The College of Optometrists

I have spent eight weeks working in a vision laboratory in the University of Manchester that is currently investigating aspects of visual perception and ocular motor control.  During this period I have been involved in research, attending seminars and participating in lab discussions.  As well as assisting with the experiments I also had the opportunity to assist in the submission of research papers online and prepare PowerPoint research lectures.  I also attended lectures at the Manchester Royal Eye Hospital. 

 

My main research interest over the summer was to investigate the fixation stability of strabismic patients during lateral gaze.  This work was done with an overseas research ophthalmologist, Wan-Ya Su and my supervisor Professor Richard Abadi.  I was involved in the recruitment and selection of patients for the appropriate experiments and I assisted in the experimental set-up for the collection of data.  This involved mounting and aligning an eye-movement recording device (Skaler Medical), and collecting the data online from a chart recorder.  Binocular eye movements were recorded at different positions of gaze in order to determine the role of the neural integrator in normal control patients and compared with those that had squints. We wished to test the hypothesis that a squinting eye has modified fixation stability when looking into the direction of the squint.  Our studies showed that the strabismics did indeed show different fixation behaviour compared to the controls.  This was quantified by measuring the asymmetry of the response (i.e. time constant) and the rebound effect when the subjects were asked to re-fixate a central fixation point (primary gaze). 

 

In addition to this study, I was also involved in assisting a PhD student who was working on how patients with visual scotomas may compensate for their visual field loss.  This involved recording field loss with an automated perimeter (Humphreys) and the psychophysical measurement of the effect of secondary target stimulation around the scotoma area.  The data set was also analysed using a computer algorithm, which was able to integrate a number of trials. 

 

I have found working in a research laboratory requires dedication, motivation and a desire to answer the primary research questions.  I realise that in order to do this I needed to read the background literature, discuss the issues and be involved first-hand with the collection of the data.  My eight weeks allowed me only a snap shot view of how two research projects were conducted but emphasised the open-ended nature of research life.  Nonetheless I have enjoyed the camaraderie of my co-workers and the interaction with the patients and control subjects.   I was also able to meet and mix with other post-grad students and staff that were in the department during this period. 

Research by Nayha Patel

Supervised by Professor Richard Abadi, University of Manchester
Sponsored by College of Optometrists