The reflections of high energy laser off surfaces can present hazards to persons and instruments at significant
distances. The heating from these lasers cause changes in the reflection characteristics of surfaces they impact. As
such, the reflections from these surfaces cannot be properly modeled with static bidirectional reflectance distribution
functions (BRDFs), but require time-dynamic BRDFs. Moreover, the time-evolution of the surface reflections is not
deterministic, but can vary even when the materials and irradiance conditions are nearly identical, such that only
probabilistic characterization is realistic. Due to the swiftly changing nature of the reflections, traditional BRDF
measurements with goniometric instruments is impossible, and BRDFs must be deduced from images of the
reflected light incident on a screen which intercepts a portion of the reflection solid angle. A model has been
constructed to describe these complex probabilistic dynamic BRDFs with only a moderate number of intuitive
parameters, where these parameters have central values and statistical variances. These simple parametric
representations are appropriate for use in predictive modeling codes and are also easily adjustable to allow facile
exploration of the sensitivity of hazards to laser, material, and model uncertainties. An automated procedure has
been created for determining appropriate parameter values and variances from captured screen images, without the
need for case-by-case human judgment. Examples of the parameter determination procedure are presented.
Melanosome microcavitation is the threshold-level retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) damage mechanism for nanosecond (ns) pulse exposures in the visible and near-infrared (NIR). Thresholds for microcavitation of isolated bovine RPE melanosomes were determined as a function of temperature (20 to 85°C) using single ns laser pulses at 532 and 1064 nm. Melanosomes were irradiated using a 1064-nm Q-switched Nd:YAG (doubled for 532-nm irradiation). For comparison to melanosome data, a similar temperature (20 to 65°C) dependence study was also performed for 532 nm, ns pulse exposures of black polystyrene microbeads. Results indicated a decrease in the microcavitation average radiant exposure threshold with increasing sample temperature for both 532- and 1064-nm single pulse exposures of melanosomes and microbeads. Threshold data and extrapolated nucleation temperatures were used to estimate melanosome absorption coefficients in the visible and NIR, and microbead absorption coefficients in the visible, indicating that melanin is a better absorber of visible light than black polystyrene. The NIR melanosome absorption coefficients ranged from 3713 cm−1 at 800 nm to 222 cm−1 at 1319 nm. These data represent the first temperature-dependent melanosome microcavitation study in the NIR and provide additional information for understanding melanosome microcavitation threshold dependence on wavelength and ambient temperature.
Thresholds for microcavitation of bovine and porcine melanosomes were previously reported, using single nanosecond (ns) laser pulses in the visible (532 nm) and the near-infrared (NIR) from 1000 to 1319 nm. Here, we report average radiant exposure thresholds for bovine melanosome microcavitation at additional NIR wavelengths up to 1540 nm, which range from ∼0.159 J/cm2 at 800 nm to 4.5 J/cm2 at 1540 nm. Melanosome absorption coefficients were also estimated, and decreased with increasing wavelength. These values were compared to retinal pigment epithelium coefficients, and to water absorption, over the same wavelength range. Corneal total intraocular energy retinal damage threshold values were estimated and compared to the previous (2007) and recently changed (2014) maximum permissible exposure (MPE) safe levels. Results provide additional data that support the recent changes to the MPE levels, as well as the first microcavitation data at 1540 nm, a wavelength for which melanosome microcavitation may be an ns-pulse skin damage mechanism.
Thresholds for microcavitation of isolated bovine retinal melanosomes were determined as a function of temperature using single nanosecond laser pulses at 532 nm and 1064 nm. Melanosomes were irradiated using a 1064-nm Qswitched Nd:YAG (doubled for 532-nm irradiation). Time-resolved microscopy was accomplished by varying the delay between the irradiation beam and an illumination beam allowing stroboscopic imaging of microcavitation events. Results indicated a decrease in microcavitation fluence threshold with increasing sample temperature for both 532-nm and 1064-nm single pulse exposures. The nucleation temperature at both wavelengths was extrapolated through the linear relationship between the temperature increases and the decrease in fluence threshold. In addition, absorption coefficients of melanosomes for visible and near-infrared wavelengths were estimated using the calculated nucleation temperatures.
