Automated pupillometry in space neuroscience

Bader H Shirah; Jon Sen; Nada K Naaman; Shawna Pandya

doi:10.1016/j.lssr.2023.01.004

Automated pupillometry in space neuroscience

Life Sci Space Res (Amst). 2023 May:37:1-2. doi: 10.1016/j.lssr.2023.01.004. Epub 2023 Jan 18.

Authors

Bader H Shirah¹, Jon Sen², Nada K Naaman³, Shawna Pandya⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neuroscience, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre, P.O. Box: 65362, Jeddah 21556, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: bashirah@kfshrc.edu.sa.
² School of Medicine, Keele University, Staffordshire ST5 5BG, UK.
³ College of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ University of Alberta and International Institute for Astronautical Sciences Space Medicine Group, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.

PMID: 37087173
DOI: 10.1016/j.lssr.2023.01.004

Abstract

Modern pupillometers are automated, thereby providing an objective, accurate, and reliable evaluation of various aspects of the pupillary light reflex at precision levels that were previously unobtainable. There are many gaps in knowledge regarding pupil size and pupillary light reflex in nervous system changes related to space travel given the previous lack of a precise method to quantitatively measure it. Automated pupillometry has not been used previously in space. This novel tool has promising uses in altered gravity environments as a sensitive non-invasive tool to determine alterations due to headward fluid shifts and elevated intracranial pressure. This article discusses the potential use of automated pupillometry in space for monitoring of astronaut health and neurological pathology.

Keywords: Automated pupillometry; Neuroscience; Space.

MeSH terms

Reflex, Pupillary* / physiology