Evaluation of Aircrew Low-Intensity Threat Laser Eye Protection.

Evaluation of Aircrew Low-Intensity Threat Laser Eye Protection. Mil Med. 2019 Mar 01;184(Supplement_1):593-603 Authors: Reddix MD, Funke ME, Kinney MJ, Bradley JL, Irvin G, Rea EJ, Kunkle CK, McCann MB, Gomez J Abstract Prototype low-intensity threat laser eye protection (LIT-LEP) spectacles were evaluated for US Coast Guard (USCG) cockpits and night vision goggle compatibility. The impetus for interest in aviation LIT-LEP is driven in part by the fact that easily accessible 0.5-2.0 W high-power laser pointers exceed safety standards for direct on-axis viewing. A repeated-measures experimental design was used to assess LIT-LEP performance relative to a no-LEP control for the following tasks: Near- and far contrast acuity, night vision goggle far-contrast acuity, emissive and non-emissive light source color-vision screening, and USCG multifunctional display color symbol discrimination reaction time and accuracy. Near- and far-contrast acuity results demonstrated good LIT-LEP performance for typical in- and out-of-cockpit lighting conditions. Night vision goggle performance suffered marginally at only one contrast level (85%; 20/30 acuity line). Color vision test results showed good color balance in that S-, M-, and L-cone performance did not demonstrate a clinical diagnostic color defect for emissive or non-emissive light sources when wearing LIT-LEP. Color symbol discrimination reaction-time-task results based on inverse efficiency ...
Source: Military Medicine - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Mil Med Source Type: research