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Published on: June 20, 2015
Biomechanical Characterization of Central Corneal Region Using Inflation Test and its Application to Predicting
Zimeng Zhou1, Honghao Wang2, Ying Zhang1
1Britton Chance Center and MoE Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
Objective:
To determine the biomechanical properties of the central corneal region under intraocular pressure (IOP) and to develop an accurate method for predicting the corresponding responses.
Methods:
In the rabbit corneal inflation test, a calculation method for the biomechanical properties in the thickness direction of the cornea was proposed. The corresponding stress-strain relationship was obtained from the change in the central corneal thickness and IOP. Finite element analysis (FEA) was utilized to predict the biomechanical responses of the central corneal region under IOP using the derived stress-strain relationship. The FEA predictions using the stress-strain relationships derived from the uniaxial tensile test and optical coherence elastography (OCE) were also conducted for comparison.
Results:
The prediction accuracy of the FEA based on the inflation test was evaluated against OCE (in-plane), OCE (out-of-plane), and uniaxial tensile test. Compared to these methods, the maximum deviation of the apex displacement prediction based on the inflation test decreased by 73.2, 88.4, and 64.4%, respectively, and the maximum deviation of the central curvature prediction decreased by 89.2, 30.7, and 49.7%, respectively.
Conclusion:
The stress-strain relationship in the thickness direction of the cornea can provide the most accurate prediction result of the corneal biomechanical responses under IOP. The inflation test-based method proposed can serve as an accurate tool for biomechanical characterization of the central corneal region.
