An equilibrium thermal model for retinal injury from optical sources.

A uniform absorption thermal model is described which allows the calculation of the temperature rise in the retina due to steady state or continuous optical irradiation. Temperature rises of 9-10 degrees C are found to correspond to the production of threshold lesions. For a worst case approximation, a power of 1-2 mW entering the eye and focused onto a 10-micro diam area for 250 msec or longer can be shown as sufficient to cause irreversible damage.