Functional assessment of laser irradiation. Final report, 24 May 1971--31 Aug 1974

Technical Report · Thu Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1974

OSTI ID:7342705

Robbins, D O

A method for eliciting voluntary fixate on a Landolt test target in an awake, task-oriented rhesus monkey is described. During fixation, the subject was exposed to a 100 msec laser flash which produced a spot size of 150 micrometer centered on the fovea. Foveal exposure was triggered by the subject's correct detection of threshold targets presented under maximum photopic conditions and were produced by aligning a laser beam such that it was coaxial with the discriminanda in a Landolt ring. Immediate following exposure, a rapid technique for the measurement of visual acuity was used to assess functional degradation. The results demonstrated that foveal exposures produced an immediate acuity deficit of from 40 to 60 percent in visual performance and that this maximum deficit was independent of exposure power. Total recovery time and the duration of the maximum deficit were monotonically related to exposure power up to the threshold for permanent functional damage. A permanent functional deficit was produced with the second of two exposures at 11 mW in one subject. Implications for accidental human exposures are presented. (Author) (GRA)

• Research Organization: Eye Research Foundation, Bethesda, Md. (USA)
• OSTI ID: 7342705
• Report Number(s): AD-A-022772
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

560152* -- Radiation Effects on Animals-- Animals
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ANIMALS
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
BIOLOGICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
BODY
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
EYES
IRRADIATION
LASER RADIATION
MAMMALS
MONKEYS
ORGANS
PRIMATES
RADIATION EFFECTS
RADIATIONS
RETINA
SENSE ORGANS
VERTEBRATES