Palpation by blind examiners: A novel approach for glaucoma screening

Abstract

Fatemeh Heidary, Reza Gharebaghi, Roghayeh HeidaryMiddle East Cancer Institute, Tehran, IranAbstract: Although there are several risk factors for glaucoma, elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) remains the major risk factor. Palpation is one of the oldest, simplest, and least expensive methods for approximate IOP assessment. Researchers believe that blind individuals may possess a more acutely developed sense of touch, which has already proved to be beneficial in clinical breast examination to detect early breast cancer. Based on successful findings of a project that used blind and visually impaired individuals as breast examiners, we hypothesize that blind individuals may also serve as successful examiners for estimation of IOP using tactile palpation.Keywords: tactile palpation, visual impairment, blindness, intraocular pressure