Thresholds for microcavitation of bovine and porcine melanosomes were determined using nanosecond laser pulses in the near-infrared (1000 to 1319 nm) wavelength regime. Isolated melanosomes were irradiated by single pulses (10 or 50 ns) using a Q-switched Spectra Physics Nd:YAG laser coupled with an optical parametric oscillator (1000 to 1200 nm) or a continuum laser at 1319 nm. Time-resolved nanosecond strobe photography after the arrival of the irradiation beam allowed imaging of microcavitation events. Average fluence thresholds for microcavitation increased nonlinearly with increasing wavelength from ∼0.5 J/cm 2 at 1000 nm to 2.6 J/cm 2 at 1319 nm. Fluence thresholds were also measured for 10-ns pulses at 532 nm and found to be comparable to visible nanosecond pulse values published in previous reports. Calculated melanosome absorption coefficients decreased from 925 cm −1 at 1000 nm to 176 cm −1 at 1319 nm. This trend was found to be comparable to the decrease in retinal pigmented epithelial layer absorption coefficients reported over the same wavelength region. Estimated corneal total intraocular energy retinal damage threshold values were determined in order to compare to current and proposed maximum permissible exposure (MPE) safe levels. Results from this study support recently proposed changes to the MPE levels.
Thresholds for microcavitation of isolated bovine and porcine melanosomes were determined using single nanosecond (ns) laser pulses in the NIR (1000 – 1319 nm) wavelength regime. Average fluence thresholds for microcavitation increased non-linearly with increasing wavelength. Average fluence thresholds were also measured for 10-ns pulses at 532 nm, and found to be comparable to visible ns pulse values published in previous reports. Fluence thresholds were used to calculate melanosome absorption coefficients, which decreased with increasing wavelength. This trend was found to be comparable to the decrease in retinal pigmented epithelial (RPE) layer absorption coefficients reported over the same wavelength region. Estimated corneal total intraocular energy (TIE) values were determined and compared to the current and proposed maximum permissible exposure (MPE) safe exposure levels. Results from this study support the proposed changes to the MPE levels.
KEYWORDS: Laser damage threshold, Retina, Laser induced damage, Eye, Data modeling, Medical research, In vivo imaging, Thermal modeling, Optical testing, Imaging systems
The dependence of retinal damage thresholds on laser spot size, for annular retinal beam profiles, was measured in vivo for 3 μs, 590 nm pulses from a flashlamp-pumped dye laser. Minimum Visible Lesion (MVL)ED50 thresholds in rhesus were measured for annular retinal beam profiles covering 5, 10, and 20 mrad of visual field; which correspond to outer beam diameters of roughly 70, 160, and 300 μm, respectively, on the primate retina. Annular beam profiles at the retinal plane were achieved using a telescopic imaging system, with the focal properties of the eye represented as an equivalent thin lens, and all annular beam profiles had a 37% central obscuration. As a check on experimental data, theoretical MVL-ED50 thresholds for annular beam exposures were calculated using the Thompson-Gerstman granular model of laser-induced thermal damage to the retina. Threshold calculations were performed for the three experimental beam diameters and for an intermediate case with an outer beam diameter of 230 μm. Results indicate that the threshold vs. spot size trends, for annular beams, are similar to the trends for top hat beams determined in a previous study; i.e., the threshold dose varies with the retinal image area for larger image sizes. The model correctly predicts the threshold vs. spot size trends seen in the biological data, for both annular and top hat retinal beam profiles.
The U.S. Dept. of Defense (DOD) is currently developing and testing a number of High Energy Laser (HEL) weapons systems. DOD range safety officers now face the challenge of designing safe methods of testing HEL's on DOD ranges. In particular, safety officers need to ensure that diffuse and specular reflections from HEL system targets, as well as direct beam paths, are contained within DOD boundaries. If both the laser source and the target are moving, as they are for the Airborne Laser (ABL), a complex series of calculations is required and manual calculations are impractical. Over the past 5 years, the Optical Radiation Branch of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL/HEDO), the ABL System Program Office, Logicon-RDA, and Northrup-Grumman, have worked together to develop a computer model called teh Laser Range Safety Tool (LRST), specifically designed for HEL reflection hazard analyses. The code, which is still under development, is currently tailored to support the ABL program. AFRL/HEDO has led an LRST Validation and Verification (V&V) effort since 1998, in order to determine if code predictions are accurate. This paper summarizes LRST V&V efforts to date including: i) comparison of code results with laboratory measurements of reflected laser energy and with reflection measurements made during actual HEL field tests, and ii) validation of LRST's hazard zone computations.
