Mechanical model of extrinsic muscles of the eyeball

Abstract

The mathematical modeling of the physiological behavior of extraocular muscles in ocular rotation, contributes to the learning of the oculomotor system and the development of technologies for the control of devices, through the precise prediction of the ocular displacement path. We propose in this article a mechanical model of eye movement, which incorporates the physiological properties of extraocular muscles in the force-elongation relationship and the action of agonist and antagonist muscles. An easy to understand model is presented that allows the analysis of forces applied in muscle contraction, the variation of extraocular muscle length, which generates rotation of the eye and the vector interpretation of the direction in the space towards which the eye directs the view, in movements of adduction, abduction, elevation and depression. The proposed model allows a simplification of the mathematical description, compared with other models, in relation to the action of the mechanical elements (springs and dampers) that represent the anatomical and physiological components of the contractile mechanics of the extraocular muscles. The implementation of the proposed model could serve in the future in the development of technologies that emulate horizontal or vertical eye movements for the control of devices.