Acute corneal injury by mustard gas.

Described is an acute ocular injury caused by mustard gas. The clinical course was similar to what has been established by laboratory research. Some of the histopathologic events have been discussed in theory since no tissue sample from this reported case was available for examination.

[Electromagnetic radiation damage to the retina (author's transl)].

Basic mechanism involved in electromagnetic radiation damage to the retina are described. Those are photochemical, thermal and non-linear effects. The absorption of radiant energy by the retina occurs primarily in the visible spectral range.

Phototherapy of the cornea: some aspects to be considered.

To safeguard against and reduce possible harmful and undesired side effects of photon interaction with ocular structures during phototherapy of certain corneal diseases, precautionary measures should be taken. These include (1) Selection of the proper light source, strongly emitting in the effective spectral range. (2) Removal of potential harmful spectral bands which make no significant contribution to the therapeutic action.

Ocular hazard from viewing the sun unprotected and through various windows and filters.

An optical source simulating the sun at the top of the atmosphere has been constructed and used to obtain retinal burn thresholds in the rhesus monkey for image diameters corresponding to that of the solar disk on the human retina. Powers incident on the cornea and retinal irradiances required to produce threshold lesions are given for exposure times ranging from 1 s to 3 min. The ocular hazards associated with viewing the sun through aircraft window systems are assessed in terms of these data.

An equilibrium thermal model for retinal injury from optical sources.

A uniform absorption thermal model is described which allows the calculation of the temperature rise in the retina due to steady state or continuous optical irradiation. Temperature rises of 9-10 degrees C are found to correspond to the production of threshold lesions. For a worst case approximation, a power of 1-2 mW entering the eye and focused onto a 10-micro diam area for 250 msec or longer can be shown as sufficient to cause irreversible damage.