Autoradiography of primate retina after Q-switched ruby laser radiation

Biological implications in the use of laser devices by the Army has been the subject of study in the last two decades. A principal concern of laser bioeffects investigations has been mechanism and recovery processes of retinal tissue after damage by laser radiation near the visible damage threshold. The work objectives of this study were: (1) to evaluate the recovery of Rhesus monkey retinal rods (similar in retinal structure to the human) after exposure (20 nsec pulse duration, 1000 micrometers beam spot-size) to a range of Q-switched ruby laser radiation (suprathreshold to subthreshold for retinal damage as evidenced by ophthalmoscopy); (2) to correlate morphologic damage by both light and electron microscopy with biochemical abnormalities observed by autoradiography, (3) to assess the degree of sensitivity provided by autoradiography and (4) to postulate possible damage and recovery processes.