The Mynamics Project
The goal of this project is to see how our eyes grow, in order to improve the way we spot, treat, and track myopia. We will be using different techniques, such as measuring how well people see, taking detailed measurements and pictures of the inside of the eye, and studying our genes, to understand why myopia happens and how it progresses.
​
This research will focus on four main areas:
Dynamics of Childhood Eye Growth (DoCEG)
Firstly, we will study how the overall shape of the eye, as well as the structures inside it, in children. We will do this by measuring different parts of the eye every six months, across the whole time the children are at primary school. This will help us to understand how the eye grows throughout childhood, what increases someone's risk of myopia, and how to spot it early.
Eye Length in Colourblindness (ELiC)
Secondly, we will study eye length in people who are born with different types of colour vision (ranging from normal colour vision to "colourblindness"). By comparing people with different types of vision, we can find out why the eye grows longer in some people and not others.
Cones in Anisometropia (CiA)
Thirdly, we will compare the layout of the cells in the retina for people whose eyes are different lengths from each other - in other words, one eye is more myopic than the other. We will take detailed pictures of the retina to find out how the cells are arranged differently between eyes that are longer than other. Using people with different eye lengths helps to control for other factors - namely genes - that may affect eye growth, which will help to understand if the eye grows differently in myopia.
Optical Flow: Protection Against Myopia (OFPAM)
Finally, we will do an experiment to see how the structure of the eye changes after seeing movement. This could provide a new way to prevent or treat myopia that does not involve wearing glasses or contact lenses. Overall, we hope to learn more about myopia and find better ways to spot it and treat it. This will help us to move away from "one size fits all" methods that do not work for everybody.
