A fiber optic probe that was utilized in the space program has been shown to be a valuable tool in medical settings as a way to help doctors detect cataracts. This probe is the first non-invasive way that has been found to detect cataracts – a leading cause of vision loss worldwide.
Researchers from the National Eye Institute (NEI) developed a way to measure a protein that was discovered to be the precursor to cataracts.
Subtle changes in the protein, if detected early, could lead to a patient changing his or her lifestyle including quitting smoking, stopping the use of certain medications, controlling diabetes and reducing sun exposure. The change in the level of the protein would alert the patient’s doctor to the increased potential risk at a stage early enough to allow the patient to implement lifestyle changes.
In the past, by the time a patient’s eye has turned cloudy from the cataract, it is too late to medically treat or to reverse. The only option available has been surgical removal of the cataract. Researchers were quoted as saying, “This technology detects the earliest damage to lens proteins, triggering an early warning for cataract formation and blindness.”
The way it works is that the device operates on a laser light technology called, dynamic light scattering (DLS). DLS had been developed as a way to analyze the growth of protein crystals in zero-gravity space. The link between proteins in zero-gravity and as a cause for cataracts was made and the device was reconfigured for use in medical settings.
There are several proteins that lead to the formation of cataracts, but one – alpha-crystallin – works as the eye’s own anti-cataract molecule. This alpha-crystallin binds to other proteins only when they become damaged; when this happens the proteins bunch together and form the cloudy cataract. Because humans were born with a finite amount of alpha-crystallin, it’s important that it not be depleted and depletion occurs because of diabetes, exposure to the sun, smoking and other causes.
Understanding the changes in the proteins offers physicians the ability to look at cataracts as not just an eye disease, but as a window into whole body health of the patient.
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