Home Page
About SAEN
Articles and Reports
Contact Us
Events and Campaigns
Fact Sheets
Financial Information
How You Can Help
Make a Donation, Please!
Media Coverage
Newsletters
Petitions
Picture Archive
Press Releases
Resources and Links
Grass Roots Org. List

Stop Animal Exploitation NOW!
S. A. E. N.
"Exposing the truth to wipe out animal experimentation"

Resources and Links

Facility Reports and Information

Brooks Air Force Base, TX

Protocol - 2003-21 - Evaluation of Laser Induced Corneal Lesions in the Dutch belted Rabbit

 

Title:

Evaluation of Laser Induced Corneal Lesions in the Dutch belted Rabbit and Skin Lesions in the Yucatan mini pig

Research Category:

N1: Physical Protection

FY: 2003 Funding (in dollars):

129,770

Responsible Organization:	AIR FORCE RESEARCH LAB/BROOKS
Primary Contact:	Public Affairs Office
City:	Brooks City-Base
State:	TX
Zip:	78235-5116

Performing Organization:	See Responsible Organization Information
City:
State:
Zip:

Keywords:

LABORATORY ANIMALS MINIMUM VISIBLE LESION MAXIMUM PERMISSIBLE EXPOSURE LIMIT LASER SAFETY LASER EYE INJURY LASER SKIN INJURY SKIN CORNEA

Objective:

To determine new biophysics underlying human cornea and skin exposure from single laser pulses, between 1.0 millisecond (ms) to 50 femtoseconds (fs), produced in the 350 nanometers (nm) to 2000 nm wavelength region. The Dutch belted rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) cornea and Yucatan mini pig (Sus scrofa domestica) skin, will be used to assess damage mechanisms and thresholds from novel exposures with immediate military relevance.

Approach:

The proliferation of lasers throughout the world has increased the use and development of high-energy, short-pulsed laser systems for military application. A critical research area is the 350 to 2000 nm laser wavelengths for cornea and skin injury. Military systems use energies and pulses in this regime where few data points exist upon which safety of Department of Defense (DoD) personnel is based for cornea and skin. Therefore, with this lack of data to substantiate a safety standard, there is a pressing need to further investigate in this area of environmental health. We will determine damage thresholds in Dutch belted rabbit corneas and Yucatan mini pig skin for single pulse, collimated beam exposures at wavelengths between 350 to 2000 nm and pulses ranging from 1.0 ms to 10 fs in duration. Along with the determination of appropriate threshold limits for laser exposure, we will determine the appropriate biochemical damage mechanisms relevant to cornea and skin laser damage through carefully designed experiments that will allow biochemical assays, histopathology and theoretical modeling.

Return to Brooks Air Force Base, TX
Return to Texas
Return to Facility Reports and Information
Return to Resources and Links

Rats, mice, birds, amphibians and other animals have been excluded from coverage by the Animal Welfare Act. Therefore research facility reports do not include these animals. As a result of this situation, a blank report, or one with few animals listed, does not mean that a facility has not performed experiments on non-reportable animals. A blank form does mean that the facility in question has not used covered animals (primates, dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, pigs, sheep, goats, etc.). Rats and mice alone are believed to comprise over 90% of the animals used in experimentation. Therefore the majority of animals used at research facilities are not even counted.