A Practical Guide to Portable Pupillometry

‘Merlin Larson is the world’s authority on pupils and anesthesia and has spent his life studying this fascinating and under-appreciated window into the brain. In this monograph, Prof. Larson presents an engaging non-technical history of the pupil and clearly explains how pupillary measurements have improved our understanding of anesthesia. It is well worth reading!’ Daniel I. Sessler, M.D., Professor and Michael Cudahy Chair, Outcomes Research Consortium, Cleveland Clinic‘Merlin Larson absolutely nails this practical guide to portable pupillometry, setting the tone and capturing the reader with the fascinating history of thoughts on the pupil as a window to the soul, the heart, and the brain. Prof. Larson brings his decades-long journey, in the fashion of his former colleague, John Severinghaus, to describe how he and others have created this important tool and its many practical applications in perioperative and critical care medicine. The large majority of this book provides fundamental concepts of anatomy, circuitry, physiology, and pharmacology which are presented in an easy-to-understand manner without talking down to the reader. The book succeeds in being extremely up to date while taking pains to include how this tool is likely to evolve in the near future. As a researcher who utilizes desktop pupillometry on a regular basis, I learned much from this book and wish it had been available when I first started study of this fascinating structure.’ James C. Eisenach, M.D., Professor, Department of Anesthesiology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina‘Portable Pupillometry is increasingly being used as a diagnostic tool in clinical practice and holds tremendous promise to further expand our monitoring abilities of central nervous function. However, few users of infrared pupillometry are aware about its diagnostic possibilities and limitations or know about its many established - and potential future - clinical applications. This book closes this gap, serving both as an introduction to the field and as a reference to the experienced clinician or researcher using pupillometry. As the leading expert in the field of portable pupillometry, Merlin Larson’s pioneering work laid the foundations of pupillometry use in anesthesia, pain management and resuscitation. This book gives the reader access to Dr. Larson’s vast knowledge in an exciting, expanding field of clinical care and scientific exploration.’ Matthias Behrends, M.D., Health Science Clinical Professor, Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, UCSF, Medical Director of Inpatient Pain Services

Merlin D. Larson is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine. He originated the idea of portable infrared pupillometry, authoring the first papers on its use and his various works are essential reading material for those who use the technology.