Ultrasound elastography system for quantifying Age-Related biomechanical changes in ocular tissues
Chi-Feng Chang1, Junhang Zhang1, Galo Apolo Aroca2
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA.
None:
This study reports the development and validation of an Ultrasound Elastography (USE) system designed to quantify age-related biomechanical changes in ocular tissues. Employing a commercial L22-14Vx linear array transducer coupled with a mechanical shaker system delivering 600 Hz excitation, elastic wave speed (WS) was measured in the cornea, iris, and anterior sclera. Results demonstrated that WS provides clinically relevant information for assessing tissue stiffness of specific parts of the eye, providing more detailed information about each eye structure. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of the developed USE system for quantifying localized biomechanical properties of anterior ocular tissues in vivo, highlighting its potential utility for structure-specific biomechanical assessment. Index Terms- Ultrasound elastography; ocular biomechanics; anterior ocular tissues; cornea; iris; anterior sclera; elastic wave speed.
