Interdisciplinary Initiatives Program Round 9 - 2018

Gerald Grant, Neurosurgery
Ellen Kuhl, Mechanical Engineering
Heather Moss, Ophthalmology
Kristen Yeom, Radiology
Summer Han, Neurosurgery and Medicine (Bioinformatics and Research)

Elevated intracranial pressure (ICP) in children is a neurosurgical emergency that can cause blindness, death and other neurological morbidity. There is a critical need to identify and develop more sensitive and specific markers of increased ICP. Spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) can now noninvasively quantify retinal layers to a micronlevel resolution. In addition, we have acquired high resolution MR imaging of the optic nerve and globe using novel sequences. However, the biomechanical basis for this effect has not been characterized and is needed to translate these findings into clinical care. We hypothesize that changes in the optic nerve and globe, measured using high resolution optic coherence tomography and MRI, can serve as a surrogate for increased intracranial pressure in children. We have assembled a team of highly accomplished experts in pediatric neurosurgery, biomedical and mechanical engineering, neuro-opthalmology, and radiology, who have contributed preliminary data, experimental and clinical expertise to drive this collaboration forward.