Determining Porcine Corneal Biomechanical Properties with Eye Globe Infation Tests and Simulation

Abstract

In this paper, by changing the intraocular pressure in eyeball, the biomechanical properties of porcine corneas were measured in vitro, and the relationship between apical rise and intraocular pressure was obtained on a eye globe inflation test system. On the basis of shell theory, the corneal elastic modulus and corneal strain were calculated. So obtained the stress-strain curves of each cornea. The microscopic morphology of the cornea for the inflation test was observed through scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. A finite element model that considered collagen fiber distribution in the cornea based on the microstructure of cornea (Holzapfel constitutive model) was established. The mechanical properties of porcine cornea were simulated and analyzed by different intraocular pressures.

Keywords

• cornea
• mechanical properties
• inflation test of eye globe
• holzapfel constitutive model