes in an retinal model using cultured retinal pigment epithelial cells would be a first step in achieving this goal.