New England College Of Optometry

VISION, EYE GROWTH RHYTHMS AND RETINAL SIGNALS IN REFRACTIVE DEVELOPMENT

LONGITUDINAL EVALUATION OF OPTICAL AND NEURAL FACTORS LEADING TO JUVENILE MYOPIA

CONE SENSITIVITY TO TEMPORAL CHANGES IN COLOR AND LUMINANCE AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF MYOPIA

ULTRAHIGH RESOLUTION RETINAL IMAGING WITH ADAPTIVE OPTICS FOR EARLY DIAGNOSIS OF TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY

CARE STUDY: COMMUNITY ACCESS THROUGH REMOTE EYESIGHT

COLLABORATIVE OBSERVATIONAL STUDY OF MYOPIA IN COMET CHILDREN

RESEARCH TRAINING AT NEW ENGLAND COLLEGE OF OPTOMETRY

OCULAR DIURNAL RHYTHMS AND EYE GROWTH

COLLABORATIVE OBSERVATIONAL STUDY OF MYOPIA IN COMET CHILDREN

ROLE OF OPTICAL ABERRATIONS IN 3D SPACE PERCEPTION: IMPLICATIONS FOR KERATOCONUS

SL - OPTOMETRY - LOAN GRANT WITH FUNDS FOR NEW BUDGET PERIOD

INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECT OF LENS REFRACTIVE INDEX ON THE MEASUREMENT OF AXIAL LENGTH OF THE HUMAN EYE FOR ACCOMMODATION AND CATARACT SURGERY - SUMMARY/ABSTRACT MEASUREMENTS OF THE AXIAL LENGTH (AL) OF THE EYE HAVE WIDE APPLICATIONS IN EYE RESEARCH AND THE CLINICAL PRACTICES OF OPTOMETRY AND OPHTHALMOLOGY. THE ACCURACY OF AL MEASUREMENTS DIRECTLY AFFECTS RESEARCH STUDIES RESULTS AND THE QUALITY OF VISION-RELATED CLINICAL TREATMENTS. CURRENT METHODS TO MEASURE AL MAKE ASSUMPTIONS OF THE REFRACTIVE INDEX OF THE CRYSTALLINE LENS (NLENS) THAT MAY INDUCE SIGNIFICANT MEASUREMENT ERRORS. IT IS THEREFORE HIGHLY IMPORTANT TO MEASURE THE NLENS OF INDIVIDUAL EYES. MEASUREMENT OF THE NLENS OF THE HUMAN EYE IN VIVO HAS FOR LONG BEEN A CHALLENGE, AND AS OF TODAY THERE ARE NO PRACTICAL METHODS TO MEASURE THE NLENS. ONE OF THE PIS (DR. HE) HAS RECENTLY DEVELOPED A METHOD TO MEASURE THE NLENS IN VIVO USING A RAY-TRACEABLE SCHEIMPFLUG IMAGING (RTSI) SYSTEM COMBINED WITH AN ANTERIOR SEGMENT OCT. ANOTHER PI (DR. WANG) HAS USED A WHOLE-EYE OCT (WE-OCT) TO MEASURE AL BEFORE. THE PRIMARY GOAL OF THE PROPOSED PROJECT IS TO COMBINE THE RTSI WITH A WHOLE-EYE OCT (WE-OCT) TO SIMULTANEOUSLY MEASURE THE NLENS AND AL IN HUMAN EYES IN VIVO. WITH THIS NOVEL, NON-CONTACT SYSTEM, THE MEASURED NLENS WILL BE USED TO DERIVE ACCURATE AL MEASUREMENTS FOR INDIVIDUAL EYES. THE SYSTEM WILL BE USED TO MEASURE THE CHANGE IN THE NLENS AND AL FOR A GROUP OF YOUNG ADULTS DURING ACCOMMODATION. THE RESULTS OF THIS STUDY MAY PROVIDE HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT INSIGHTS IN THE POSSIBLE ROLE OF ACCOMMODATION IN MYOPIA DEVELOPMENT, AS WELL AS A METHOD THAT CAN BE USED IN CLINIC WHEN MEASURING AL FOR MYOPIA CONTROL PURPOSES. THIS NOVEL SYSTEM WILL ALSO BE USED TO MEASURE THE NLENS AND AL FOR A GROUP OF PATIENTS WITH CATARACTS, BOTH PRE- AND POST-OPERATIVELY. THE RESULTS OF THIS SECOND STUDY MAY BE USED TO ANALYZE THE IMPACT OF MEASUREMENT ERROR OF THE AL DUE TO USING AN AVERAGE NLENS ON THE VISUAL QUALITY OF THESE PATIENTS AFTER IOL IMPLANTATION. SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THE STUDIES PROPOSED HERE WILL ALLOW US TO: (1) BETTER UNDERSTAND THE MECHANISM UNDERLYING MYOPIA DEVELOPMENT, (2) OBTAIN MORE ACCURATE MEASUREMENTS OF AL DURING CLINICAL CARE OF PATIENTS WITH MYOPIA, AND (3) UNDERSTAND THE IMPACT OF NLENS MEASUREMENT ON AL MEASUREMENT PRIOR TO CATARACT SURGERY. THE PROPOSED TECHNIQUE IS HIGHLY IMPACTFUL AND WILL POSE A SUBSTANTIAL BREAKTHROUGH IN THE METHODOLOGY FOR ACCURATELY MEASURING AL OF THE HUMAN EYE IN RESEARCH AND CLINICAL PRACTICE.

OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY EQUIPPED WAVEFRONT SYSTEM FOR STUDYING ACCOMMODATION

HIGHER EDUCATION EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND-IHE/INSTITUTIONAL PORTION

DEVELOPMENT OF A SCHEIMPFLUG IMAGING EQUIPPED OCT SYSTEM TO MEASURE GRADIENT REFRACTIVE INDEX OF THE LENS IN THE HUMAN EYE IN VIVO

RECORDING GAZE-CORRECTED ELECTRORETINOGRAMS USING EYE-TRACKING

TESTING A NOVEL EMMETROPIZATION MECHANISM MODEL BASED ON OPPONENT SPECTRAL/SPATIAL INFORMATION IN YOUNG CHILDREN - SUMMARY MYOPIA IS A COMMON CHILDHOOD CONDITION THAT TYPICALLY DEVELOPS WHEN THE NORMAL EMMETROPIZATION MECHANISM FAILS, AND IS CONSIDERED THE BIGGEST EYE THREAT OF THE CENTURY DUE TO ITS INCREASING PREVALENCE AND ASSOCIATED RISK FOR BLINDNESS. TO PREVENT OR EFFICIENTLY TREAT MYOPIA, ITS ETIOLOGY MUST BE FIRST UNDERSTOOD. CHILDREN SPENDING MORE TIME OUTDOORS ARE LESS LIKELY TO DEVELOP MYOPIA (OR DEVELOP IT LATER), BUT THE SPECIFIC OUTDOOR ATTRIBUTES PROTECTING AGAINST MYOPIA ARE NOT FULLY KNOWN. OUTDOOR SCENES HAVE HIGH LIGHT LEVELS AND A WIDE RANGE OF WAVELENGTHS AND SPATIAL FREQUENCIES (SFS). INSIGHTS INTO HOW THE RETINA CONTROLS EMMETROPIZATION IN THE GROW- ING EYE WILL GUIDE FUTURE LONGITUDINAL STUDIES OF THE VISUAL ENVIRONMENT’S INFLUENCE ON THE INCIDENCE OF MYOPIA. OUR APPLICATION WILL TEST A NEW RETINAL EMMETROPIZATION MODEL BASED UPON THE SPECTRAL-OPPONENT BLUE VS. YEL- LOW (B-Y) MECHANISM. THE B-Y RECEPTIVE FIELD CENTER IS COMPRISED OF AN S-CONE SURROUNDED BY L- AND M-CONES. IN OUR MODEL, THE S-CONE IS ALSO A LOW-PASS SPATIAL FILTER IN OPPOSITION TO THE L/M-CONE HIGH-PASS FILTER. THUS, THE RECEPTIVE FIELD CENTER IS BOTH SPECTRALLY AND SPATIALLY OPPONENT TO ITS SURROUND. WHEN RETINAL SPECTRAL/SPATIAL IN- FORMATION STIMULATES THE CENTER/SURROUND EQUALLY, THE B-Y MECHANISM IS BALANCED AND DOES NOT CHANGE THE AX- IAL LENGTH (AXL). WHEN IMBALANCED, EITHER SPECTRALLY OR SPATIALLY, THE BI-DIRECTIONAL MECHANISM CHANGES CHOROID THICKNESS (CHT), LENGTHENING OR SHORTENING AXL TO BALANCE THE B-Y RESPONSE. TO DO SO, THE PROPOSED MECHA- NISM NEEDS A RETINAL IMAGE CONTAINING WIDE RANGES OF SF AND VISIBLE WAVELENGTHS, SIMILAR TO OUTDOOR SCENES. WE PROPOSE TO TEST THE MODEL FOR DIFFERENT SPECTRAL (SHORT AND LONG WAVELENGTHS) AND SPATIAL (CONTRAST OF LOW AND HIGH SFS) COMBINATIONS. CHT AND AXL WILL BE MEASURED IMMEDIATELY BEFORE AND AFTER YOUNG EMMETROPIC CHILDREN (5-10 YEARS) WITH NORMAL VISION VIEW THE DIFFERENT