Biological applications and effects of optical masers. Annual report, 16 March 1984-15 March 1985

Histological studies on the right eye of a monkey exposed three and one half years ago to the Miles prototype GaAs laser confirm the visual acuity tests performed on this animal. There was no histological evidence of retinal damage. The aphakic eye of a monkey exposed to near-uv radiation under high blood-oxygen tension was examined. There was widespread cone destruction and extensive damage to the RPE at radiant exposures well below the threshold for monkeys under normal oxygenation conditions. Very small lesions produced in the monkey macula by 40-microsecond pulses of 647 nm argon-krypton laser light at 1600 pulses per second were examined. The effects of the intravenous injection of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, and SOD + catalase on the blue-light retinal lesion, inflicted both before and after injection, were studied by in vivo observation. The threshold for photic damage to the retina for a period of two years. Threshold data on argon-krypton laser pulse trains at two wavelengths have been obtained for pulse repetition frequencies and exposure times. Trained rhesus monkeys exposed to 5mW/sq cm of a near-uv continuous spectrum on a daily basis showed no lenticular changes between exposed and control eye when examined biomicroscopically.