# What opthalmic lenses/microscopes are capable of viewing eye floaters in the vitreous humor?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-opthalmic-lenses-microscopes-are-capable-of-viewing-eye-floaters-in-the-vitreous-humor/792506>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 31, 2017, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-opthalmic-lenses-microscopes-are-capable-of-viewing-eye-floaters-in-the-vitreous-humor/792506 "2017-07-31T15:26:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![cowardsflight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@cowardsflight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowardsflight)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-opthalmic-lenses-microscopes-are-capable-of-viewing-eye-floaters-in-the-vitreous-humor/792506/1 "2017-07-31T15:26:57Z")

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This is a personal venture of mine but very important.

I suffer from eye floaters that I definitely didn’t have 5 years ago despite what some doctors say about everyone having them. Quite bothersome. They are translucent and appear quite large when moving my eyes around but an optometrist said they were very tiny in reality when observing them through a ‘scope’ and probably appeared to me as large because of refraction.

I was given a €500 gift card by a relative but the catch is that it can only be spent at an photography/ optics shop online. I thought perhaps I could capture my floaters with a Nikon D3100 but I’m not sure if the lens is powerful.

What would the best tool be?

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**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-opthalmic-lenses-microscopes-are-capable-of-viewing-eye-floaters-in-the-vitreous-humor/792506/2 "2017-07-31T16:04:26Z")

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Matbe these links can get you started:

> **[See Inside Your Own Eyes](https://makezine.com/projects/see-inside-your-own-eyes/)**
>
> The Shadowscope, the Transilluminator, the Light Swirler, and the Brain Scanner give you a personal glimpse into your own eyes.

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/OiiobuS9neA/maxresdefault.jpg "How to Do Your Own Fundus Exam") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiiobuS9neA)

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**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-opthalmic-lenses-microscopes-are-capable-of-viewing-eye-floaters-in-the-vitreous-humor/792506/3 "2017-07-31T16:14:09Z")

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This isn’t one of those things they teach in Optics school. Marvin’s sites are probably about as anything I could dig up without a long search.

In the meantime, there’s this: [http://www.west-op.com/vitreousfloat.html](http://www.west-op.com/vitreousfloat.html)

> [@](#):
>
> Vitreous Floater Eye Model
> 
> Item# 15153
> 
> Regular price: $99.95
> 
> Sale price: $49.00  
> The Siepser Vitreous Floater Demonstrator Eye Model provides an authentic and realistic representation of the vitreous floater condition. Shine your penlight through the floater model’s lens to create shadows on the macula for the patient to clearly observe! No protracted verbal explaination necessary.  
> .

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**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-opthalmic-lenses-microscopes-are-capable-of-viewing-eye-floaters-in-the-vitreous-humor/792506/4 "2017-07-31T16:20:04Z")

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Here’s a paper on studying floaters, and the various methods researchers have used to study them. These don’t look as if they’d be easy to replicate at home:

> **[Chapter-V.B.8.-FLOATERS-corr-copy.pdf](https://www.vmrinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Chapter-V.B.8.-FLOATERS-corr-copy.pdf)**
>
> 2.35 MB

Huang, L. C., Yee, K. M., Wa, C. A., Nguyen, J. N., Sadun, A. A., & Sebag, J. (2014). VB 8. Vitreous Floaters and Vision: Current Concepts and Management Paradigms. In Vitreous (pp. 771-788). Springer New York.