Montréal University

Published purpose

The Principal Investigator (PI) team has discovered that the eyes of astronauts become softer during spaceflight, and this change in the mechanical properties of the eye may be at the root of a disease that afflicts astronauts. SANS is a condition that hampers vision and affects individuals exposed to microgravity with a pathophysiology that is not yet understood. This project seeks to: 1) Analyze pulsatile tissue deformation in the optic nerve head (ONH) to determine whether tissue strain is correlated with subsequent edema. 2) Study whether the choroidal response to Valsalva maneuvers can be used as SANS risk factors, and whether Valsalvas play a pathophysiological role. 3) Analyze long-term ocular rigidity (OR) and ocular pulse amplitude (OPA) normalization, as individuals who suffered SANS are more likely to relapse during new missions. 4) Extend the existing SANSORI cohort to determine if OR alone can be used as a predictive biomarker of SANS severity.