Abstract

Ophthalmoscopes were brought into use in the 1850’s at which time opposition to use in the human eye was voiced but subsequently faded away.^1,2 Lasers came into ophthalmic use in the 1960's. Guidelines for safe use of coherent light are published in depth by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI Z136.3 guidelines) in 1996.³ No specifically enumerated standards yet exist for the use of incoherent light in the litany of ophthalmic instruments used in vision care today. However, over the past 15-20 years an increasing body of vision science literature has raised concern about potential hazards of light to the human eye.⁴'²¹ In the course of clinical examination and/or treatment of the human eye, repeated exposure of that eye (retina) to emissions from ophthalmic instrumentation is standard. The eye in this environment is frequently immobile and the pupil dilated. Further, due to newly developed methods of assessing the developing visual system of human infants, examinations are conducted earlier and ultimately occur in greater number over a lifetime.

© 2000 Optical Society of America