Numerical model of heat transfer in the human eye with consideration of fluid dynamics of the aqueous humour

Abstract

In this work we present a new 3D numerical model for heat transfer in the human eye, which takes into account the aqueous humour flow in the anterior chamber. We show that consideration of this phenomenon in the calculations alters the temperature distribution on the corneal and lens surfaces, without, however, noticeably changing their absolute values. The most notable effect is that the coolest area of the cornea moves at a point of 2 mm inferior to its geometric centre. The maximum velocity of the fluid in the anterior chamber was found to be 3.36 × 10−4 m s−1. The effect of the flow on displacing the cool area of the corneal surface temperature is counterbalanced by assuming anisotropic thermal conductivity. The model was implemented in the case of an artificial intraocular lens to show the resulting temperature variations.