Malcolm Plunkett

Nanosecond pulse lasers for retinal applications

Thermal lasers are routinely used to treat certain retinal disorders although they cause collateral damage to photoreceptors. The current study evaluated a confined, non‐conductive thermal, 3‐nanosecond pulse laser in order to determine how to produce the greatest therapeutic range without causing collateral damage. Data were compared with that obtained from a standard thermal laser.

Rapid and delayed death of cultured trabecular meshwork cells after selective laser trabeculoplasty

Selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) is becoming increasingly employed to reduce elevated intraocular pressure in glaucoma patients. SLT is known to target the ocular trabecular meshwork (TM), but the exact response mechanisms to this treatment have not been clearly delineated. The aim of the present study, therefore, was to investigate the modes of death of cultured bovine TM cells subjected to SLT in vitro.

Investigations into localized re‐treatment of the retina with a 3‐nanosecond laser

Subvisual retinal lasers necessarily cause clinically invisible lesions, hence, they could intentionally or inadvertently be targeted at precisely the same or an overlapping location during repeat laser treatment. Herein, we investigated the structural integrity and cellular responses of localized re‐treatment using a nanosecond laser (2RT) currently in trials for early age‐related macular degeneration.