An interface to aid rural health workers in the preliminary diagnosis of cataract at the slit lamp using LOCS III

Abstract

In India there is an inequitable distribution of wealth and resources; while 70% of population lives in villages, about 80 % of ophthalmologists practice in cities [4]. India has 1 ophthalmologist per 100,000 of its population [4] and this ratio is even more dismal for rural areas. In such circumstances, ophthalmologist- based model is not a cost- effective screening method. On the other hand, an ophthalmologist led screening model offers a cost-effective and feasible screening model for screening of eye diseases. Such a model can be beneficial in filling the critical gaps in the government health services. Based on ethnographic studies conducted in Assam, India, We propose and discuss the design of an experimental interactive interface that can help trained rural health workers diagnose and classify the extent of cataract in the preliminary stages. This has two significant benefits:1. The Cataract patients, usually old, and living in rural areas do not have to travel miles away from home only to be told to come back a few months later as the cataract was not sufficiently mature for a surgery yet.2. It provides for a more efficient system that helps the already overburdened ophthalmologists concentrate their time on patients who actually need immediate surgeries thus directly influencing the quality of eye care.