Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 5, 2026
One Minute, Sub-One-Watt Photothermal Tumor Ablation Using Porphysomes, Intrinsic Multifunctional Nanovesicles
Published on: September 17, 2013
Temperature increase in porcine cadaver iris during direct illumination by femtosecond laser pulses
Hui Sun1, Ronald M Kurtz, Eric R Mikula
1Department of Ophthalmology, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, California 92697, USA.
Purpose:
To measure the temperature rise in porcine cadaver iris during direct illumination by the femtosecond laser as a model for laser exposure of the iris during femtosecond laser corneal surgery.
Setting:
Department of Ophthalmology, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, California, USA.
Design:
Experimental study.
Methods:
The temperature increase induced by a 60 kHz commercial femtosecond laser in porcine cadaver iris was measured in situ using an infrared thermal imaging camera at pulse energy levels ranging from 1 to 2 μJ (corresponding approximately to surgical energies of 2 to 4 μJ per laser pulse).
Results:
Temperature increases up to 2.3 °C (corresponding to 2 μJ and 24-second illumination) were observed in the porcine cadaver iris with little variation in temperature profiles between specimens for the same laser energy illumination.
Conclusions:
The 60 kHz commercial femtosecond laser operating with pulse energies at approximately the lower limit of the range evaluated in this study would be expected to result in a 1.2 °C temperature increase and therefore does not present a safety hazard to the iris.
