Combined microwave energy and fixative agent for cataract induction in pig eyes.

We describe a technique used in enucleated pig eyes to create a uniformly hardened lens nucleus and an anterior capsule similar to the cataractous human lens. After treatment with microwave heat and a fixative agent, the pig eyes have clear corneas, anterior capsules with less tension and elasticity, and harder lens nuclei, with a consistency similar to that of a nuclear sclerosis grade I to V in the Emery-Little classification. The eyes can be used by residents in training to practice various phacoemulsification techniques, including continuous curvilinear capsulorhexis, hydrodelineation, sculpting, divide and conquer, phaco chop, and nondividing phacoemulsification.