3D simulation of the aqueous flow in the human eye

Glaucoma results in an increase in the resistance of the aqueous humor outflow, which in turn leads to an increase of the intraocular pressure (IOP). Several treatments are proposed to reduce and stabilize the IOP that include medications, filtering surgery and glaucoma drainage devices (GDD). So far computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling of the eye drainage system has not yet been well studied. Therefore our goal was to provide a 3D CFD model of the eye based on the anatomy of a real human eye. Such a tool would serve for future evaluation of new glaucoma surgical techniques involving, for example, GDD. The model was based on stacks of microphotographs from human eye slides from which digital processing of the images of the eye structure and 3D reconstruction of the model were performed. Simulations of the distribution of pressure and flow velocity in the model of a healthy eye gave results comparable to physiology references. Mimicking glaucoma conditions led to an increase of the IOP from normal range, which went down to lower values after a filtering procedure. Further refinements in the boundary conditions for the filtering procedure shall improve the accuracy of this innovative tool for modeling glaucoma surgery.