Modeling of conductive and convective heat transfers in retinal laser treatments

Tumor thermo treatment such as photodynamic therapy (PDT) or transpupillary thermotherapy (TTT) deal with long term and large laser spot exposures. The induced temperature increase is not exactly known [1]. Under these conditions convective heat transfers due to the blood flow in the choroid and the choriocapillaris must be considered in addition to the usually calculated heat conduction. From an existing analytical model defining a unique convective term for the whole fundus irradiated with Gaussian irradiance distribution lasers [2], we developed a numerical one allowing a precise modelling of convection and calculating heating evolution and temperature profiles of the fundus of the eye. The aim of this study is to present the modelling and several comparisons between experimental results [3] and numerical ones concerning the convective heat transfers inside the fundus of the eye.