Transmission spectra of light to the mammalian retina

A simple method has been developed to determine the optical properties of t he anterior segment of the intact eye, This consists of a probe that is ins erted into the posterior sclera and detects light passing through the anter ior segment. The probe is connected to a charge-coupled device spectrophoto meter via a fiber optic bundle. it was determined that the young rat anteri or segment transmits light down to 300 nm, whereas calf and rabbit eyes tra nsmit no UVB and only part of the UVA to the posterior segment. The absorbi ng species in these animals is most likely NAD(P)H, which has an absorption maximum at similar to 345 nm and Is associated with zeta-crystallin. A you ng primate anterior segment transmits almost no UV with a steep increase in transmission at CA 400 nm. Because some experiments employed a light tube that is used to illuminate the retina during vitrectomies, this method can be used to determine the transmission spectra of the anterior segment of hu mans in vivo.