Constructing a Computer Model of the Human Eye Based on Tissue Slice Images

Abstract

Computer simulation of the biomechanical and biological heat transfer in ophthalmology greatly relies on having a reliable computer model of the human eye. This paper proposes a novel method on the construction of a geometric model of the human eye based on tissue slice images. Slice images were obtained from an in vitro Chinese human eye through an embryo specimen processing methods. A level set algorithm was used to extract contour points of eye tissues while a principle component analysis was used to detect the central axis of the image. The two-dimensional contour was rotated around the central axis to obtain a three-dimensional model of the human eye. Refined geometric models of the cornea, sclera, iris, lens, vitreous, and other eye tissues were then constructed with their position and ratio relationships kept intact. A preliminary study of eye tissue deformation in eye virtual surgery was simulated by a mass-spring model based on the computer models developed.