First International Conference on Advanced Mechatronics, Design, and Manufacturing Technology - AMDM 2012 1

INVERSE KINEMATICS OF THE EYE

Cinemtica inversa del ojo

ABSTRACT
The human eye is a versatile biological device whose motion obeys well
established rules such as Listings law and Sherringtons law. This paper
develops the inverse kinematics of the eye considering it as a cable-driven
parallel mechanism. Such an analysis is performed by means of quaternions,
whose geometric intuitiveness and computational advantages make them an
elegant and efficient mathematical tool for the representation of rotations. The
model proposed satisfactorily describes the kinematics of the eye and the action
of the extraocular muscles. The methodology here developed may prove useful
in the simulation of biomechanical systems.

KEYWORDS: Eye, Kinematics, Parallel kinematics mechanism, Quaternions.

RESUMEN
El ojo humano es un verstil dispositivo biolgico cuyo movimiento obedece
reglas bien establecidas como la ley de Listing y la ley de Sherrington. Este
artculo desarrolla la cinemtica inversa del ojo considerndolo un mecanismo
de cinemtica paralela comandado por cables. Dicho anlisis es desarrollado
por medio de cuaterniones, cuya facilidad para la intuicin geomtrica y
ventajas computacionales los hacen una elegante y eficiente herramienta
matemtica para la representacin de rotaciones. El modelo propuesto describe
satisfactoriamente la cinemtica del ojo y la accin de los msculos
extraoculares. La metodologa desarrollada puede ser til en la simulacin de
sistemas biomecnicos.

PALABRAS CLAVES: Cinemtica, Cuaterniones, Mecanismo de cinemtica
paralela, Ojo.

CARLOS A. TRUJILLO S.
Ingeniero Mecnico, Ph.D.
Profesor Asistente
Universidad de Antioquia
catruji@udea.edu.co



1. INTRODUCTION

The human eye is a versatile biological device whose
motion obeys well established rules such as Listings law
(LL) and the half-angle rule [1]. LL, for instance, states
that any direction of sight the eye is pointing to, is such
as if it was achieved by a rotation starting from a
reference position, called the primary position, following
a great arc on the sphere of the eyeball. This law implies
that all of the vectors about which these rotations occur
lie on a single plane, called Listings plane. It is an issue
of lively controversy among physiologists whether this is
a neural or mechanical phenomenon [2,3]. Analytical
approaches to model the kinematics of the eye have been
proposed using methods commonly employed in
robotics. Some of these works are merely focused on
describing the geometry involved, without referring to
the extraocular muscles (EOM) [4], while others attempt
to link this geometry to the muscle activation albeit
simplifications which disagree with the actual behavior
of the EOM and are aimed to the design of robotic eyes
and not to the description of the kinematics of the human
eye [5].
There have been authors who have modeled human
joints, such as the shoulder [6], using arrangements of
parallel kinematics and serial mechanisms. However,
optimization criteria or contact constraints between joint
surfaces [7,8] are proposed, in order to achieve the
desired configuration of the attached limb, with no regard
to the physiological facts observed in the motion
planning of human limbs, such as Donders Law [9,10],
of which LL is a special implementation in the eye.

This paper proposes a novel approach for the kinematic
analysis of the eye, considering this as a cable-driven
parallel mechanism, and performing its inverse
kinematics by means of quaternions. The model and the
methodology here developed may prove useful in the
simulation of biomechanical systems.

Section 2 reviews quaternions, highlighting them as a
compact and a computationally-efficient representation
of rotations. Section 3 briefly describes the anatomy of
the human eye and the physiological rules of the rotation
of the eyeball. Section 4 develops its inverse kinematics,
describes the algorithm proposed and discusses the
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2
results of a computer implementation based on such an
analysis. Next, future work and potential applications of
the approach proposed in this paper are highlighted.
Conclusions are drawn at the end.


2. QUATERNIONS

A quaternion q = q
1
i+q
2
j+q
3
k+q
4
representing a rigid
body rotation by angle about the unit axis vector
s = (s
1,
s
2,
s
3
) has as components the so-called Euler-
Rodrigues parameters of the rotation [11]

(1)

which satisfy the relation

. The
quaternion basis units i, j, and k satisfy the fundamental
multiplication rules

. The
corresponding rotation matrix [R] can be recovered from
the Euler-Rodrigues parameters as follows

(2)

The coordinates of a cartesian point before a rotation,
x = (x
1
, x
2
, x
3
, 0), and after the rotation, X = (X
1
, X
2
, X
3
,
0), are related by the quaternion product X = qxq*,
where q* = (-q
1
, -q
2
, -q
3
, q
4
) is the conjugate of q.
Clearly, quaternions are a more compact representation
of rotations compared to the traditional rotation matrix,
since only four numbers are needed to encode the
rotation information instead of the nine elements of the
matrix. Moreover, when implementing the quaternion
product, less multiplications are required compared to the
matrix multiplication for the same rotation; thus, their
computational advantage.


3. ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE
ROTATION OF THE EYE

The human eye is driven by three pairs of agonist-
antagonist extraocular muscles (EOM), which allow for
the orientation of the eyeball in the desired direction of
sight. The superior rectus (SR) and the inferior rectus
(IR) have the main function of pointing the eyeball
upwards, i.e. supraduction, and downwards, i.e.
infraduction, respectively; the lateral rectus (LR) and the
medial rectus (MR) move the eye outwards, i.e.
abduction, and inwards, i.e. adduction, respectively; and
the superior oblique (SO) and the inferior oblique (IO)
move the eye torsionally, the SO inwards, i.e. intorsion,
and the IO outwards, i.e. extorsion. However, most
orientations of the eyeball are, in fact, the combination of
the action of more than one EOM.
Besides LL, there is another well known physiological
fact called Sherringtons Law of reciprocal innervation
[12]; this law entails that while one EOM is innervated,
the agonist, its antagonist is relaxed. Sherringtons Law is
demonstrated by means of electromyography (EMG), and
not only occurs in the EOM but also in other agonist-
antagonist pairs of muscles in the body.

All of the rectus muscles originate at the Annulus of Zinn
and are about 40 mm long; while the SO originates above
the Annulus of Zinn and the IO at the lacrimal fossa. The
oblique muscles are about 35 mm long. The interaction of
these muscles allows for the positioning of the eyeball
which is about 24 mm in diameter. Table 1 shows the
actions in which each EOM is involved. The first action
is the one where the corresponding muscle is the major
actuator and the others are the secondary actions of the
muscle.

Muscle Action
Superior rectus
Supraduction
Adduction
Intorsion
Inferior rectus
Infraduction
Adduction
Extorsion
Lateral rectus Abduction
Medial rectus Adduction
Superior oblique
Intorsion
Infraduction
Abduction
Inferior oblique
Extorsion
Supraduction
Abduction

Tabla 1. Action of extraocular muscles.


4. INVERSE KINEMATICS OF THE EYE

Figure 1 depicts the three pairs of agonist-antagonist
EOM of a left eye and the equivalent cable-driven
mechanism. The rotation of the eyeball from the primary
position, which points in the z direction, to the direction
of sight n along a great arc, according to LL, can be
described by the quaternion q, whose components can be
obtained from the vector s normal to both, z and n, and
the angle between them. Since the moving platform is
considered a rigid body, the rotation operator q can be
applied to any point of the platform. Therefore, the
position of the points of attachment of the wires, after the
rotation, to the moving platform can be computed using
the quaternion product described above.

The length of each wire at the specific configuration is
the distance between the ground point and the point of
attachment after the rotation of the corresponding wire.
Only the three shortest lengths are needed in order to
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achieve the desired configuration of the mechanism,
since it has three degrees of freedom, which can be
proved by applying Grueblers formula for mobility. This
result is also consistent with the physiology of the EOM
where the agonist muscle is innervated while the
antagonist muscle is relaxed.

Using anatomical data available in the literature [12], a
computer program was developed to implement the
procedure just described. In this program, the user inputs
the coordinates of a point on the plane of the image
where the direction of sight is going to be pointing to.
The program displays the percentage of deformation
required to direct the axis of the direction of sight
towards the target point; differentiating contraction from
extension, being the former negative and the latter
positive. The muscles contracted are the ones which are
innervated and drive the movement.






















Figura 1. a) Extraocular muscles, b) Equivalent cable-driven mechanism.

The algorithm implemented is here summarized:

Assemble direction of sight vector, n = (x, y, z).

Compute unit axis-of-rotation vector,
s = (zn)/|zn| = (s
x
, s
y
, s
z
).

Compute angle of rotation, = cos
-1
(zn/|z| |n|).

Assemble unit quaternion, q = (s
x
sin(/2), s
y
sin(/2),
s
z
sin(/2), cos(/2).

Compute the location of each of the insertion points
of the EOM after the rotation, according to the
quaternion product, X = qxq*.

Compute the initial length of each EOM, L
0
= |x p|,
where p are the coordinates of the corresponding
origin of each EOM.

Compute the length of each EOM after the rotation, L
f

= |X p|.

Compute the percentage of deformation of each
EOM, %L =100 (L
f
L
0
) / L
0
.

