Birefringence of the Human Cornea: A Review

This paper aims to provide an overview of corneal birefringence (CB), systematize the knowledge and current understanding of CB, and identify difficulties associated with introducing CB into mainstream clinical practice.

Literature reviews were conducted, seeking articles focused on CB published between the early 19th century and the present time. Secondary-level searches were made examining relevant publications referred to in primary-level publications, ranging back to the early 17th century. The key search words were "corneal birefringence" and "non-invasive measurements".

CB was first recorded by Brewster in 1815. Orthogonally polarized rays travel at different speeds through the cornea, creating a slow axis and a fast axis. The slow axis aligns with the pattern of most corneal stromal collagen fibrils. In vivo, it is oriented along the superior temporal-inferior nasal direction at an angle of about 25° (with an approximate range of -54° to 90°) from the horizontal. CB has been reported to (i) influence the estimation of retinal nerve fiber layer thickness; (ii) be affected by corneal interventions; (iii) be altered in keratoconus; (iv) vary along the depth of the cornea; and (v) be affected by intra-ocular pressure.

Under precisely controlled conditions, capturing the CB pattern is the first step in a non-destructive process used to model the ultra-fine structure of the individual cornea, and changes thereof, in vivo.