Biomechanics of the Cornea and Sclera

Nguyen, Thao D.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4899-7630-7_14

Thao D. Nguyen³

1648 Accesses
4 Citations

Abstract

The cornea and sclera are soft fibrous tissues that serve important structural and visual functions. The tissues protect the eye from external injury, provide mechanical support for critical internal ocular structures, and preserve an optimal shape for vision. The mechanical properties of the cornea and sclera supporting these functions are achieved through the collagen, elastin, and proteoglycans architecture of the extracellular matrix. This review discusses recent advances in experimental characterization of the structure and mechanical properties of the cornea and sclera, as well as theoretical and computational modeling studies of the relationship between the structure, mechanical properties, and physiologic function of the tissues.

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Dr. Michael Sacks for his invitation to write this review. In addition, the author would like to acknowledge the support of the NEI Public Health Service Research Grants EY021500 and the National Glaucoma Research program of the BrightFocus Foundation.

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Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA
Thao D. Nguyen

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California Medical Innovations Institute , INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, USA
Ghassan S. Kassab
Institute for Computational Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin Institute for Computational Engineering, PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania, USA
Michael S. Sacks

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Nguyen, T.D. (2016). Biomechanics of the Cornea and Sclera. In: Kassab, G., Sacks, M. (eds) Structure-Based Mechanics of Tissues and Organs. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7630-7_14

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