Effect of laser UV radiation on the eye scleral tissue in patients with open-angle glaucoma

We report the results of an experimental study of the effect of short-pulse laser UV radiation on the eye scleral tissue. As samples, we used isolated flaps of the eye scleral tissue from the patients with open-angle glaucoma of the second and third stages. The impact was implemented using the radiation of an excimer XeCl laser with a wavelength of 308 nm and a laser with a wavelength tunable within from 210 to 355 nm. Depending on the problem to be solved, the energy density on the surface of the irradiated tissue varied from a fraction of mJ cm^-2 to 15 J cm^-2. For the first time we studied the optical properties of the intraocular fluid in the UV and blue spectral range. The study of the ablation process under the action of radiation with a wavelength of 308 nm showed that the rate of material evaporation can vary within 25%–30% at an energy density above 7 J cm^-2, depending on the glaucoma stage and the individual features of a patient. The excitation–emission matrices of laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) of the eye scleral tissue were studied experimentally using a laser with a wavelength tuned in the range 210–355 nm. We found the differences in the LIF spectra caused by the excitation wavelength and the openangle glaucoma stage.