Color vision deficits during laser lithotripsy using safety goggles for coumarin green or alexandrite but not with holmium: YAG laser safety goggles

AbstractPurpose: Laser lithotripsy requires urologists to wear laser eye protection. Laser eye protection devices screen out specific light wavelengths and may distort color perception. This study tests whether urologists risk color confusion when wearing laser eye protection devices for laser lithotripsy.Materials and Methods: Urologists were tested with the Farnsworth Dichotomous Test for Color Blindness (D-15) and the Farnsworth-Munsell 100-Hue Test (FM-100) without (control) and with laser eye protection devices for coumarin green, alexandrite and holmium:YAG lasers. Error scores were tabulated. The pattern of color deficits was characterized with confusion angles, confusion index (C-index), scatter index (S-index) and color axes. Laser eye protection devices were tested with spectrophotometry for spectral transmittance and optical density.Results: The D-15 transposition errors (mean plus or minus standard deviation) for control, holmium:YAG, alexandrite and coumarin green laser eye protection were 0 ...