Individualized Characterization of the Distribution of Collagen Fibril Dispersion Using Optical Aberrations of the Cornea for Biomechanical Models.

Purpose: The spatial distribution of collagen fibril dispersion has a significant impact on both corneal biomechanical and optical behaviors. The goal of this study was to demonstrate a novel method to characterize collagen fibril dispersion using intraocular pressure (IOP)-induced changes in corneal optical aberrations for individualized finite-element (FE) modeling.
Methods: The method was tested through both numerical simulations and ex vivo experiments. Inflation tests were simulated in FE models with three assumed patterns of collagen fibril dispersion and experimentally on three rhesus monkey corneas. Geometry, matrix stiffness, and the IOP-induced changes in wavefront aberrations were measured, and the collagen fibril dispersion was characterized. An individualized corneal model with customized collagen fibril dispersion was developed, and the estimated optical aberrations were compared with the measured data.
Results: For the theoretical investigations, three assumed distributions of fibril dispersion were all successfully characterized. The estimated optical aberrations closely matched the measured data, with average root-mean-square (RMS) differences of 0.29, 0.24, and 0.10 µm for the three patterns, respectively. The overall features of the IOP-induced changes in optical aberrations were estimated for two ex vivo monkey corneas, with average RMS differences of 0.57 and 0.43 µm. Characterization of the fibril dispersion in the third cornea might have been affected by corneal hydration, resulting in an increased RMS difference, 0.8 µm.
Conclusions: A more advanced corneal model with individualized distribution of collagen fibril dispersion can be developed and used to improve our ability to understand both biomechanical and optical behaviors of the cornea.