Laser safety goggles
Eyewear with optical filter lenses (glass or polycarbonate with absorptive or reflective coatings) designed to block or attenuate specific laser wavelengths, labeled with the optical density (OD) and wavelength range for which they provide protection.
How it is used
Mandatory for all operating-room personnel whenever a surgical laser is active (e.g., holmium, thulium, CO2 laryngeal, dermatologic, ophthalmic YAG, or retinal argon lasers), as it protects the retina and cornea from a reflected or direct laser beam that could cause irreversible eye injury.
Clinical tip
Laser safety goggles are NOT universal: each pair is rated for a specific wavelength range and optical density (EN 207 standard in Europe, ANSI Z136.1 in the US), so staff must always confirm the goggles match the exact laser in use before activation; the wrong goggles can look protective while offering none.
Sources
This entry is part of the Instriq catalog, researched and written per specialty from real web research -- never generated or invented without verification -- and reviewed skeptically and independently before publication. How this catalog is written.
Image: Hankwang (Wikipedia/Wikimedia Commons). License CC BY-SA 3.0. View original source.
History
Added to the catalog on 2026-10-05.
Dates derived from the project's public version-control history on GitHub, not a live collaborative edit log.