A theory of retinal burns

Journal Article · Fri Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1962 · Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02477421· OSTI ID:4643003

Vos, J. J.

Attempts are made to quantitate the thermal events involved in the production of retinal burns, which may be accidental (eclipse blindness, flash burns from watching nuclear detonations) or intentional (in the operative technique of photocoagulation) in origin. Results of experiments by Ham et al., on retinal ilash burns in rabbit eyes were analyzed. It is concluded that their findings cannot be explained in the simple terms of a critical temperature beyond which burns are produced; the temperature is raised beyond the boiling point of the tissue fluid, and the production of steam must be taken into consideration. Thus, it appears from the present investigation that retinal damage is closely related to the estimated degree of steam production. However, functional damage might also occur at a much lower level of irradiation, since between 45 deg and 60 deg C proteins begin to coagulate. It also seems plausible that a still smaller temperature increase, of only a few degrees, might produce temporary lesions after prolonged exposure, by the process of metabolic poisoning which occurs when the waste products of the accelerated metabolic processes cannot be removed quickly enough. Although data from the nuclear explosions at Nagasaki and Hiroshima report only one case of retinal burn, several cases are reported from nocturnal nuclear explosions in the Nevada tests. The thermal events in these cases are complicated by the change in the temperature of the luminous fire- ball with time, by the influence of the distance of observation, and by the speed of the blinking reflex. As far as can be ascertained, the observed phenomena can be well-explained by the above theory in terms of retinal warm-up.

• Research Organization: Inst. for Perception RVO-TNO, Soesterberg, Netherlands
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• NSA Number: NSA-17-035360
• OSTI ID: 4643003
• Journal Information: Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics, Journal Name: Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 24; ISSN 0007-4985
• Country of Publication: Country unknown/Code not available
• Language: English

Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
BOILING
BOILING POINTS
COAGULATION
EYES
FLUIDS
HIROSHIMA
JAPAN
LIGHT
NAGASAKI
NEVADA
NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS
PROTEINS
RABBITS
RADIATION INJURIES
RETINA
TEMPERATURE
TOXICITY