Predicting the incidence of human cataract through retinal imaging technology

Abstract

With the progress of science, technology and medicine, the proportion of elderly people in society has gradually increased over the years. Thus, the medical care and health issues of this population have drawn increasing attention. In particular, among the common medical problems of the elderly, the occurrence of cataracts has been widely observed. In this study, we developed retinal imaging technology by establishing a human eye module with ray tracing. Periodic hole arrays with different degrees were constructed on the anterior surface of the lens to emulate the eyesight decline caused by cataracts. Then, we successfully predicted the incidence of cataracts among people with myopia ranging from -3.0 D to -9.0 D. Results show that periodic hole arrays cause severe eyesight decline when they are centralized in the visual center. However, the wide distribution of these arrays on the anterior surface of the lens would not significantly affect one’s eyesight.