Two-photon microperimetry with picosecond pulses

Two-photon vision is a phenomenon associated with the perception of short pulses of near-infrared radiation (900-1200 nm) as a visible light. It is caused by the nonlinear process of two-photon absorption by visual pigments. Here we present results showing the influence of pulse duration and repetition rate of short pulsed lasers on the visual threshold. We compared two-photon sensitivity maps of the retina obtained for subjects with normal vision using a cost-effective fiber laser (λ  = 1028.4 nm, τ  = 12.2 ps, F  = 19.17 MHz) and a solid-state laser (λ  = 1043.3 nm, τ  = 0.253 ps, F  = 62.65 MHz). We have shown that in accordance with the description of two-photon absorption, the average optical power required for two-photon vision for a fiber laser is 4 times greater than that for a solid-state laser. Mean sensitivity measured for the first one is 5.9 ± 2.8 dB lower than for the second but still 17 dB away from the safety limit, confirming that picosecond light sources can be successfully applied in microperimetry. This development would dramatically reduce the cost and complexity of future clinical devices.