Length-tension recording system for strabismus surgery.

To meet the need for both scientific information and a clinical means for measurement of the mechanical parameters of the most difficult individual strabismus cases we present a technique for directly measuring and plotting the length-tension characteristics of the tissues supporting the eye. Semiconductor strain gauges mounted on the shanks of a custom machined eye forceps and an ultrasonic method of making continuous duction measurements of the eye have proved feasible. When the forceps are interfaced with a dedicated microcomputer, the system provides a permanent, quantitative, length-tension record displayed in real-time. The instrumented length-tension forceps system has provided a noninvasive means for quickly and simply assessing the mechanical underlying determinants of strabismus pathology in the office, the laboratory or in the operating room, and can aid in the planning and immediate intraoperative alteration of strabismus surgery. Under operator coordination, measurements can be made which precisely define the mechanical load which the eye muscles must move. The resulting objectively determined tissue stiffness asymmetries and muscle restrictions limiting ocular motion indicate the purely mechanical contributions to a patient's strabismus. Measurements of active force indicate the magnitudes and patterns of innervation over the entire range of gaze. By comparison of these active force and passive stiffness records, nerve signal imbalances may be quantitatively distinguished from mechanical imbalances in strabismus. It is the detailed interaction of these nonlinear muscle forces and mechanical elements which determines the position of each eye in strabismus and therefore the proper surgical treatment. A brief description of actual use and a few examples of clinical results are included from over 200 human records.