"Iris photography" is a big hit! Taking photos of your eyeballs, doctors warn: It's dangerous!

Review expert: Peng Guoqiu, deputy chief physician of the Fourth Medical Center of the General Hospital of the Chinese People's Liberation Army

"Iris photo" has become popular recently

Many netizens and merchants

Post photos on social media platforms

With romantic copywriting

Many couples

It is also a kind of emotional testimony

The reason why "iris photos" are so popular is that everyone's iris is different and unique. However, the instantaneous strong light when taking "iris photos" also makes many people feel strongly uncomfortable. So, will "iris photos" cause damage to the eyes when taking them? Can everyone take photos?

Iris Photo

Before understanding "iris photography", let us first understand the protagonist of the photography - the iris.

Iris

The iris is a flat, circular membrane in the middle layer of the eyeball wall. If the eye is a window, then the iris is the curtain of this window.

Internal structure of the human eye Source: Science Popularization China

In appearance, it is a donut-shaped membrane between the pupil and the white of the eye in the center of the eyeball.

The color of the iris varies from race to race. The amount of pigment contained in the iris determines the color of the iris. This is why people have eyes of various colors, such as black, brown, yellow, blue, and green.

unique

We can look closely at our eyes in the mirror and find that the pupils will expand and shrink depending on the intensity of the light. The texture of the iris will be clearly visible, and the spots, filaments, stripes and other detailed features on the iris are determined in a random combination before we are born, and once formed, they will remain unchanged throughout our lives.

Experts say that the texture characteristics of the iris, like human fingerprints, contain a lot of unique personal information. In other words, the iris is unique, stable, and anti-counterfeiting, making it the preferred choice in biometric recognition technology.

The iris contains a wealth of biological information, and once it is fixed in childhood, it remains unchanged throughout life. Compared with DNA recognition, which is difficult to sample and slow to identify, iris recognition has many advantages, such as being fast and accurate.

Iris Photo

Now that we know what the iris is, let’s talk about “iris photography”. As the name suggests, it is to take a photo of the iris, and it is a high-definition artistic photo. So, how is an “iris photography” taken?

It is understood that the shooting method of "iris photography" is similar to that of examining the eyes in a hospital. First, the customer places his chin on a tray, strong light on both sides will illuminate the pupils, and then a camera at the front will take a close-up shot.

By photographing the iris inside the human eye and then rendering it later, you can get a unique "iris photo".

Shooting "Iris Photo" Source: China National Radio

The principle is to magnify part of the iris to show its fine structure, which has been widely used in medicine.

"Iris Photo" shooting machine. Source: Da Wan News

Will iris photography damage my eyes?

Experts say that the principle of iris photography is to magnify the part of the iris to show its fine structure. It has been widely used in medicine and generally does not cause harm to the human eye. However, since strong light is often required at the moment of shooting, if the light is too strong and the light energy is focused instantly, it is still possible to cause light damage to the retina. Experts recommend that when shooting, keep your eyes away from strong light as much as possible, and do not stare at the light source. Frequent shooting is also not recommended.

In addition, another expert also said that if strong light exposure is required for a long time and repeated exposure, it may cause damage to those with eye diseases. Therefore, it is not recommended for patients with eye diseases such as keratoconjunctivitis, fundus lesions, or those who have recently undergone eye surgery to have iris portraits.

Experts all mentioned a key word: "strong light", so what harm will strong light bring to our eyes?

What are the dangers of shining strong light into the eyes?

When a strong light suddenly shines into the eye, it directly passes through the lens and vitreous body to reach the retina, causing a very high level of oxidative stress on the retina. This consumption of light-sensitive substances is very large, which can cause temporary blindness.

Schematic diagram of eye imaging

When the eyes are exposed to strong light, the pupils will shrink. If they are exposed to strong light for a long time, the pupils will also be in a shrunk state. If this lasts too long, it will cause eye muscle spasms, eye swelling, dizziness and other discomforts.

Source: Guangzhou CDC

At the same time, being in a strong light environment will irritate the eyes, causing eye fatigue, dry eyes, tears, etc., aggravating eye fatigue and causing vision loss. Some strong lights can also release a large amount of blue light. Long-term exposure can cause macular edema and inflammation. In severe cases, it can also cause solar macula lesions, which are irreversible.