Flash blindness is an either temporary or permanent visual impairment during and following exposure of a varying length of time to a light flash of extremely high intensity, such as a nuclear explosion, flash photograph, lightning strike, or extremely bright light, i.e. a searchlight, laser pointer, landing lights or ultraviolet light. [1] The bright light overwhelms the retinas of the eyes and generally gradually fades, lasting anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. However, if the eyes are exposed to a high enough level of light, such as a nuclear explosion, the blindness can become permanent.
Flash blindness may also occur in everyday life. For example, the subject of a flash photograph can be temporarily flash blinded. This phenomenon is leveraged in non-lethal weapons such as flash grenades and laser dazzlers.
Flash blindness is caused by bleaching (oversaturation) of the retinal pigment. [2] As the pigment returns to normal, so too does sight. In daylight the eye's pupil constricts, thus reducing the amount of light entering after a flash. At night, the dark-adapted pupil is wide open, so flash blindness has a greater effect and lasts longer.
Depending on the source consulted, the term "flash blindness" may exclusively refer to a temporary condition, or may describe a potentially permanent one. Some sources, such as NATO and the U.S. Department of Defense, state that "flash blindness" can be temporary or permanent. [3] Other sources restrict the use of the word to temporary, reversible vision loss, distinguishing it from permanent blindness in a hierarchy of effects: "when the eye perceives bright light one of four reactions may take place. These are, in order of increasing brightness: dazzle, after image formation, flash blindness, and irreversible damage. [...] Flash blindness occurs when an extremely bright flash is discharged, usually at night, and again vision is temporarily lost." [4] The United States Federal Aviation Administration defines flash blindness in Order JO 7400.2 as "generally, a temporary visual interference effect that persists after the source of the illumination has ceased." [5]
Because vision loss is sudden and takes time to recover, flash blindness can be hazardous. At some sporting events such as figure skating, fans are cautioned to not use flash photography so as to avoid distracting or disorienting the athletes. Also in aviation, there is concern about laser pointers and bright searchlights causing temporary flash blindness and other vision-distracting effects to pilots who are in critical phases of flight such as approach and landing.
The bright initial flash of a nuclear weapon is the first indication of a nuclear explosion, traveling faster than the blast wave or sound wave. [6] "A 1-megaton explosion can cause flash blindness at distances as great as 13 miles (21 km) on a clear day, or 53 miles (85 km) on a clear night. If the intensity is great enough, a permanent retinal burn (photic retinopathy) will result." [7]
It is unclear whether pain is directly associated with flash blindness.[ citation needed ] Reaction to flash blindness can be discomforting and disorienting, but the retina itself has no pain receptors, [8] unlike the cornea. However, psychological pain could potentially occur in response to loss of vision. This can cause amplified stress levels, but such effects usually fade over time.
Welders can get a painful condition called arc eye. While it is caused by bright light similar to flash blindness, the welder's arc lasts for much longer than flash blindness and involves exposure to ultraviolet rays that can damage the cornea. Flash blindness, in contrast, is caused by a single, very brief exposure which oversaturates the retina, and is not usually accompanied by reports of pain.
Diabetic retinopathy, is a medical condition in which damage occurs to the retina due to diabetes. It is a leading cause of blindness in developed countries and one of the lead causes of sight loss in the world, even though there are many new therapies and improved treatments for helping people live with diabetes.
A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens of the eye that leads to a decrease in vision of the eye. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colours, blurry or double vision, halos around light, trouble with bright lights, and difficulty seeing at night. This may result in trouble driving, reading, or recognizing faces. Poor vision caused by cataracts may also result in an increased risk of falling and depression. Cataracts cause 51% of all cases of blindness and 33% of visual impairment worldwide.
Floaters or eye floaters are sometimes visible deposits within the eye's vitreous humour, which is normally transparent, or between the vitreous and retina. They can become particularly noticeable when looking at a blank surface or an open monochromatic space, such as blue sky. Each floater can be measured by its size, shape, consistency, refractive index, and motility. They are also called muscae volitantes, or mouches volantes. The vitreous usually starts out transparent, but imperfections may gradually develop as one ages. The common type of floater, present in most people's eyes, is due to these degenerative changes of the vitreous. The perception of floaters, which may be annoying or problematic to some people, is known as myodesopsia, or, less commonly, as myodaeopsia, myiodeopsia, or myiodesopsia. It is not often treated, except in severe cases, where vitrectomy (surgery), laser vitreolysis, and medication may be effective.
