STTR Phase I: A Pair of Linked Cartographic Maps of our Brain Derived from Clinical Glaucoma Data

Award ID: 2025322

The broader impact commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project is to improve the accessibility of eye health care. Glaucoma is a major cause of irreversible blindness but can be addressed with early detection, and the prevalence increases with age. However, existing tests can be tiring and difficult and require specialized equipment. This project will advance an inexpensive test for early detection for treatment. This low-cost, tablet-based tool can offer universal, cost-effective glaucoma screening. This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project advances novel retinal testing for glaucoma detection through improved modeling and data analysis of the visual system. This project analyzes visual field test results to reveal a pair of linked cartographic maps that transmit central and peripheral retinal information to the brain through grouped retinal nerve fiber bundles segregated in a conformal mapping. A cone of photons displays the visual field information on the central S2 spherical non-Euclidean Riemann surface centered around the foveal axis, which lacks representation in the brain and can be considered as a singularity or reference region for each eye. Information on the S2 surface is transmitted through bundles of retinal nerve fibers that are grouped to represent single surfaces, and modeled as though the eye is a S3 4-dimensional hypersphere, with the blind spot being a singularity region and serving as the reference point. The retinal nerve fiber bundles transmitting the information to the brain are passively reordered at the blind spot and bring about an inversion of the Y (Up-Down) axis. Information from both eyes enables parallax removal and leads to depth perception. Information from the peripheral retinal regions of each eye is crossed across the optic chiasma and provides spatial locations of objects during peripheral vision. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Program Director: Alastair Monk