Effect of contact diode laser on the cornea with and without absorbing dye.

The semiconductor diode laser is a near-infrared laser; its 810-nm wavelength is maximally absorbed by melanin and has substantial transmissibility through cornea and sclera. Indocyanine green is the best photosensitive dye for the diode laser. The level of corneal damage produced by 810-nm diode laser, with and without absorbing dye (indocyanine green), and photoablative capabilities of this wavelength were studied using albino rabbits. We concluded that the contact application of this wavelength to the cornea in the presence of energy-absorbing dye causes both stromal and endothelial thermal damage. Therefore, 810-nm near-infrared semiconductor diode lasers are not suitable for photorefractive keratectomy or photoablative reprofiling.