Retinal-Temperature Increases Produced by Intense Light Sources*

The heat-conduction equation is used to describe retinal temperature increases produced by the absorption of intense light in the retina and the choroid. Temporal, radial, and axial temperature distributions are presented for both continuous and pulsed light sources operating at 700 nm. A point-spread distribution of retinal irradiance is considered in addition to a wide range of uniform and gaussian distributions. The application of computed temperatures to the prediction of retinal damage is discussed in terms of a maximum temperature-damage criterion, and dependence of these predictions upon the depth of the retinal pigment epithelium is detailed.