We have measured the laser-induced breakdown (LIB) thresholds in water using an artificial eye for chirped and non-chirped laser pulses at 44 fs and 810 nm. We compare these measured thresholds to calculated values for a range of pulse widths from 20 fs to 120 fs and for various focal point diameters. The LIB threshold using a flat phase pulse, i.e., no chirped compensation for propagation through the water was measured to be 0.285 (0.280 - 0.290) μJ. Using a pre-chirp on the laser pulse, the LIB threshold dropped by one-third to 0.192 (0.191 - 0.194) μJ.
We have previously demonstrated that retinal damage thresholds can vary as a function of ultrashort laser pulse chirp. Computations and in-vivo experiments have both demonstrated such results. Here, we present a study of the computation of damage thresholds as functions of laser wavelength, pulse duration, and chirp. Damage threshold trends are explored and related to current and future laser safety exposure limits.
The Department of Defense has an increasing number of high-energy laser weapons programs with the potential to mature in the not too distant future. However, as laser systems with increasingly higher energies are developed, the difficulty of the laser safety problem increases proportionally, and presents unique safety challenges. The hazard distance for the direct beam can be in the order of thousands of miles, and radiation reflected from the target may also be hazardous over long distances. This paper details the Air Force Research Laboratory/Optical Radiation Branch (AFRL/HEDO) High-Energy Laser (HEL) safety program, which has been developed to support DOD HEL programs by providing critical capability and knowledge with respect to laser safety. The overall aim of the program is to develop and demonstrate technologies that permit safe testing, deployment and use of high-energy laser weapons. The program spans the range of applicable technologies, including evaluation of the biological effects of high-energy laser systems, development and validation of laser hazard assessment tools, and development of appropriate eye protection for those at risk.
We have shown in previous work that the threshold for laser- induced breakdown is higher than the threshold for ophthalmoscopically visible retinal damage, but they approach each other as pulse duration decreased form several nanoseconds to 100 femtoseconds. We discuss the most recent data collected for sub-50 fs laser induced breakdown thresholds and retinal damage thresholds. With these short pulse durations, the chromatic dispersion effect on the pulse should be considered to gain a full understanding of the mechanisms for damage. We discuss the most likely damage mechanisms operative in this pulse width regime and discuss relevance to laser safety.
The dependence of retinal damage threshold on laser spot size was examined for two pulsewidth regimes; nanosecond- duration Q-switched pluses from a doubled Nd:YAG laser and microsecond-duration pulses from a flashlamp-pumped dye laser. Threshold determination were conducted for nominal retinal image sizes ranging form 1.5 mrad to 100 mrad of visual field, corresponding to image diameters of approximately 22 micrometers to 1.4 mm on the primate retina. Together, this set of retinal damage threshold reveals the functional dependence of threshold on spot size. The threshold dose was found to vary with the area of the image for larger image sizes. The experimental results were compared to the predictions of the Thompson-Gerstman granular model of laser-induced retinal damage. The experimental and theoretical trends of threshold variation with retinal spot size were essentially the same, with both data sets showing threshold dose proportional to image area for spot sizes >= 150 micrometers . The absolute values predicted by the model, however, were significantly higher than experimental values, possibly because of uncertainty in various biological input parameters, such as the melanosome absorption coefficient and the number of melanosomes per RPE cell.
For the past several years the US Air Force has led a research effort to investigate the thresholds and mechanisms for retinal damage from ultrashort laser pulses [i.e. nanosecond (10-9 sec) to femtosecond (10-15 sec) pulse widths]. The goal was to expand the biological database into the ultrashort pulse regime and thus to allow establishment of maximum permissible exposure limits for these lasers. We review the progress made in determining trends in retial damage by ultrashort laser pulses in the visible and near infrared, including variations in spot size and number of pulses. We also discuss the most likely damage mechanisms operative in this pulse width regime and discuss relevance to laser safety.
Extensive research of ultrashort ocular damage mechanisms has shown that less energy is required for retinal damage for pulses shorter than one nanosecond. Laser minimum visible lesion thresholds for retinal damage from ultrashort (i.e. < 1 ns) laser pulses occur at lower energies than in the nanosecond to microsecond laser pulse regime. WE review the progress made in determining the trends in retinal damage from laser pulses of one nanosecond to one hundred femtoseconds in the visible and near-infrared wavelength regimes. We discuss the most likely damage mechanism(s) operative in this pulse width regime and discuss implications on laser safety standards.
