Infrared radiation was discovered in 1800 by William Herschel and for humans, it is impossible to see it since it is outside the visual spectrum . However, an international team of researchers has discovered that under certain special conditions, the retina is capable of detecting this infrared light.
For their research, the experts used cells from the retina of mice and humans and powerful lasers that emit pulses of infrared light, finding that when the pulses of laser light were emitted rapidly, the light-sensitive cells in the retina sometimes received a double hit of infrared energy and, therefore, the eye was able to detect this light that falls outside the visible spectrum.
“We have experimented with laser pulses of different duration that deliver the same total number of photons, and found that the smaller the pulse, the more likely it was that a person could see it, ” the scientists explain.
Researchers are already working on a new type of ophthalmoscope that can help doctors stimulate parts of the retina to learn more about the retina and the health of the eyes.
“We are using what we learned in these experiments to try to develop a new tool that would allow physicians not only to examine eyesight , but also to stimulate certain parts of the retina to determine if it is working properly,” explains Vladimir J. Kefalov, leader. of the study.
The study has been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
