Effect of corneal inhomogeneity on the mechanical behavior of the eye

Abstract

The effect of spatial inhomogeneity of the effective cornea stiffness distribution on the mechanical properties of the eye is investigated on the basis of the two-component model of the eyeball, in which the cornea is represented by a momentless deformable, linearly elastic surface and the scleral region by an elastic element that responds to changes in intraocular pressure by changes in volume. The approach used makes it possible to consider within the same model both the natural corneal inhomogeneity and mechanical consequences of local cornea weakening owing to surgical procedures. The dependences on changes in intraocular pressure of parameters that characterize deformation properties of both the cornea (apex displacement) and the eyeball as a whole (change in intraocular volume) are obtained. For moderate inhomogeneity they differ from the same dependences for the homogenous cornea with effective stiffness equal to the average value for the corresponding inhomogeneous distribution only slightly. However, if the effective stiffness amplitude is very high, corneal inhomogeneity discernibly affects the integral response of the cornea and the eyeball as a whole to changes in pressure. The effect of inhomogeneity on the data of tonometry also mainly depends on the average effective corneal stiffness. The difference between the tonometric and true pressures increases with surgical cornea weakening in the apical region for both Schiøtz and Maklakoff tonometers.