Research

Research conducted in the computational ocularscience laboratory is multidisciplinary in nature spanning the disciplines of ophthalmology, computational sciences, and engineering.  Engineering projects are in the areas of active shape and physics-based modeling of ocular structures; developing fluid-structure interaction models of the eye; optical imaging; technology development (e.g. retinal oximeter, intraocular pressure monitor); image processing; computer vision; numerical analysis; and computational statistics.

Our laboratory is equipped to conduct basic, and experimental glaucoma studies. Specifically, 1) high resolution static and dynamic 2D imaging of ocular structures (confocal with a 11 micron spatial resolution); 2) high resolution static and dynamic 3D imaging of ocular structures (spectral domain optical coherence tomography with 14 micron spatial and 7 micron depth resolution); 3) functional electrophysiology of ex vivo eyes; 4) expertise in whole eye organ culture (ex vivo) models; 5) expertise in computational approaches for non-invasive estimation of ocular biophysical properties (e.g., classical computer vision approaches, machine learning approaches to computer vision, and discrete/numerical techniques such as finite element analysis); 6) optical and laser resources for ocular imaging and therapeutics; and 7) expertise in computational modeling of ocular therapeutics.  We also have necessary engineering resources and expertise to develop technology necessary for our research studies.  From Jan 2014 through Dec 2017, the research projects in our laboratory were supported in part by research funding from the National Eye Institute (NEI) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The computational ocularscience laboratory was founded and directed by Madhusudhanan Balasubramanian, Ph.D.  Dr. Balasubramanian has strong multidisciplinary interests, training and experience to study ocular structure and function integrated within the framework of computational science and engineering.  He is a recipient of the K99/R00 Pathway to Independence award from the National Eye Institute / National Institutes of Health in 2011; recipient of the Imaging and Perimetry Society-Heidelberg Engineering Young Researcher award on "Relationship of Morphology and Function" in 2010; and the 1998 PSG College of Technology Alumni Award for the best Bachelor of Engineering project in Electrical and Electronics Engineering.