Point a laser at fully blind eye?

I regret Frothy isn't here, those of you who deal with lasers of around Class IV can best guess then. 400mW output range here.

I have a friend who is blind in one eye. Fully blind, she is a bit of risk taker. Knows about my lasers and mentioned if was blind in an eye I would take my 400mW green and shine it right into it. I'd be curious if any light could be seen as the eye is useless anyway. She can't see any light. I told her it seem as though you were looking into the sun.

This green is a not burner but I think It's extremely unwise. Even if it doesn't hurt the ruined eye my instincts tell me NO! Her eye cannot be fixed just a birth defect. She is tempted to do it herself but it seems like a terrible idea. On the Otherhand, that much light, I do wonder, I'd like her to see something in that eye would be nice.

The adult in me says no. The curious part of me wonders. Educated guesses what the result could be?

I don't know the details of what her condition is called just a blind eye she was born with. Looks a bit odd easy to tell.

For the record I won't allow this but I'd like opinions. I wonder if there is a Ph.D I could contact? A normal doctor would have no clue.

My opinion: bad idea. Firstly you don't want a laser to get that close to the eye which still works, and secondly I could easily imagine it would cause some sort of brain damage. Obviously I base that on absolutely nothing, but I just really don't like the idea :S
By the way, how can a 400mW not be a burner? That power could burn a lot :thinking:

The Laser would burn her retina - ( If in the future [ just imagine] there is a way to heal that eye she would be terribly sorry that she damaged it that way !) - and destroy everything what is left...
Bad baaad baaad idea

Regards
game-genie

Brain damage seems very unlikely, unless you would burn a whole straight through the intact components of the blind eye.

It is, in my opinion, however unwise to attempt this. I am not a doctor (but have a masters in molecular biology), and i would think there is serious risk of doing thermal damage even to the remaining tissues - especially if the eye lens is somewhat intact.

This could potentially cause necrosis, potentially leading to (sterile) inflammation in a very unpleasant place.

Normally the risk of this scenario is very small, since it would be a very painful experience for a sighted person. I dont know what is wrong with your friends eye, but i can imagine how it would be less painful (or not at all) to try this, and therefor try it for much longer than any sighted person could endure.

Just because her eye cannot function NOW, the field of medicine is accelerating at an amazing speed in several fields, one of which is tissue regeneration via the use of stem cells. How would you both feel when 2 short years after you totally destroyed the BLIND eye, only to find out that, had you left it alone, the Doctors could have re-grown the tissue needed to allow that eye to see, but since you destroyed so much of it with the laser all hope is now gone. Just something to think about !!!!!!

Benm said:

Brain damage seems very unlikely, unless you would burn a whole straight through the intact components of the blind eye.

It is, in my opinion, however unwise to attempt this. I am not a doctor (but have a masters in molecular biology), and i would think there is serious risk of doing thermal damage even to the remaining tissues - especially if the eye lens is somewhat intact.

This could potentially cause necrosis, potentially leading to (sterile) inflammation in a very unpleasant place.

Normally the risk of this scenario is very small, since it would be a very painful experience for a sighted person. I dont know what is wrong with your friends eye, but i can imagine how it would be less painful (or not at all) to try this, and therefor try it for much longer than any sighted person could endure.

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It does burn however, compared to a blu-ray I don't call it a burner. To feel any pain the hand has to be over the beam for at least a few seconds. I was imagining a quick pulse of light too fast to burn.

I guessed it was a terrible idea and you giving words to why it would be. Even the slight risk of hurting her would not be allowed. It's a dumb idea. If I had a blind eye I wouldn't risk it.

phoenix77 said:

Just because her eye cannot function NOW, the field of medicine is accelerating at an amazing speed in several fields, one of which is tissue regeneration via the use of stem cells. How would you both feel when 2 short years after you totally destroyed the BLIND eye, only to find out that, had you left it alone, the Doctors could have re-grown the tissue needed to allow that eye to see, but since you destroyed so much of it with the laser all hope is now gone. Just something to think about !!!!!!

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I also thought about that as well. I would not have such high powered lasers if I was that irresponsible. She is the risk taker, not me. However I'm the one with the lasers not her. At least now I have some points to explain why it would be a bad idea besides simple common sense.

I need to talk less about lasers. I'd imagine a ophthalmologist would give the same advice one who knew about lasers as well.

This isn't something that's going to be done. I was curious and trying to find the words on why it was a bad idea. It goes against everything I believe in, but I couldn't explain why.

Again, NOT GOING TO DO THIS. I just wanted others opinions and all are the same.

Even if it doesnt burn your skin as it is, remember that they eye lens is designed to focus paralel beams to a pinpoint right on the retina, so you should compare it to that. 400 mW is a whopping lot, and sufficient to do thermal damage to tissues especially when focussed to a small area.

So even if there is no chance of even regaining sight through future medical procedure, it still caries considerable risk to the general health with consequences that can go far beyond the eye in the worst scenario.

Merely from what Benm just posted... it is clear that this should
not even be attempted..
There are too many unknowns and potential risks involved....

Jerry

holy crudd i can't believe this was even thought to be attempted
absolutely no way bad bad bad

^^listen to rob^^

....I thought we were smarter than this

john_lawson said:

holy crudd i can't believe this was even thought to be attempted

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I can see why someone would think about attempting this... the risk is just that there is more you can damage in an eye than its ability to see.

Something analog would be someone shouting with a megaphone in an already completely deaf ear - that ear would not become any worse or better, but make it (insanely) loud enough and you could, say, damage the labyrinth leading to vertigo.

Sometimes it appears there is nothing to lose, unless you look a bit further.

yeah this idea is a bad one. I don't think it would cause any "more" damage, but whos to say that the damage inher eye cannot be reversed in the future? Shining the laser into her eye may leave her with 0 chance of ever getting her eyesight back.........why risk it....

Rule #1 when using (any kind) lasers.. "no pointing at the eye"

I say go for it...

PiX of a 400mW blast to the eye or its not real.

You wouldn't put a blowtorch to anyones eye, so there's really nothing to contemplate here.

GoRdOn_B said:

I say go for it...

PiX of a 400mW blast to the eye or its not real.

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I cannot believe I saw this. :twak: