Observations of visual sensations produced by Cerenkov radiation from high-energy electrons.

Ten cancer patients whose eyes were therapeutically irradiated with 6-18 MeV electrons reported visual light sensations. Nine reported seeing blue light and one reported seeing white light. Controls reported seeing no light. Additionally, tests with patients ruled out the x-ray contamination of the electron beam as being important. The photon yield due to Cerenkov radiation produced by radium and its daughters for both electrons and gamma rays was calculated; it was found to account for a turn-of-the-century human observation of the "radium" phosphene. We conclude that the dominant mechanism of this phosphene is Cerenkov radiation, primarily from betas. From our own patient data, based on the color seen and the Cerenkov production rates, we conclude that the dominant mechanism is Cerenkov radiation and that high-energy electrons are an example of particle induced visual sensations.