Related Projects

Bupivacaine injection Treatment of Strabismus (NIH/NEI CoPIs: Alan B Scott, Joel M Miller)

Existing strabismus treatments rely on compensatory impairment of EOMs. Bupivacaine is a selective myotoxin with effects similar to mechanical overloading: myofiber destruction followed by rapid regeneration. We intend to harness its potential to increase contractile & elastic muscle forces as unique treatments for strabismus and other muscle disorders.

Scott AB, Alexander DE, Miller JM (2007). Bupivacaine injection of eye muscles to treat strabismus. Br J Ophthalmol, vol 91, isu 2, pgs 146-148 (Paper PDF).

Scott AB, Miller JM, Shieh BS (2009). Bupivacaine injection of the lateral rectus muscle to treat esotropia. Journal of AAPOS, vol 13, pgs 119-122 (Paper PDF).

Bupivacaine dissociates sarcomeres, allowing satellite cells to rebuild a muscle at reduced length if its antagonist is temporarily weakened with a small dose of Botox. Seven comitant strabismus cases averaged 20 pd correction.

Scott AB, Miller JM, Shieh BS (2009). Treating strabismus by injecting the agonist muscle with bupivacaine and the antagonist with botulinum toxin. Transactions of the American Ophthamological Society, manuscript, In Press (Paper PDF).

EOM Forces & Neural Control of a Complex Oculomotor Plant

Motor control issues raised by conflicts between classical motoneuron studies and physiologic EOM force measurements • Forces in convergence. (InfoIcons illustrate paradoxical reduction of EOM force despite increased motoneuron firing in convergence, and the pulse-slide-step saccadic force profile).

Extraocular Biomechanics

Biomechanics of the eye, surrounding tissues and innervations • Computer model for researchers and clinicians

Extraocular Tissue Architecture

3-D architecture of the extraocular space, distinguishing striated muscle, smooth muscle, collagen, elastin, and other tissues. Techniques include MRI, histochemistry and 3D reconstruction from distorted slices using hierarchical warping and intrinsic fiducials

Direction Perception & Sensorimotor Adaptation

Egocentric direction of visual objects around the time of normal and gain-adapted saccades • Adaptation & displacement detection • Saccadic Gain Plasticity, in humans and monkeys, reflected in eye position and muscle force changes

LabOS Data Acquisition & Control for Biomedical Experiments - A new software system providing both a rich user interface and deterministic closed-loop control at biological rates of experiments specified by complex protocols.

Orbit™ 2: A Biomechanical Modeling Environment for Eye Movement & Orbital Reconstruction - Development of a Biomechanical Modeling Environment that is modern, platform-independent, and object-oriented, with a layered, graphical user interface.