Ian A. Sigal, PhD

Research Expertise

(BRIEF) Develop experimental, computational and imaging tools to understand the architecture and biomechanics of the eye and glaucoma.

(EXPANDED) Dr. Sigal is the founder and director of the Laboratory of Ocular Biomechanics at the University of Pittsburgh. The lab aims to understand, diagnose and treat conditions of the eye in which biomechanics is an important contributing factor, such as glaucoma. The lab advances computational and experimental tools to understand the biomechanics and structure of the eye. The lab has gained international recognition for the novel imaging tools based on polarized light microscopy, and for the powerful numerical modeling techniques.

 

Selected Publications

Google Scholar profile: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=YwG5GUIAAAAJ&hl=en List of published work at NCBI My Bibliography:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/iansigal/bibliography/40077400/public/?sort=date&direction=descending

 

  1. C Boote, IA Sigal, R Grytz, Y Hua, TD Nguyen and MJA Girard, "Scleral structure and biomechanics", Accepted for publication in Progress in Retinal and Eye Research, 2019 Aug 11:100773. doi: 10.1016/j.preteyeres.2019.100773. [Epub ahead of print]
  2. A Gogola, NJ Jan, KL Lathrop and IA Sigal, "Radial and circumferential collagen fibers are a feature of the peripapillary sclera of human, monkey, pig, cow, goat and sheep", IOVS, 59(12):4763-4774, October 2018.
  3. B Yang, B Brazile, NJ Jan, Y Hua, J Wei and IA Sigal, "Structured polarized light microscopy for collagen fiber structure and orientation quantification in thick ocular tissues", Journal of Biomedical Optics, 23(10), 106001, October 2018.
  4. AP Voorhees, NJ Jan, Y Hua, B Yang and IA Sigal, "Peripapillary sclera architecture revisited: A tangential fiber model and its biomechanical implications", Acta Biomaterialia, 79:113-122, October 2018. Epub Aug 21 2018. PMID: 30142444
  5. B Yang, NJ Jan, B Brazile, A Voorhees, KL Lathrop and IA Sigal, "Polarized light microscopy for 3D mapping of collagen fiber architecture in ocular tissues", Journal of Biophotonics, 11(8):e201700356, August 2018, Epub May 6th 2018. PMID 29633576
  6. NJ Jan and IA Sigal, "Collagen fiber recruitment: a microstructural basis for the nonlinear response of the posterior pole of the eye to increases in intraocular pressure", Acta Biomaterialia, 72:295-305, May 2018. PMID 29574185
  7. Y Hua, AP Voorhees and IA Sigal, "Cerebrospinal Fluid Pressure; Revisiting Factors Influencing Optic Nerve Head Biomechanics", IOVS, 59(1):154-165, February 2018. PMID 29332130
  8. AP Voorhees, LC Ho, NJ Jan, H Tran, Y van der Merwe, K Chan and IA Sigal, "Whole-globe biomechanics using high-field MRI", Experimental Eye Research, 160:85-95, July 2017. PMID: 28527594, PMCID PMC5527970.
  9. NJ Jan, JL Grimm, H Tran, KL Lathrop, G Wollstein, RA Bilonick, H Ishikawa, L Kagemann, JS Schuman and IA Sigal, "Polarization Microscopy for Characterizing Fiber Orientation of Ocular Tissues", Biomedical Optics Express, 6(12):4705-47018, December 2015. PMID 26803799
  10. PG Sanfilippo, JL Grimm, JG Flanagan, KL Lathrop and IA Sigal, "Application of Elliptic Fourier Analysis to Describe the Lamina Cribrosa Shape with Age and Intraocular Pressure", Experimental Eye Research, 128:1-7, Nov 2014. PMID 25193035. PMCID 4252246.
  11. Z Nadler, B Wang, JS Schuman, RD Ferguson, A Patel, DX Hammer, RA Bilonick, H Ishikawa, L Kagemann, IA Sigal and G Wollstein, "In Vivo Three-Dimensional Characterization of the Healthy Human Lamina Cribrosa with Adaptive Optics Spectral-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography", IOVS, 55(10):6459-66, Sep 2014. PMCID 4197769.
  12. IA Sigal, JL Grimm, NJ Jan, K Reid, DS Minckler and DJ Brown, "Eye-Specific IOP-Induced Displacements and Deformations of Human Lamina Cribrosa", IOVS, 55(1):1-15, Jan 2014. PMID 24334450.
  13. IA Sigal and CR Ethier. "Biomechanics of the optic nerve head", Experimental Eye Research, 88(4):799-807, Apr 2009. PMID 19217902.
  14. IA Sigal, JG Flanagan, I Tertinegg and CR Ethier, "Factors Influencing Human Optic Nerve Head Biomechanics", IOVS, 46(11): 4189-4199, Nov 2005. PMID 16249498.