{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,11]],"date-time":"2026-09-11T01:47:12Z","timestamp":1789091232966,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]],"date-time":"2026-06-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782259200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000002","name":"USPHS National Institutes of Health","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["EY008313"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["EY008313"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000002","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000002","name":"USPHS National Institutes of Health","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["EY000331"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["EY000331"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000002","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"Unrestricted Grant to the Department of Ophthalmology from Research to Prevent Blindness"},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04drjs621","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Bioengineering"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Ocular ductions deform the optic disc and peripapillary blood vessels, and deformations can be interpreted as mechanical strain. We used confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (cSLO) to map strain in disc and peripapillary retinal vessels associated with the cardiac pulse and determine if such strain is influenced by gaze direction. Sets of 13 infrared cSLO images were obtained sequentially for each eye using a Heidelberg Spectralis scanner in cinematic mode over a 3 sec interval in adults. Imaging was repeated in central, and horizontally (30\u00b0 adduction\/abduction) and vertically eccentric gazes (10\u00b0 supraduction\/infraduction). Retinal vessels, optic disc, and fovea were segmented using custom-trained, deep learning-based models. Frame to frame vascular displacements were automatically determined using optical flow analysis, allowing computation of equivalent strain. A total of 25 eyes of 13 subjects of mean age 39 \u00b1 18 (standard deviation, range: 25 to 81) years were included. Average equivalent strain over 3 sec ranging from 0.27% to 0.36% exceeded the 0.16% noise threshold across all gazes and regions, indicating measurable pulse-induced deformation. After adjustment for age and axial length, pulsatile maximum and minimum strain were influenced slightly by gaze direction, maximally for supraduction, whereas mean strain did not vary significantly with gaze. The cardiac pulse induces measurable deformation of retinal vessels that can be quantified as equivalent strain in the image plane using optical flow-derived displacement fields. However, the interaction of pulse strain with gaze direction is unlikely to be a significant confound for investigations of strains associated with eye movements.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/bioengineering13070725","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]],"date-time":"2026-07-07T15:02:56Z","timestamp":1783436576000},"page":"725","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Evidence That Cardiac Pulse Strains Retinal Vessels in and near the Optic Disc During Ocular Ductions"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7321-805X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Emanuil","family":"Parunakian","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-9325-7311","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Atharva","family":"Shetye","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Stein Eye Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA"},{"name":"Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Veronika","family":"Yehezkeli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Stein Eye Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9822-8545","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Somaye","family":"Jafari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Stein Eye Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9662-5352","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Joseph L.","family":"Demer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA"},{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Stein Eye Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA"},{"name":"Department of Neurology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA"},{"name":"Bioengineering Department, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA"},{"name":"Neuroscience Interdepartmental Program, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"81","DOI":"10.1016\/S0002-9394(99)00072-0","article-title":"The influence of ocular pulsatility on scanning laser Doppler flowmetry","volume":"128","author":"Sullivan","year":"1999","journal-title":"Am. 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