[Laser] Laser Digest, Vol 96, Issue 1

[Zack Widup]

There are many commonly available light shows that use red and green
lasers. Quite a few local bands in this area use them. They split one laser
into hundreds of individual beams which dance around in patterns. I am
guessing the green and red lasers are on the order of 25 mW. I have had
them flash into my eyes momentarily more than once with no side effects.
But if you divide 25 mW by hundreds, it doesn't come out to a lot of power
per individual beam.

73, Zack W9SZ


On Mon, Dec 3, 2012 at 11:12 AM, Dave <wa4qal at ix.netcom.com> wrote:

> Having stared into a 20 Watt Argon laser, I can tell you that it
> is.....GREEN!
> And, a 150 millisecond pulse from such a laser is enough to instantly
> cauterize the retina (And, 150 milliseconds is faster than you can blink!).
> In my case, fortunately, the laser was wielded by a VERY talented retinal
> surgeon, and she had given me some VERY effective drugs.  But, I wouldn't
> recommend any of this for general enjoyment.
>
> However, there are some fools out there who have taken the blue laser
> from a DVD burner (1-2 Watts?) and are using them to burst balloons,
> and light matches from a distance.  That's simply insanity.  There are
> also irresponsible companies selling multi-watt Green lasers.
>
> Given that the pilot experienced a temporary vision loss, and that
> they had no idea of exactly how much power had been fired at the
> cockpit, the prudent action was to get the pilot to a medical facility
> as quickly as possible.  The retina of the eye [1] is a very delicate
> membrane, and, once damaged, the damage can rapidly spread [2],
> if not treated immediately, thus turning a minor bit of damage into
> total, complete, permanent blindness.
>
> [1][2] I've been forced to learn about his the hard way.  While moving
> a computer, the coiled keyboard cable became stuck, and I gave
> it a mighty yank to free it.  Unfortunately, it came loose, and the
> connector end slammed squarely into my right eye (Yeah, I was
> doing something Real Dumb, and it came back to bite me.).  I didn't
> experience any symptoms for 6 weeks.  But, I woke up one morning
> to a bunch of floaters in my right eye.  While examining them, I
> noticed a blind spot in my peripheral vision, which hadn't been there
> before.  Figuring that sudden changes in vision aren't a good thing,
> I rushed in to see my ophthalmologist.  He dilated my pupils and
> looked into my eyes, then said "I'm not real sure what I'm seeing,
> but I don't like it, and since I'm not sure what's going on, we're
> going to send you to someone who will.".  A few hours later,
> I had an appointment with a retina specialist.  She dilated my
> eyes again, and said that I'd hit the jackpot, with a detached
> retina, a torn retina, floaters, and a mild cataract.  Then, she
> asked me a question which stunned me:  "Have you had anything
> to eat today?".  When I replied in the negative, she responded,
> "Good.  You're having eye surgery....this afternoon.".  So, the moral
> of the story is, if you notice any sudden changes in your vision, any
> new floaters, or, I'm told, red flashes, get to an ophthalmologist
> IMMEDIATELY (The red flashes are the retina detaching, and, once
> detached, it can't be fixed, and will be a permanent blind spot.  Plus,
> once one portion detaches, it tends to pull more and more of the
> retina away from the back of the eye, leading to greater and greater
> permanent vision loss.).  [/1][/2]
>
> Oh, I am not a medical professional, but I have used lasers, in
> or form or another, for the past 30 years.
>
> Dave
>
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