Visible lesion threshold dependency on retinal spot size for ultrashort laser pulses in the near infrared

Single pulses in the near-infrared (1060 nanometers) were used to measure retinal spot size dependence of minimum visible lesion (MVL) thresholds in rhesus monkey eyes at a pulsewidth of 150 femtoseconds. We report the MVL thresholds determined at 1 hour and 24 hours post exposure which were obtained with 2 different lenses placed in front of the eye to vary the retinal spot size. Also we report the flourescein angiography thresholds (FAVL) for the above measurements. These new data points will be added to the databank for Retinal Maximum Permissible Exposure (MPE) as a function of spot size for this pulsewidth and a comparison will be made with previous spot size dependency studies. Our measurements show that the retinal ED50 threshold fluence decreases for increasing retinal spot sizes. The fluence at the MVL threshold decreased by a factor of 3 for an increase in retinal image diameter by a factor of 4.5 times from the smallest to largest spot size.

Duke Scholars

Author Cynthia Ann Toth Ophthalmology, Vitreoretinal Diseases & Surgery