Document Type
Theses, Ph.D
Rights
Available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 4.0 International Licence
Disciplines
1.3 PHYSICAL SCIENCES
Abstract
The increase of terrestrial solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) due to the reduction of the ozone layer has promoted a variety of research into establishing the impact of this elevated potential dose of UVR on biological tissues. Anterior ocular tissues such as the cornea have been found to be susceptible to damage by terrestrial solar UVR and diseases such as pterygium are commonly thought to be a direct result of absorbed UVR at the nasal limbus. There is a need for more accurate quantification and localisation of incident UVR at the anterior ocular surface. A novel solar blind photodiode sensor array system has been designed, constructed and tested for this purpose. The distribution of terrestrial solar UVR across the palpebral fissure for two test subjects has been quantified for a range of head orientations under different environmental conditions. The results herein outline the protection provided by different facial anatomies and the methodology has been proven through the repeatability of measurements over a range of cardinal point orientations. Added to the ambient terrestrial irradiance across the palpebral fissure, the phenomenon of Peripheral Light Focusing (PLF) has been investigated. Through the incorporation of modeling software and an anatomically based artificial eye, a novel fibre optic method has been developed to measure the corneal transmission in vivo.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21427/D7XG6P
Recommended Citation
Fleming, David P. (2008). Quantification of the environmental solar ultraviolet radiation field at the human eye and the investigation of peripherally focused rays. Technological University Dublin. doi:10.21427/D7XG6P
Publication Details
Sucessfully submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) to the Technological University Dublin, 2008.