Table 2 shows the results for different target points,
assuming a left eye whose center is located at the origin
of the coordinate system, 3000 mm behind the plane of
the image. The annulus of Zinn is located at coordinates
(-17, 0, -35) in mm; the origins of the superior oblique
and the inferior oblique at (-15, 12, 1) and (-15, -12, 0),
respectively. The insertion point of the SR on the eyeball
is at (0, 12, 0); IRs at (0, -12, 0); LRs at (12, 0, 0);
MRs at (-12, 0, 0); SOs at (8, 8, -4); and IOs at (8.5, -6,
-6). The primary position points along the z axis as
depicted in figure 1.

From these results it can be seen that the model proposed
satisfactorily describes the action of the muscles. At the
first target point the eye is in supraduction and abduction
so that the SR and the LR are the major actuators, but
also those are secondary actions for the IO; at the second
target point the eye is in supraduction and the SR and IO
are innervated; at the third target point the eye is in
supraduction and adduction and the SR and MR are
contracted; at the fourth position the eye is in pure
adduction and the MR is the only driver; at the fifth
position the eye is in infraduction and adduction and the
IR and MR are the main drivers; at the sixth target point
the eye is in pure infraduction and the major actuator is
the IR, but also the SO is slightly contracted, evidencing
Lateral rectus
Superior oblique
Inferior oblique
Superior rectus
Inferior rectus
Medial rectus
O
x
y
z
n
s

x
y
z
O
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
J
I
K
L
a) b)
Q
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4
its participation in infraduction; at the seventh target
point the eye is in infraduction and abduction and the IR,
the LR, and the SO are the main drivers; at the last
position the eye is in abduction and the LR, the SO, and
IO are the actuators. At the positions where more than
three muscles are innervated, the least contracted might
be a passive degree of freedom and the most contracted
are the main drivers.

The model also describes Sherringtons Law since when
the SR and LR are innervated, the IR and MR are not,
respectively, and vice versa, making evident the agonist-
antagonist interplay between these muscles. This
interplay is not that clear in the case of the IO and SO,
since whenever there is some degree of abduction both
muscles participate, as expected from the physiology of
these muscles.
x [mm] y [mm] SR IR LR MR SO IO
3000 3000 -11.4266 10.2486 -9.0562 13.3934 -0.5268 -11.5602
0 3000 -18.0933 15.2878 0 0 9.7744 -4.8449
-3000 3000 -9.2029 8.4246 6.8135 -12.4158 6.9569 0.5466
-3000 0 0 0 10.3079 -19.8938 0.7083 4.3735
-3000 -3000 8.4246 -9.2029 6.8135 -12.4158 -1.0728 8.7560
0 -3000 15.2878 -18.0933 0 0 -2.5450 9.7799
3000 -3000 10.2486 -11.4266 -9.0562 13.3934 -7.7247 -1.6919
3000 0 0 0 -17.0228 23.0777 -11.8436 -15.4576

Table 2. Deformation of EOM for different target points (%).

5. FUTURE WORK

The approach presented here will be used to model the
kinematics of other joints of the human body,
acknowledging the fact that most joints are parallel
kinematics mechanisms and the muscles can be
considered cables. In fact, ongoing efforts deal with more
complex joints such as the shoulder and the hip. It is
envisioned that after obtaining the equivalent
mechanisms and the kinematic models, clinical
conditions such as strabismus of the eye or movement
limitations due to muscle injuries can be studied. It is
also expected to compare the results obtained by means
of the models with in vivo measurements on healthy
subjects as well as on patients with clinical conditions
using motion tracking systems; therefore, the models
could be corroborated and adjusted. If successful, the
models and the computer applications developed may be
used as tools for clinical training, rehabilitation and
surgery planning.


6. CONCLUSION

This paper presents a novel approach for the kinematic
modeling of the human eye by means of a cable driven
parallel kinematics mechanism. The inverse kinematics
was developed and a computer implementation was
tested whose results agree with the observed innervation
of the muscles for different directions of sight. The
analytical procedure was carried out by means of
quaternions which are an elegant mathematical tool for
the representation of rotations; their computational
advantages stem from their compactness and geometric
intuitiveness. The inverse kinematics of the eye was
neatly developed by means of quaternions; it can be
efficiently coded in computer implementations. This
result along with the methodology presented may prove
useful in the simulation of biomechanical systems,
recognizing the fact that, kinematically, most joints and
muscles in the body are assembled as parallel kinematics
mechanisms. The approach here proposed will be used to
analyze other joints of the body. It is hoped that the
models and computer applications that may come out of
this effort might be useful for clinical and rehabilitation
purposes.


7. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research has been supported by the Alternative
Energy Group (GEA) of Universidad de Antioquia.


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