International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, Vol.38, No.13, 2479-2488, 1995
Numerical Investigations on Thermal Effects of Laser-Ocular Media Interaction
A thermal model of the human eye exposed to laser irradiation is presented. It allows us to compute the intraocular temperature distribution. The physical system is : described by a set of partial differential equations consisting of the heat equation that includes the laser heat source, and the boundary and initial conditions equations. The analytical system is transformed to an integral formulation where a Galerkin function is applied. The integral formulation is then treated by the finite elements method to lead to a discrete algebraic system which is solved by numerical methods. We studied the effects of the laser power, the laser wavelength and other parameters. Among the results obtained, it appears that the more the laser wavelength decreases the more the effects on the eye are hazardous, since this is related to the production of a higher temperature that can lead to the denaturation of the ocular tissues.