Thermal lensing in ocular media exposed to continuous-wave near-infrared radiation: the 1150-1350-nm region

Ocular damage threshold data remain sparse in the continuous wave (CW), near-infrared (NIR) radiation region save for the 1300-nm area that has been investigated in the past several decades. The 1300-nm ocular damage data have yielded unusual characteristics where CW retinal damage was observed in rabbit models, but never in nonhuman primate models. This paper reviews the existing 1300-nm ocular damage threshold data in terms of the fundamental criteria of an action spectrum to assist in explaining laser-tissue effects from near-infrared radiation in the eye. Reviewing the action spectrum criteria and existing NIR retinal lesion data lend evidence toward the significant presence of thermal lensing in ocular media affecting damage, a relatively unexplored mechanism of laser-tissue interaction.