Computational model of the effect of light scattering from cataracts in the human eye.

A model of the human eye has been developed, including scattering from cataracts inside the nucleus of the lens. The cataracts are modeled as spherical particles with refractive index different from that of the surrounding lens medium. Scattering from the retina is also included in the simulations. Variations of scattering particle diameter, number of particles, and wavelength of the illuminating light are investigated. It is shown that particle size is the most important parameter affecting the scattered light, and that the scattering from the retina can mask the effect of the scattering particles, for some range of the parameters.