Ocular Biomechanics

Research

Current research projects

∴ Keratoconic eye study

∴ Healthy eye study

Information for participants

∴ About volunteering

∴ Becoming a participant

Information for Researchers

∴ Julie Soane

∴ Dr Maria D

Biomechanical properties of keratoconic eyes

In keratoconus the structure of the cornea (a layer of tissue at the front of the eye) is changed and its strength is reduced. These structural changes alter the shape of the cornea, which in turn can cause myopia (short-sightedness) and irregular astigmatism (irregular shape of the cornea), affecting vision. Corneal-collagen-crosslinking is a relatively new technique, which aims to increase the biomechanical strength of the cornea and hence stopping these unwanted shape changes. Despite strong evidence showing that corneal-collagen-crosslinking leads to increased biomechanical strength of human corneas, there is a significant need for accurate measures of these biomechanical changes before and after this procedure. Until recently technical limitations have restricted our ability to assess the effectiveness of the technique. Utilising the latest imaging techniques this study aims to better understand the biomechanical strength of the eye before and after corneal-collagen-crosslinking.

∴ Information about the study

∴ Become a volunteer

Healthy Eye Study

Globally the major cause of blindness in 2010 was cataract (51%) followed by glaucoma (8% corresponds to 3.12 million people). Given that blindness due to cataract is treatable with surgery, glaucoma is the principle, non-reversible cause to loss of vision. Currently, the eye specialist measures the intraocular pressures (IOP) to use these readings as a significant predictor of whether an eye is at risk of glaucomatous damage. Recent research has shown that the measurement of the IOP is limited by the mechanical properties - such as hydration and rigidity - of the tissues of the anterior eye, like the cornea and the conjunctiva. Furthermore the mechanical behaviour seems to be an important measurement to assess the glaucomatous risk. The examination of the, so-called, biomechanical properties at human eyes was highly limited, because of the lag of medical devices. With new developed medical devices it is firstly possible to measure and record the biomechanical properties of the human eye.

The purpose of this study is to better understand the biomechanical properties of the anterior eye and to determine if these properties are associated with structural features of the eye.

∴ Publications