As part of a research program to understand and model eye damage produced by exposure to cw and pulsed lasers, the U.S. Air Force has created a granular model of laser retinal damage. The Thompson granular model simulates absorption of light by melanosomes distributed in the retinal pigmented epithelium, melanosome heating, and subsequent photothermal damage from bulk tissue heating. Various biological input parameters required for the model, such as the density, size, spatial distribution, and absorption coefficient of melanosomes, are not well known, creating uncertainty in the results. This problem is being addressed both experimentally, through measurements of biological parameters for various species, and theoretically, through analysis of parameter sensitivity in the model. In the current study, the parameter sensitivity was analyzed using a technique known as 'design of experiments,' which allows statistical estimation of the relative importance of independent experimental variables. A matrix of 20 cases has been analyzed, using 7 input parameters as independent variables. Cases have been confined to the long pulse regime (greater than or equal to 10 microseconds), where photothermal damage is dominant. Results were assessed using both temperature rise and Arrhenius damage integral values. Corneal fluence was found to be the most important physical parameter and melanosome absorption the most important biological parameter.
Self-focusing is a phenomena that is induced in certain materials when high irradiance laser light interacts with the material. High irradiances are most readily achieved with focused ultrashort laser pulses. Past theoretical calculations using the nonlinear wave equation have calculated the critical power for self-focusing by tightly focused beams in water at 580 nm to be 1 MW. The recent pulse propagation model by Feng et al. has been used to find the pulse duration where the self-focusing threshold can be most easily found. In addition, a first-order model of laser-induced breakdown developed by Kennedy has predicted that the threshold for breakdown at each pulse duration is independent of spot size. Thus self-focusing can be seen from a precise measurement of spot size and breakdown threshold. With several optical setups with different predicted spot sizes, we measured the spot size by knife- edge technique at energies far below the breakdown or self- focusing thresholds for a pulse duration of 2.4 ps, 800 fs, and 126 fs. We also measured the laser-induced breakdown threshold for each of these optical setups. The laser- induced breakdown irradiance threshold was constant for those spot sizes that were below the self-focusing threshold, as predicted by Kennedy's model. The measurements of self-focusing for ultrashort laser pulses in water and its implications on retinal damage will be discussed in this paper.
We have made an indirect in-vivo determination of spot size focusing in the rhesus monkey model. Measurement of the laser induced breakdown threshold both in-vitro and in-vivo allow correlation and assignment of a spot size after focusing through the living eye. We discuss and analyze the results and show how trends in minimum visible lesion data should be assessed in light of chromatic aberration. National laser safety standards are based on minimal visual lesion (MVL) threshold studies in different animal models. The energy required for a retinal lesion depends upon may parameters including wavelength and retinal spot size. We attempt to explain trends in reported MVL threshold studies using a model of the eye which allows calculation of changes in retinal spot size due to chromatic aberration.
Recent studies of retinal damage due to ultrashort laser pulses have shown that less energy is required for retinal damage for pulses shorter than one nanosecond. Laser minimum visible lesion thresholds for retinal damage from ultrashort laser pulses are produced at lower energies than in the nanosecond to microsecond laser pulse regime. We review the progress made in determining the trends in retinal damage from laser pulses of one nanosecond to one hundred femtoseconds in the visible and near-infrared wavelength regimes. We have determined the most likely damage mechanism operative in this pulse width regime and discuss implications on laser safety standards.
As part of a research program to understand and model eye damage produced by exposure to subnanosecond laser pulses, an effort is currently being made to model and analyze ultrashort pulse propagation from the cornea to the retina. Both analytical models and numerical simulations are being used to analyze the effects of self-focusing, laser-induced breakdown (LIB), and plasma-pulse interaction. The modeling effort is coupled with experimental measurements of LIB thresholds and plasma shielding for visible, picosecond (psec) and femtosecond (fsec) pulses in water, which serves as a reasonable simulant for the vitreous humor of the eye. Comparison of LIB thresholds to the critical power for self-focusing indicates that self-focusing has little effect on LIB thresholds for long psec pulses. For short psec and fsec pulses, however, numerical simulations show that self-focusing is critical to LIB in water. These results indicate that self-focusing may play a role in fsec pulse ocular damage, by influencing whether LIB and plasma-pulse interaction occur at the retina, in the vitreous, or both. Both the location of the LIB event and the amount of plasma shielding can significantly effect the degree of damage.