Photokeratitis or ultraviolet keratitis is a painful eye condition caused by exposure of insufficiently protected eyes to the ultraviolet (UV) rays from either natural or artificial sources. Photokeratitis is akin to a sunburn of the cornea and conjunctiva.
The effects of a nuclear explosion on its immediate vicinity are typically much more destructive and multifaceted than those caused by conventional explosives. In most cases, the energy released from a nuclear weapon detonated within the lower atmosphere can be approximately divided into four basic categories:
This is a partial list of human eye diseases and disorders.
Retinal detachment is a disorder of the eye in which the retina peels away from its underlying layer of support tissue. Initial detachment may be in a very small region, but without rapid treatment the entire retina may detach, leading to vision loss and blindness. It is a surgical emergency.
Laser radiation safety is the safe design, use and implementation of lasers to minimize the risk of laser accidents, especially those involving eye injuries. Since even relatively small amounts of laser light can lead to permanent eye injuries, the sale and usage of lasers is typically subject to government regulations.
A red eye is an eye that appears red due to illness or injury. It is usually injection and prominence of the superficial blood vessels of the conjunctiva, which may be caused by disorders of these or adjacent structures. Conjunctivitis and subconjunctival hemorrhage are two of the less serious but more common causes.
A laser pointer or laser pen is a handheld device that uses a laser diode to emit a narrow low-power visible laser beam to highlight something of interest with a small bright colored spot.
Retinal hemorrhage is a disorder of the eye in which bleeding occurs in the retina, the light sensitive tissue, located on the back wall of the eye. There are photoreceptor cells in the retina called rods and cones, which transduce light energy into nerve signals that can be processed by the brain to form visual images. Retinal hemorrhage is strongly associated with child abuse in infants and young children and often leaves such abused infants permanently blind. In older children and adults, retinal hemorrhage can be caused by several medical conditions such as hypertension, retinal vein occlusion, anemia, leukemia or diabetes.
A dazzler is a non-lethal weapon which uses intense directed radiation to temporarily disorient its target with flash blindness. They can effectively deter further advances, regardless of language or cultural barriers, but can also be used for hailing and warning. Targets can include electronic sensors as well as human vision.
Photopsia is the presence of perceived flashes of light in the field of vision.
Coats' disease is a rare congenital, nonhereditary eye disorder, causing full or partial blindness, characterized by abnormal development of blood vessels behind the retina. Coats' disease can also fall under glaucoma.
Under certain conditions, laser light or other bright lights directed at aircraft can be a hazard. The most likely scenario is when a bright visible laser light causes distraction or temporary flash blindness to a pilot, during a critical phase of flight such as landing or takeoff. It is far less likely, though still possible, that a visible or invisible beam could cause permanent harm to a pilot's eyes. Although laser weapons are under development by armed forces, these are so specialized, expensive and controlled that it is improbable for non-military lasers to cause structural damage to an aircraft.
On 4 April 1997, a Canadian Armed Forces helicopter was allegedly illuminated by a laser while observing the Russian merchant ship and suspected spy vessel Kapitan Man, which was in the Strait of Juan de Fuca in U.S. territorial waters near Port Angeles, Washington. The Canadian Air Force pilot and the U.S. Navy passenger, who was taking photographs of the ship, reportedly suffered eye pain and injuries consistent with laser exposure. However, subsequent investigations into the incident were unable to verify that any lasing had occurred.
A vision disorder is an impairment of the sense of vision.
Retinal migraine is a retinal disease often accompanied by migraine headache and typically affects only one eye. It is caused by ischaemia or vascular spasm in or behind the affected eye.
Gholam A. Peyman is an Iranian American ophthalmologist, retina surgeon, and inventor. He is best known for his invention of LASIK eye surgery, a vision correction procedure designed to allow people to see clearly without glasses. He was awarded the first US patent for the procedure in 1989.
Photic retinopathy is damage to the eye's retina, particularly the macula, from prolonged exposure to solar radiation or other bright light, e.g., lasers or arc welders. The term includes solar, laser, and welder's retinopathy and is synonymous with retinal phototoxicity. It usually occurs due to staring at the Sun, watching a solar eclipse, or viewing an ultraviolet, Illuminant D65, or other bright light.[1]
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