ABSTRACT
Objective To study the changes in biomechanical properties of human cornea after laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) and predict corneal stiffness after the LASIK surgery. Methods According to the measurement results from corneal visualization scheimpflug technology (Corvis ST), the corneal tangent stiffness coefficient (STSC) and energy absorbed area (Aabsorbed) were calculated. The change patterns of corneal stiffness and viscosity after refractive surgery were analyzed. Results The difference of corneal STSC and Aabsorbed before and after LASIK had a statistical significance (P<0.05). The obtained formula for predicting corneal stiffness after refractive surgery was: Sbefore surgery =1.055bIOPbefore surgery + 0.015CCTbefore surgery，Safter surgery =0.937Sbefore surgery +0.019CCTafter surgery. Conclusions LASIK surgery not only changes corneal thickness, but also reduces corneal stiffness and viscosity. Prediction of corneal stiffness after surgery can provide guidance for the design of clinical surgery and improve the safety of surgery.
ABSTRACT
Study of the mechanical properties of in vivo corneal materials is an important basis for further study of corneal physiological and pathological phenomena by means of finite element method. In this paper, the elastic coefficient ( ) and viscous coefficient ( ) of normal cornea and keratoconus under pulse pressure are calculated by using standard linear solid model with the data provided by corneal visualization scheimpflug technology. The results showed that there was a significant difference of and between normal cornea and keratoconus cornea ( < 0.05). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the area under curve (AUC) for , and their combined indicators were 0.776, 0.895 and 0.948, respectively, which indicated that keratoconus could be predicted by and . The results of this study may provide a reference for the early diagnosis of keratoconus and avoid the occurrence of keratoconus after operation, so it has a certain clinical value.