Fibril density reduction in keratoconic corneas.

This study aims to estimate the reduction in collagen fibril density within the central 6 mm radius of keratoconic corneas through the processing of microstructure and videokeratography data. Collagen fibril distribution maps and topography maps were obtained for seven keratoconic and six healthy corneas, and topographic features were assessed to detect and calculate the area of the cone in each keratoconic eye. The reduction in collagen fibril density within the cone area was estimated with reference to the same region in the characteristic collagen fibril maps of healthy corneas.

Numerical Simulation of Corneal Fibril Reorientation in Response to External Loading.

Purpose: To simulate numerically the collagen fibril reorientation observed experimentally in the cornea.

Methods: Fibril distribution in corneal strip specimens was monitored using X-ray scattering while under gradually increasing axial loading. The data were analysed at each strain level in order to quantify the changes in the angular distribution of fibrils with strain growth.

Microstructure-based numerical simulation of the mechanical behaviour of ocular tissue.

This paper aims to present a novel full-eye biomechanical material model that incorporates the characteristics of ocular tissues at microstructural level, and use the model to analyse the age-related stiffening in tissue behaviour. The collagen content in ocular tissues, as obtained using X-ray scattering measurements, was represented by sets of Zernike polynomials that covered both the cornea and sclera, then used to reconstruct maps of collagen fibril magnitude and orientation on the three-dimensional geometry of the eye globe. Fine-mesh finite-element (FE) models with eye-specific geometry were built and supported by a user-defined material model (UMAT), which considered the regional variation of fibril density and orientation.

Analysis of X-ray scattering microstructure data for implementation in numerical simulations of ocular biomechanical behaviour.

This study aimed to analyse microstructure data on the density and orientation of collagen fibrils in whole eye globes and to propose an effective method for the preparation of data for use in numerical simulations of the eye's biomechanical performance. Wide-angle X-ray scattering was applied to seven healthy ex-vivo human eyes. Each eye was dissected into an anterior and a posterior cup, and radial incisions were used to flatten the tissue before microstructure characterisation.

A viscoelastic anisotropic hyperelastic constitutive model of the human cornea.

A constitutive model based on the continuum mechanics theory has been developed which represents interlamellar cohesion, regional variation of collagen fibril density, 3D anisotropy and both age-related viscoelastic and hyperelastic stiffening behaviour of the human cornea. Experimental data gathered from a number of previous studies on 48 ex vivo human cornea (inflation and shear tests) enabled calibration of the constitutive model by numerical analysis. Wide-angle X-ray scattering and electron microscopy provided measured data which quantify microstructural arrangements associated with stiffness.