title: High-fidelity cataract surgery simulation and third world blindness.
abstract: The burden of global cataract blindness continues to rise, because the number of surgical ophthalmologists is insufficient, and they are unevenly distributed. There is an urgent need to train surgeons quickly and comprehensively in high-quality, low-cost cataract removal techniques. The authors suggest manual small-incision cataract surgery as a safe alternative to phacoemulsification cataract surgery in the developing world. They discuss the development of a novel, full-immersion, physics-based surgical training simulator as the centerpiece of a scalable, comprehensive training system for manual small-incision cataract surgery.
authors.affiliation: Kansas University School of Medicine, Prairie Village, KS, USA.
authors.forename: Ajay
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Help Me See, Tyler, TX, USA gstrauss@helpmesee.org.
authors.forename: Glenn H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Strauss
mesh_terms: D001766:Blindness; D002386:Cataract; D002387:Cataract Extraction / Q000193:education*; D003906:Developing Countries; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans
keywords: cataract blindness; manual small-incision cataract surgery; surgical simulators