GRATINGS. IN AIM 1, WE WILL ASSESS THE IMPACT OF DIFFER- ENT COMBINATIONS OF SPECTRAL/SPATIAL INFORMATION ON THESE BIOMARKERS. WE WILL DETERMINE (A) THE BALANCE POINT FOR SPECTRAL/SPATIAL IMAGE CONTENT THAT DOES NOT INDUCE CHT/AXL CHANGES, AND (B) WHETHER AND HOW MUCH SPECTRAL INFORMATION IS MORE OR LESS IMPORTANT THAN SPATIAL INFORMATION FOR INDUCING THE CHANGES. OUTDOOR LIGHT LEVELS ARE HIGHER THAN THOSE COMMONLY FOUND INDOORS IN SCHOOLS. IN AIM 2 WE WILL ASSESS HOW DIFFERENT RETINAL FLUX DENSITIES AFFECT CHT/AXL. THREE SPATIAL/SPECTRAL IMAGES WILL BE PRESENTED TO SUBJECTS AT TWO LIGHT LEVELS: (A) ONE IMAGE WILL BE DOMINATED BY LONG-WAVELENGTHS/HIGH SPATIAL FREQUENCIES, HYPOTHETICALLY INCREASING CHT/DE- CREASING AXL, (B) ONE WILL BE DOMINATED BY SHORT-WAVELENGTHS/LOW SPATIAL FREQUENCIES, HYPOTHETICALLY DECREAS- ING CHT/INCREASING AXL, AND (C) ONE WILL BE NEUTRAL WITH NO EXPECTED CHT/AXL CHANGES. WE WILL USE A TEN-FOLD RANGE OF LIGHT LEVELS TO TEST RESPONSES AT LEVELS RANGING FROM INDOOR LEVELS TO THOSE EXPERIENCED OUTDOORS. THE PROPOSED STUDIES WILL TEST OUR NOVEL EMMETROPIZATION MODEL AND PROVIDE IMPORTANT INSIGHTS INTO THE WAY THE RETINA’S MECHANISM RESPONDS TO ENVIRONMENTAL STIMULI. THE RESULTS OF THESE STUDIES WILL FORM A FOUNDATION FOR LONG-TERM STUDIES ON HOW INDOOR ENVIRONMENTS SHOULD BE DESIGNED TO LIMIT MYOPIA DEVELOPMENT IN CHILDREN.

CARES ACT HIGHER EDUCATION EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND- IHES (CFDA: 84:425E)

HIGHER EDUCATION EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND-FIPSE

ANALYSIS OF MULTIPLE RISK FACTORS IN THE ETIOLOGY OF MYOPIA IN CHILDREN

SUPPLEMENTAL ASSISTANCE TO INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION (SAIHE) 84.425S

CHANGES IN ASTIGMATISM AND ANISOMETROPIA WITH PROGRESSING MYOPIA IN COMET

LDS - OPTOMETRY - LOAN GRANT WITH FUNDS FOR NEW BUDGET PERIOD

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS

LOAN GRANT WITH FUNDS FOR NEW BUDGET PERIOD

CONGRESSIONALLY-MANDATED HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY GRANTS

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS

ARRA - SCHOLARSHIPS FOR DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS

ARRA - SCHOLARSHIPS FOR DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS

LOAN GRANT WITH FUNDS FOR NEW BUDGET PERIOD

ULTRAHIGH RESOLUTION RETINAL IMAGING WITH ADAPTIVE OPTICS FOR EARLY DIAGNOSIS OF TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY