An oculomotor model for kinematics and dynamics simulation

Physics-based modeling and dynamic simulation of human eye movements has significant implications for improving our understanding of the oculomotor system. An open-source model of the human eye that can be used for kinematics and dynamics analysis is introduced. This model relies on the passive pulley hypothesis and is parametrized from physiological measurements reported in the literature. The model is implemented in OpenSim, an open-source framework for modeling and simulation of musculoskeletal systems. The excitation and activation patterns of the extraocular muscles are calculated using a closed-loop fixation controller that drives the model to perform saccadic movements in a forward dynamics manner. Consequently, such models can be used to investigate muscle activation patterns, analyze the kinematics and dynamics of various eye movements, calculate metabolic costs and simulate eye disorders.