Cataract Vision Mimicked By Means Of Protein Denaturation In Egg Albumen

TL;DR

This paper presents an innovative optical device using egg albumen to simulate cataract-induced vision impairment, aiding education and patient understanding of cataract progression.

Contribution

The study introduces the first experimental system that mimics cataract effects on vision using protein denaturation in egg albumen, providing a new educational tool.

Findings

Successfully mimicked cataract vision impairment

Demonstrated potential for medical education and patient communication

First of its kind experimental optical simulation

Abstract

As the world's population ages, cataract-induced visual dysfunction and blindness is on the increase. This is a significant global problem. The most common symptoms of cataracts are glared and blurred vision. Usually, people with cataract have trouble seeing or reading at distance or in low light and also their color perception is altered. Furthermore, cataract is a sneaky disease as it is usually a very slow but progressive process, which creates adaptation so that patients find it difficult to recognize. Moreover, for the doctors it can be very difficult to explain and give comprehensive answers to the patients' symptoms. We built and tested an optic device that uses egg albumen to mimic the optical degradation of the crystalline related cataracts and that is able to visualize how the cataract impairs vision. At best of our knowledge, it is the first experimental system developed at this aim. This can be a valuable tool, which can be of help in education for students in medical sciences as well as to provide a method to illustrate the patients how their vision is affected by cataract progression process.