Depth-dependent mechanical properties of the human cornea by uniaxial extension.

Nambiar, Malavika H; Seiler, Theo G; Senti, Sebastian; Liechti, Layko; Müller, Fabian; Studer, Harald; Roy, Abhijit S; Büchler, Philippe (2023). Depth-dependent mechanical properties of the human cornea by uniaxial extension. Experimental eye research, 237(109718), p. 109718. Elsevier 10.1016/j.exer.2023.109718

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the depth-dependent biomechanical properties of the human corneal stroma under uniaxial tensile loading. Human stroma samples were obtained after the removal of Descemet's membrane in the course of Descemet's membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) transplantation. Uniaxial tensile tests were performed at three different depths: anterior, central, and posterior on 2 x 6 × 0.15 mm strips taken from the central DMEK graft. The measured force-displacement data were used to calculate stress-strain curves and to derive the tangent modulus. The study showed that mechanical strength decreased significantly with depth. The anterior cornea appeared to be the stiffest, with a stiffness approximately 18% higher than that of the central cornea and approximately 38% higher than that of the posterior layer. Larger variations in mechanical response were observed in the posterior group, probably due to the higher degree of alignment of the collagen fibers in the posterior sections of the cornea. This study contributes to a better understanding of the biomechanical tensile properties of the cornea, which has important implications for the development of new treatment strategies for corneal diseases. Accurate quantification of tensile strength as a function of depth is critical information that is lacking in human corneal biomechanics to develop numerical models and new treatment methods.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

10 Strategic Research Centers > ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research > ARTORG Center - Computational Bioengineering
10 Strategic Research Centers > ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research > ARTORG Center - Musculoskeletal Biomechanics
04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Head Organs and Neurology (DKNS) > Clinic of Ophthalmology

UniBE Contributor:

Nambiar, Malavika Harikrishnan, Seiler, Günter Theodor Michael, Büchler, Philippe

Subjects:

600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health

ISSN:

0014-4835

Publisher:

Elsevier

Language:

English

Submitter:

Pubmed Import

Date Deposited:

14 Nov 2023 10:27

Last Modified:

24 Jun 2024 11:40

Publisher DOI:

10.1016/j.exer.2023.109718

PubMed ID:

37952725

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Depth-dependent Human cornea Tensile testing Uniaxial testing

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/188828

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/188828

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