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| Prototype phone with EyeCatra device attached and results shown on screen. |
Problem statement: According to the World Health Organization,
cataracts are the leading cause of blindness in mid- and lowincome countries.
India has the largest number of blind people globally—15 million—yet there is
only one doctor for every 100,000 people, leaving the majority of cataract
cases undetected.
Goal: To improve early cataract detection and free up the limited
number of ophthalmologists to concentrate on surgery.
Solution: EyeCatra, a portable self-evaluation eye diagnostic tool
that attaches to a cell phone and uses a light-scattering technique to scan and
map the eye for cataracts. It can be used in rural homes, schools, pharmacies,
and health clinics.
SDM contribution: SDM ’11 students Vivin Nath, Nirmalya Banerjee,
and Rupreet Singh Soni are part of the EyeCatra team.
Learn more: Visit EyeCatra at web.media.mit.edu/~pamplona/CATRA/.
Read about SDM students’ contributions at globalchallenge.mit.edu/teams/view/200 and web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2011/netra-cataracts-app-0701.html.
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| This cell phone display shows two maps of a patient's eye created by an EyeCatra scan. The first is an opacity map that shows binary information (does or does not have) regarding cataracts for each section of the lens. The second is an attenuation map created by measuring the brightness of two alternating paths of light through the lens. |
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