Effects of Collagen Crosslinking on Mechanical Behavior of Corneal Tissue in Compression
Abstract
Eyesight is crucial to many daily tasks. Proper eyesight depends on soft tissues that seem simple at the macroscale, but have complicated microstructures necessary for proper function. The cornea is the first thing that light encounters on its path into the eye. Within the cornea are multiple distinct layers with each accomplishing a different function. This tissue must be strong as it helps support the shape of the eye. It also must remain flexible as it needs to cope with pressure changes due to biology as well as accidental impacts. Keratoconus is an eye disorder in which the cornea becomes thin; therefore, the cornea loses its ability to withstand the intraocular pressure and distorts causing increasingly fuzzy vision. So far there have been different procedures for treating this disease state but none of them have been successful in preventing the progression of the disease. Nevertheless, corneal crosslinking by using riboflavin (a noninvasive procedure) has the promise of halting this deformation process, but is still not fully understood. The primary objective of this thesis is to investigate the effect of collagen crosslinking on the mechanical behavior of the cornea in compression. The differences in compressive behaviors between three species are also studied. Results suggest that corneal collagen crosslinking has only a minimal effect on the compressive properties. Results also show that a porcine model more closely mimics that of human corneal tissues than does a bovine model.
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