Data-Driven Biomechanical Simulation of Eye Movement and Strabismus

The long-term goal of this proposal is more effective treatment of binocular misalignment (strabismus) by advancing knowledge and understanding of the oculomotor system. Strabismus affects 18 million people in the US1 and causes double vision, binocular confusion, eyestrain, and other symptoms that impairing daily activities2,3. Effective diagnosis and treatment of strabismus are impeded by several factors: (1) accurate diagnosis is difficult because strabismus is associated with multiple underlying causes with overlapping symptoms2,4,5, (2) surgical treatment of strabismus is challenging because it requires precise manipulation of extraocular muscles (EOMs) to correct anatomical, biomechanical, or neurological defects, and surgical success rates are as low as 30%6,7, (3) inadequate understanding of oculomotor biomechanics and neural control has led to a profusion of different surgical techniques based on heuristics, intuition, & experience, none systematically evaluated for effect 5,7. Surgical thinking now badly lags modern understanding of functional anatomy of the ocular motor system.