Gold Beads Show Previously Unseen Parts Of The Eye

Researchers from the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute in San Francisco, Calif., injected tiny gold beads into various areas in the eye which are usually difficult to visualize. The implanted beads were then imaged using a digital dental-type X-ray system and 3-dimensional reconstruction techniques. The study showed that three-quarters of the implanted beads remained where injected over a six-month period, and revealed movements of muscle and connective tissue that figure importantly in understanding how the brain controls eye movements.

"The surprising stability of gold beads in highly mobile eye tissues means that the method can be used to visualize very slow phenomena, such as those related to growth, as well as fast phenomena, such as those related to eye movement," said Joel M. Miller, PhD, lead researcher of the study.

This research was supported by a grant from the National Eye Institute.

You can read this article online in Journal of Vision at http://www.journalofvision.org/6/5/6/. Journal of Vision is published by ARVO, the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. All articles are free and open to anyone.

Established in 1928, The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Inc. (ARVO) is a membership organization of more than 11,300 eye and vision researchers from over 70 countries. The Association encourages and assists its members and others in research, training, publication and dissemination of knowledge in vision and ophthalmology. ARVO's headquarters are located in Rockville, Md. The Association's Web site is www.arvo.org.

The National Eye Institute (NEI) conducts and supports research that leads to sight-saving treatments and plays a key role in reducing visual impairment and blindness. The NEI is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. For more information, logon to www.nei.nih.gov.