Myopia (shortsightedness) is on the rise across the globe. In addition to a genetic predisposition, environment also plays an important role in the etiology of myopia. Previous research led to the suggestion that myopia onset might be linked to near vision. The process of adjusting the eye’s lens to different viewing distances, referred to as accommodation, is initiated by the ciliary muscle. Its contraction results in an increased lens power, allowing clear vision of close objects. The presented work was focused on investigating the effects of sustained nearwork on both the ciliary muscle shape and the accommodation process. Accommodation response and ciliary muscle morphology were analyzed in ten healthy normal- and shortsighted young adults before and after 30 minutes of reading at close distance. Optical coherence tomography, a non-contact imaging technique which allows the generation of sectional images of the tissue composition, was applied to image the ciliary muscle. The results revealed that the ciliary muscle got significantly thinner after nearwork during both far and near vision. Considering previous suggestions that transient myopia develops due to a spasm of the ciliary muscle after prolonged nearwork, an opposite change in ciliary muscle thickness had been expected. A further trial with increased sample sizes is intended to detail the differences between normal- and shortsighted subjects.

Held in the historical building of the Deanery University of Athens, located close to the famous Acropolis, the VPO meeting gave international researchers, students, and clinical professionals the opportunity to get together and share their current work in the fields of optics, optometry, and vision sciences. The OSA student award for the best oral presentation was chosen by an independent expert panel among other awards on the last day of the meeting.

Poster: Wagner S, Schaeffel F, Zrenner E, Strasser T. Effects of nearwork on ciliary muscle morphology.