Modeling the compliance of the human eye with elastic membranes based on a bionic approach

Together with the corneoscleral shell the intraocular pressure maintains the shape of the human eyeball and thus ensures both mechanical and optical integrity, whereby the relationship between the intraocular volume and pressure is described by the so-called ocular compliance. The compliance of the human eye is of significance in situations where a variation of the intraocular volume leads to a change in pressure or vice versa, as this is the case in many clinical settings. In order to provide a framework and set-up for experimental investigations and testing this paper presents a bionic inspired approach to simulate the ocular compliance by using elastomeric membranes - based on physiological behaviour.

For parameter studies and for validation, the numerical analysis with hyperelastic material models shows good agreement with reported compliance curves. In addition, the compliance curves of six different elastomeric membranes have been measured.

The results show that the characteristics of the compliance curve of the human eye can be modeled within a 5 % range using the proposed elastomeric membranes.

A set-up for experimental investigations is presented that allows the simulation of the compliance curve of the human eye without simplifications in terms of shape, geometry, and deformation behaviour.