About

About EyeXcel

EyeXcel is a thriving family eye care, vision rehabilitation, and sports vision practice with 2 locations in Knoxville, TN.  Even though the name of the business, EyeXcel, takes a little getting used to (for both current and long-term patients alike), this practice is much older than the new name.  For almost 40 years, the practice was known as Drs. Rhyne & Patton.

When Drs. Rhyne and Patton started in 1978, they didn’t buy a practice with an existing patient base. Instead, they started from scratch with zero patients and grew their base slowly but steadily during those first few years.

Our original founders, Dr. Rhyne and Dr. Patton, put in an impressive 40-year career, and have since moved on to other things, but their legacy and the business they built is still going strong.  They had the insight to partner with younger, equally talented, doctors that ultimately took over the practice when the founders were ready to turn it over.

The original and main location is at 715 Callahan Rd in North Knoxville.  When the practice started, it was a small residential 2-lane road, and we were one of the very first businesses on Callahan Rd, followed shortly after by the huge UPS terminal.  These days, Callahan Rd. has transformed from a small back road into a thriving area full of commercial business along the 4-lane road, and has provided a wonderful location with easy interstate access for patients.

In 2020, EyeXcel added a second location at 10252 Hardin Valley Rd in Knoxville.  The project began in 2019, but no one would have ever predicted that the new location would open in June of 2020, right in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic!  It certainly turned out to be crazy timing, but the location is doing very well and our patients are growing.

EyeXcel continues to grow under the direction of Dr. Bruce D. Gilliland, the only low vision optometric physician provider in East Tennessee joined the practice in 2014. In 2020, we welcomed Dr. Shane Mulvihill to the team who specializes in pediatric eye care with an emphasis in vision therapy, sports vision, and binocular disorders. We are proud to be one of the only optometric offices in East Tennessee that provide such comprehensive eye care.


Dr. Gilliland now owns the practice and has done a wonderful job of stepping into the original founders’ shoes to carry on their legacy.  All of our doctors have stepped right into place to care for our many patients and continue the wonderful care that we have always given.  They are focused on the future of the practice and have plans to add more doctors to the team in the future so we can continue to serve all the patients we love.  We all enjoy what we do and are excited to meet new patients and catch up with our existing patients. We are still a family business and are honored to have every patient join our family.  Welcome to EyeXcel!