Abstract
The aim was to assess the relationships between cardiovascular activity, corneal pulse characteristics, and corneal biomechanics in rabbits. Seventeen rabbits were randomly assigned to one of two anesthetic regimens to induce differences in arterial blood pressure and heart rate. Experimental protocol included measuring blood flow parameters in the ophthalmic artery by color Doppler imaging, corneal biomechanical parameters using a non-contact tonometer Corvis ST, and the corneal pulse (CP) signal using a non-contact ultrasonic technique. Statistically significantly lower mean values of normalized amplitudes of higher CP harmonics and changes in eight of the twelve corneal biomechanical parameters were observed in the rabbit group with lower arterial blood pressure and higher heart rate, intraocular pressure, and resistive index. The results of partial correlations showed that the CP signal energy and amplitude of its first harmonic correlate with the resistive index, diastolic and mean arterial pressures, whereas no statistically significant correlation was found between any of the CP parameters and intraocular pressure. Our pilot study indicates, for the first time, that non-contact and continuous measuring of corneal pulse allows indirectly assessing changes in cardiovascular activity when the confounding effect of intraocular pressure is eliminated.
Highlights
The aim was to assess the relationships between cardiovascular activity, corneal pulse characteristics, and corneal biomechanics in rabbits
Marcus et al analyzed factors that determine the decrease of intraocular pressure (IOP) in animal model triggering an increase of arterial blood pressure through acute e xercise[14]
Hemodynamic parameters were stable throughout the experiment (Fig. 1)
Summary
The aim was to assess the relationships between cardiovascular activity, corneal pulse characteristics, and corneal biomechanics in rabbits. Evaluating the relationship between cardiovascular parameters and corneal biomechanics and pulsation is difficult in in-vivo studies because it requires controlled levels of blood pressure and heart rate. To ease such an evaluation animal model are presented[12,13,14]. Marcus et al analyzed factors that determine the decrease of IOP in animal model triggering an increase of arterial blood pressure through acute e xercise[14] Another way of changing the ABP and HR is pharmacological induction. The purpose of this study, in which control levels of cardiovascular activity is achieved pharmacologically, is to investigate the relationships between blood pressure, heart rate, corneal pulse characteristics, and corneal biomechanics in rabbits
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