Dissertation
Development of functional studies and methods to better understand visual function
(2008)
Abstract
In the study of visual function an understanding of the visual pathways is essential. Once this is achieved then quantitative measurements can be made in order to assess the quality of vision. However, this development can at times be problematic and may lead to visual disorders. Some of these visual disorders are directly related to the development but others may not. We are concerned with mainly one of these visual disorders, infantile nystagmus syndrome (INS). Common ways INS is assessed is through visual evoked potentials (VEP), or electroretinigrams (ERG). The current work is a comprehensive multidisciplinary attempt to develop new tools and methods for assessing these visual functions in order to both complement as well as introduce new clinical tools that will help in finding efficient treatments by identifying the activation patterns in the brain. This is divided into three stages: functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) of oculomotor movements, development of a near infrared spectroscopy system (NIRS) for visual cortex monitoring, and finally an MRI post processing scheme to enhance the cortical imaging. These three stages are an attempt to develop tools in order to aid in visual function studies.
Keywords
- brain,
- visual,
- fmri,
- fnirs,
- vep,
- erg,
- nystagmus
Disciplines
Publication Date
2008
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
Department
Biomedical Engineering
Citation Information
Nasser Kashou. "Development of functional studies and methods to better understand visual function" (2008) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/nasser_kashou/61/