Recent studies of retinal damage due to ultrashort laser pulses have shown interesting behavior. Laser thresholds for retinal damage from ultrashort (i.e. <EQ 1 ns) laser pulses are produced at lower energies than in the nanosecond (ns) to microsecond (microsecond(s) ) laser pulse regime. We examine how nonlinear optical phenomena affect the characteristics of light impinging the retina and hence, changes the minimum energy required to produce damage. Nonlinear optical phenomena which occur in homogeneous materials like the ocular media include self-focusing, stimulated Brillouin scattering, supercontinuum generation, laser induced breakdown, and nonlinear absorption. We will discuss all relevant thresholds and determine which nonlinear optical phenomena play a role in mediating the reduction in energy required to produce minimum visible lesion damage to the retina.
An analytic, first-order model has been developed to calculate irradiance thresholds for laser-induced breakdown (LIB) in condensed media, including fluids and ocular media. The model is derived from the simple rate equation formalism of Shen for cascade breakdown in solids and from the theory of multiphoton ionization in condensed media developed by Keldysh. Analytic expressions have been obtained for the irradiance thresholds corresponding to multiphoton breakdown, to cascade breakdown, and to initiation of cascade breakdown by multiphoton ionization of seed electrons (multiphoton initiation threshold). The model has been incorporated into a computer code and code results compared to experimentally measured irradiance thresholds for breakdown of ocular media, saline, and water by nanosecond, picosecond, and femtosecond laser pulses in the visible and near-infrared. Theoretical values match experiment to within a factor of 2 or better, over a range of pulsewidths spanning five orders of magnitude, a reasonably good match for a first order model.
Threshold measurements for femtosecond laser pulsewidths have been made for retinal minimum visible lesions (MVLs) in Dutch Belted rabbit and rhesus monkey eyes. Laser-induced breakdown (LIB) thresholds in biological materials including vitreous, normal saline, tap water, and ultrapure water have been measured and reported using an artificial eye. We have recorded on video the first LIB causing bubble formation in any eye in vivo using albino rabbit eyes (New Zealand white) with 120- femtosecond (fs) pulses and pulse energies as low as 5 microjoules ((mu) J). These bubbles were clearly formed anterior to the retina within the vitreous humor and, with 60 (mu) J of energy, they lasted for several seconds before disappearing and leaving no apparent damage to the retina. We believe this to be true LIB because of the lack of pigmentation or melanin granules within the albino rabbit eye (thus no absorptive elements) and because of the extremely high peak powers within the 5-(mu) J, 120-fs laser pulse. These high peak powers produce self-focusing of the pulse within the vitreous. The bubble formation at the breakdown site acts as a limiting mechanism for energy transmission and may explain why high-energy femotsecond pulses at energies up to 100 (mu) J sometimes do not cause severe damage in the pigmented rabbit eye. This fact may also explain why it is so difficult to produce hemorrhagic lesions in either the rabbit or primate eye with 100-fs laser pulses.
The physical properties of laser-induced optical breakdown (LIB) in highly transparent, dispersive media, like that found in the eye, are of great interest to the ophthalmic community. We examined the temperature dependent characteristics of LIB thresholds in media with a temperature range of 20 degree(s)C to 80 degree(s)C using nanosecond, picosecond, and femtosecond pulses produced in the visible and near infrared spectral regions. Media used for these studies included high purity water, tap water, physiological (0.9%) saline solution, and bovine vitreous. Ten nanosecond pulses at 532 nm and 60 ps and 90 fs pulses at 580 nm were focused into a sample to produce LIB. Probit analysis was used to determine the 50% probability threshold value (ED50) as the temperature of the media was varied. Additional data was obtained by keeping pulse energy constant and varying temperature. ED50 values for LIB showed no consistent dependence on the temperature of the medium. The theory of the temperature dependence of LIB and the experimental observations for all pulse durations and their implications for retinal damage are discussed.
An unstable ring resonator design which produces 90 deg beam rotation in a single pass (UR90 or HiQ) has been developed in order to solve the problem of obtaining an unobscured, near diffraction-limited output beam from low-gain laser media requiring saturation of a large transverse gain volume. A computer code was used to model the bare-cavity geometric modes of the UR90 by ray tracing through an equivalent thin lens resonator. Mode footprints of the collimated forward mode and expanding reverse mode showed only partial overlap, indicating that proper aperturing, especially at the gain generator, can aid in reverse mode suppression.
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