Near infrared laser ocular bioeffects.

Thresholds for laser chorioretinal injury in the red end of the visible spectrum and the near-infrared (IR-A) spectral regions are presented. An unpredicted wavelength dependence of the injury threshold for single Q-switched pulses is demonstrated. Four lasers were used to determine thresholds at 40 wavelengths between 532 nm and 1064 nm: a ruby laser, a neodymium:YAG-pumped dye laser, an erbium:YLF laser and an alexandrite laser. Despite many careful and repeated efforts to determine a cause for the variation due to possible variations in the lasers or other aspects of the experimental technique and due to biological absorption properties of the eye, there is no complete or obvious explanation for the significant variations of threshold with small changes in wavelength. The implications of these findings for laser safety standards are presented.