Abstract
Threshold temperatures corresponding to the formation of both ophthalmoscopically and microscopically visible lesions were measured in 10 rhesus monkey eyes using 9, 100, and 1000 s exposures from a CW krypton laser (647.1 nm). Measurements were compared to a thermal model of retinal injury. Average threshold temperatures at 9, 100, and 1000 s in the macula were 17, 14, and 120C, respectively. Measured temperatures at the image center at 9 s were generally one-third as large as predicted temperatures. Measurements of 9 s threshold temperatures agreed with the 10 s threshold temperature data of Welch et al. [11] within 4 percent in the macula and 22 percent in the paramacula. Using rate-process damage coefficients derived from measured threshold temperatures, threshold energy densities at the cornea were predicted with a thermal model and they were within 13 percent of data from the literature. In comparison, the power required for damage from 120 s exposure to blue light produced a measured temperature rise of only 0.7°C, well below the expected lower limit of temperature required for thermal damage.

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