 |
The main
focus of our research is refractive development and
myopia (short-sightedness). Myopia is a very common
ocular disorder, with significant impact on health care costs, related
to its management with spectacles, contact lenses and refractive surgery,
and to the treatment of its complications, high myopia being a leading
cause of blindness.
These complications are largely a result of the greater than normal
size of myopic eyes. This overgrowth results in a mismatch between
the length of the eye and its optical power, and also results in overstretch
of many of the inner ocular tissues. The etiology of human myopia
remains |
|
poorly understood. Although genetic factors are likely to play a
role, the current epidemic of myopia (>90% in some Asian university
student populations!), suggests a more complex picture.
The clearest evidence of the role of visual experience in myopia
comes from studies in animals. These studies have lead to amazing
discoveries, such as that young eyes can discriminate between under-focussed
and over-focussed states and adjust their growth accordingly, and
that the choroid, once thought to be simply a vascular layer that
nourishes the retina, can itself accommodate to image defocus.
Our lab uses the widely accepted chick model to study myopia. Of
the many questions waiting to be answered using this model, ones
of interest to us:
- What aspects of visual
experience and associated retinal images underlie myopia?
- What are the ocular
growth signals and how are they signaled from the retina and sclera?
- How do myopic eyes
achieve their enlarged dimensions?
- Is it possible to
inhibit myopic growth pharmacologically in ways that may be suitable
for use in humans?
We are also working
with albino chicks as a model for albinism in human, which interferes
with eye growth. We also do human-based research where, again, many
questions are ripe for answering, such as:
- Why does excessive
near work cause myopia?
- Why are some individuals
more susceptible than others?
- Why does myopia sometimes
develop asymmetrically?
- What is the role of
optical aberrations in myopia development?
This is an exciting and
fast moving field of research!
|
