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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Med.
Sec. Ophthalmology
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1484449
This article is part of the Research Topic Optobiomechanics of the Eye View all 5 articles

Pilot Study on the Dynamic Interactions Between Cardiac Activity and Corneal Biomechanics During Eye Movements

Provisionally accepted
Mohammadali Shahiri Mohammadali Shahiri 1,2*Henryk Teodor Kasprzak Henryk Teodor Kasprzak 1,3Magdalena Asejczyk Magdalena Asejczyk 1,4
  • 1 Wrocław University of Technology, Wrocław, Poland
  • 2 OBERON Opto-Biomechanical Eye Research Network, Wroclaw, Poland
  • 3 Full Professor, Wroclaw, Poland
  • 4 Professor, Wroclaw, Poland

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The study examines the relationship between ocular rotations and cardiovascular functions through detailed biomechanical analysis. The study documents specific patterns of ocular movements and their synchronization with cardiovascular activity, highlighting significant correlations. These findings provide a basis for understanding the opto-biomechanical interplay between ocular and cardiovascular dynamics. Methods: Authors employed a customdesigned prototype, integrating a camera and numerical pulse oximeter, to analyze the right eyeballs of participants. The corneal surface reflections were recorded, along with concurrent blood pulsation (BP) signal acquisition. Numerical analysis helped determine the reflection positions and orientations to study eye movements and corneal deformations. Time and frequency domain analyses, including coherence functions, were utilized. Results: Significant correlations were found between variations in corneal curvature, selected Fixational eye movements (FEM) parameters, and Pulsatile ocular blood flow (POBF), revealing synchronized expansions of the corneal surfaces with cardiovascular activity. Furthermore, FEM displayed spectral correlations with BP, indicating an interrelation between ocular rotations and cardiovascular functions. Conclusions: These findings reveal the complex interactions between the cornea and Pulsatile Ocular Blood Flow (POBF), as well as between Fixational Eye Movements (FEM) and POBF. While the influence of POBF on both corneal dynamics and FEM is clear, further research is necessary to directly link corneal dynamics and FEM. These insights hold potential for non-invasive diagnostic applications and provide a deeper understanding of ocular biomechanics.

    Keywords: Corneal deformations, Corneal dynamics, fixational eye movements, blood pulsation, Eye biomechanics

    Received: 21 Aug 2024; Accepted: 22 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Shahiri, Kasprzak and Asejczyk. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Mohammadali Shahiri, Wrocław University of Technology, Wrocław, Poland

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.