While loved by cat fans and cat video fans, they are a source of fear for pilots, drivers, train drivers and athletes. Again and again, laser pointers dazzle soccer players or pilots. In 2017 alone, 65 incidents in which pilots were blinded were reported in Germany in the first 7 months. Everyone knows that injuring other people with laser beams is not a trivial offense but a criminal offence. Despite this, ophthalmologists are encountering more and more eye injuries caused by laser pointers in everyday practice.
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| Laser light blinds in case of a long and intense exposure. |
How do laser pointers work?
A laser pointer is a light pointer with a laser diode in its housing. The laser diode emits a very strong beam of light that can be extremely focused. Due to this property, laser beams have numerous applications in medicine and technology. With strong lasers you can z. B. cut and weld metal plates. Weak laser beams can be used to measure distances or play CDs and Blu-ray discs. There are also numerous applications in medicine. You can e.g. hack fabrics remove tattoos or fix myopia through LASIK (Laser-Assisted in Situ Keratomileusis).
Laser beams can be very dangerous. They are therefore divided into seven hazard classes (1, 1M, 2, 2M, 3R, 3B and 4) depending on the light output. Of these classes, only classes 1 and 2 are considered eye-safe. These lasers have a maximum light output of 1 milliwatt. More powerful lasers are dangerous to the eyes.
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| Eye İnjury Hazard Per Classes of Laser Pointers |
What happens when a laser pointer hits the eye?
Everyone knows that you must not look directly at the sun, because that can blind you. Also, everyone knows that with a magnifying glass (a magnifying glass) you can concentrate sunlight so tightly that you can start a fire with it.
Something very similar happens when a powerful laser beam falls on the eye. Just like with a magnifying glass, the lens of the eye focuses the laser light on the retina. This increases the light intensity by many thousands of times. In the best case, this only dazzles you and then you can't see anything just for a while. However, if the laser light is too bright, the sensory cells in the retina are burned and permanently destroyed. No ophthalmologist can heal such an eye injury. The eyelid closure reflex (blink reflex) ensures that some people close their eyes in 0.25 milliseconds when dazzled by the laser light. Irradiation with very bright laser light, however, can lead to an irreparable eye injury even in this extremely short time. In addition, this reflex mechanism does not work reliably in 80 percent of the population.
Particular caution is required with laser shows, as the pupils dilate in dark rooms and more light hits the retina.
Laser pointers are dangerous, but can they really blind you?
The risk of injury from laser pointers depends on three things: What is the output power of the laser pointer? How far is it from the eye? How long is the unprotected eye exposed to the light beam?
The more energetic and closer the light source and the longer the exposure time, the more devastating the consequences can be. The spectrum ranges from a temporary glare, through swelling, bleeding , to scarring and destruction of the retina. In case of an exposure to low laser intensity, the impairment of vision can disappear after a short time or after weeks. However, if the rays have caused permanent damage to the sensory and nerve cells of the retina, this can lead to loss of central vision, severe deterioration in visual acuity and, in the worst case, actual blindness.
How to treat eye injuries caused by laser pointers?
Acute eye injuries caused by strong laser beams cannot be treated well because there are no effective ophthalmological therapies to repair the damaged retina. That is why self-protection is all the more important.
Sources:
1- https://www.seh-check.de/seh-maerchen/blind-durch-laserpointe
2-https://www.lasersafetyfacts.com/laserclasses.html
3-https://www.insidescience.org/news/liquid-crystals-could-protect-pilots-against-laser-pointer-attacks
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