THE DEVELOPMENT of cataract as a result of electromagnetic radiations is well established. Formerly it was supposed that this effect was unique to the action of infra-red, ultraviolet and roentgen radiations, although as early as 1926 in a survey of work in these fields Duke-Elder1 suggested that other portions of the spectrum, if of sufficient magnitude, might produce cataract. On the other hand, as late as 1944 it was the opinion of Bellows,2 basing his views on the work of Legge3 and of Hartridge and Hill,4 that electromagnetic waves longer than 20,000 angstrom units would be absorbed completely by the cornea.
In 1948 it was demonstrated by Richardson, Duane and Hines5 that lenticular opacities could be produced by continuous microwave radiations of 12.25 cm. wavelength. These observations were confirmed by the contemporary work of Daily, Wakim, Herrick and Parkhill,6 which was completed later in
RICHARDSON AW, DUANE TD, HINES HM. EXPERIMENTAL CATARACT PRODUCED BY THREE CENTIMETER PULSED MICROWAVE IRRADIATIONS. AMA Arch Ophthalmol. 1951;45(4):382–386. doi:10.1001/archopht.1951.01700010390004
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