Steidley K D
Department of Radiation Oncology, Saint Barnabas Medical Center, Livingston, NJ 07039.
Vision Res. 1990;30(8):1139-43. doi: 10.1016/0042-6989(90)90171-g.
A low flux of X-rays below the Cerenkov energy threshold generates a phosphene by direct action on the retina without a fluorescence in the ocular media. X-rays above the Cerenkov threshold can generate only a faint luminescence in the lens and cornea. From experimental work on humans in 1905 with unencapsulated radium, it is known that approximately 80% of the intensity of the radium phosphene is from the beta-ray component and approximately 20% from the gamma-ray. From calculations of the photon yield due to Cerenkov radiation in the eye from radium, one finds intensities of approximately 90% and approximately 10% for beta and gamma-rays, respectively, if only Cerenkov radiation is considered. Thus, one may conclude that the dominant mechanism of the radium phosphene is Cerenkov radiation, primarily from electrons and not fluorescence as previously speculated. The term "radium phosphene" is a misnomer and should be subsumed along with the X-ray phosphene and particle induced visual sensations under the name "radiation phosphene".
低于切伦科夫能量阈值的低通量X射线通过直接作用于视网膜产生光幻视，而眼内介质中无荧光。高于切伦科夫阈值的X射线仅能在晶状体和角膜中产生微弱的发光。从1905年对未封装镭的人体实验工作可知，镭光幻视强度的约80%来自β射线成分，约20%来自γ射线。通过计算镭在眼中产生的切伦科夫辐射的光子产率，如果仅考虑切伦科夫辐射，人们分别发现β射线和γ射线的强度约为90%和约10%。因此，可以得出结论，镭光幻视的主要机制是切伦科夫辐射，主要来自电子，而非如先前推测的荧光。术语“镭光幻视”用词不当，应与X射线光幻视和粒子诱发的视觉感觉一起归入“辐射光幻视”这一名称之下。
