ABSTRACT
The first report of an eye accident came only nine months after the first practical demonstration of a laser. At the same time, the application of lasers to medicine was also developing apace and, only a few months later, a ruby laser was being used in ophthalmology for photocoagulation. The dream of non-contact precise surgery was to some extent fulfilled by subsequent generations of lasers which soon became commonplace in hospital theatres and outpatient clinics. This is one of the rare situations in which someone is exposed to the direct laser beam, and its desctructive properties employed for the benefit of the irradiated individual. This brings peculiar requirements with respect to laser safety. In this chapter some of the basic elements of biomedical laser safety1 are explored, beginning with a discussion of what happens when things go wrong.
D3.5.2 Laser accidents
