Contact lens fitting and changes in the tear film dynamics: mathematical and computational models review.

PURPOSE: This review explores mathematical models, blinking characterization, and non-invasive techniques to enhance understanding and refine clinical interventions for ocular conditions, particularly for contact lens wear. METHODS: The review evaluates mathematical models in tear film dynamics and their limitations, discusses contact lens wear models, and highlights computational mechanical models. It also explores computational techniques, customization of models based on individual blinking dynamics, and non-invasive diagnostic tools like high-speed cameras and advanced imaging technologies. RESULTS: Mathematical models provide insights into tear film dynamics but face challenges due to simplifications. Contact lens wear models reveal complex ocular physiology and design aspects, aiding in lens development. Computational mechanical models explore eye biomechanics, often integrating tear film dynamics into a Multiphysics framework. While different computational techniques have their advantages and disadvantages, non-invasive tools like OCT and thermal imaging play a crucial role in customizing these Multiphysics models, particularly for contact lens wearers. CONCLUSION: Recent advancements in mathematical modeling and non-invasive tools have revolutionized ocular health research, enabling personalized approaches. The review underscores the importance of interdisciplinary exploration in the Multiphysics approach involving tear film dynamics and biomechanics for contact lens wearers, promoting advancements in eye care and broader ocular health research.

Multispectral Imaging Method for Rapid Identification and Analysis of Paraffin-Embedded Pathological Tissues.

The study of the interaction between light and biological tissue is of great help in the identification of diseases as well as structural alterations in tissues. In the present study, we have developed a tissue diagnostic technique by using multispectral imaging in the visible spectrum combined with principal component analysis (PCA). We used information from the propagation of light through paraffin-embedded tissues to assess differences in the eye tissues of control mouse embryos compared to mouse embryos whose mothers were deprived of folic acid (FA), a crucial vitamin necessary for the growth and development of the fetus. After acquiring the endmembers from the multispectral images, spectral unmixing was used to identify the abundances of those endmembers in each pixel. For each acquired image, the final analysis was performed by performing a pixel-by-pixel and wavelength-by-wavelength absorbance calculation. Non-negative least squares (NNLS) were used in this research. The abundance maps obtained for the first endmember revealed vascular alterations (vitreous and choroid) in the embryos with maternal FA deficiency. However, the abundance maps obtained for the third endmember showed alterations in the texture of some tissues such as the lens and retina. Results indicated that multispectral imaging applied to paraffin-embedded tissues enhanced tissue visualization. Using this method, first, it can be seen tissue damage location and then decide what kind of biological techniques to apply.

Development of a polarization imaging method to detect paraffin-embedded pathology tissues before applying other techniques.

The present article describes the development of a technique, applied to paraffin-embedded tissues, which uses three different wavelengths of monochromatic light (λ1 = 445 nm, λ2 = 540 nm and λ3 = 660 nm) for the measures of the degree of polarization, degree of linear polarization, degree of circular polarization and birefringence, all obtained from measurements of Stokes parameters by using polarized light. The goal of this study was to detect changes in developing embryonic mouse eye when pregnant mice fed diets without folic acid for variable periods compared with a healthy control group. We present a biomedical diagnostic technique based on polarized light detection applied to paraffin-embedded tissues to visualize the structural damage to aid us in the diagnosis before applying other techniques. Through this method, we can visualize and identify which parts of the tissue were altered with respect to the control group.

Alteration of lens and retina textures from mice embryos with folic acid deficiency: image processing analysis.

PURPOSE: Folic acid (FA) is an essential vitamin for embryonic development. It plays particularly a critical role in RNA, DNA and protein synthesis. On the other hand, the collagen IV and laminin-1 are important proteins during embryonic development. This study was done to find if FA deficiency at a short and a long term in mothers could alter the tissue texture of retina and lens of the progeny. METHODS: Collagen IV and laminin-1 were localized by immunohistochemistry in the lens and retina of the FA-deficient embryos. To carry out the image processing, texture segmentation was performed through canny edge detection and Fourier transform (FT). We defined a parameter, the grain size, to describe the texture of the lens and retina. A bootstrap method to estimate the distribution and confidence intervals of the mean, standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis of the grain size has been developed. RESULTS: Analysis through image processing using Matlab showed changes in the grain size between control- and FA-deficient groups in both studied molecules. Measures of texture based on FT exhibited changes in the directionality and arrangements of type IV collagen and laminin-1. CONCLUSIONS: Changes introduced by FA deficiency were visible in the short term (2 weeks) and evident in the long term (8 weeks) in both grain size and orientation of fibre structures in the tissues analysed (lens and retina). This is the first work devoted to study the effect of FA deficit in the texture of eye tissues using image processing techniques.

Biometric Alterations of Mouse Embryonic Eye Structures Due to Short-Term Folic Acid Deficiency.

PURPOSE: Folic acid (FA) is an essential nutrient for normal embryonic development. FA deficiency (FAD) in maternal diet increases the risk of several defects among the progeny, especially, neural tube defects. The eye begins its development from the neural tube; however, the relationship between FAD and ocular development in the offspring has been little explored and it isn't known how the FAD affects the formation of the eye. Our objective was to analyze the effect of maternal FAD on mouse embryos ocular biometry. METHODS: Female mice C57/BL/6J were distributed into three different groups, according to the assigned diet: control group fed a standard FA diet (2 mg FA/kg), FAD group for short term fed (0 mg FA/kg + 1% succinylsulfathiazole) from the day after mating until day 14.5 of gestation, and FAD group for long term fed the same FA-deficient diet for 6 weeks prior mating and continued with this diet during gestation. A total of 57 embryos (19 embryos of each dietary group) at 14.5 gestational days were evaluated. As indicators of changes in ocular biometry, we analyze two parameters: area and circularity of the lens and whole eye, and the area of the retina. The program used in the treatment and selection of the areas of interest was ImageJ. The statistical analysis was performed by IBM SPSS Statistics 19. RESULTS: Regarding the measures of the area, FA-deficient lenses and eyes were smaller than that of controls. We have also observed increase in the size of the neural retina, spatially, in embryos from females fed FAD diet during long term. On the other hand, as regard to circularity measures, we have seen that eyes and lenses were more circular than control. CONCLUSION: Maternal FAD diet for a very short term generates morphological changes in ocular structures to the offspring.

Variation of Coma Aberration With Prismatic Soft Contact Lenses.

PURPOSE: To analyze the variation in vertical coma and the rest of ocular aberrations before and after fitting prismatic soft contact lenses (PSCL). METHODS: Thirty-seven eyes of 20 healthy subjects (24.30±2.03 years) were evaluated to analyze the variation in ocular wavefront aberrations before and after fitting PSCL of different base-down prism values (1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 prism diopters [PD]), designed to study its influence in the compensation of vertical coma aberration. A Hartmann-Shack sensor with a wavelength of 780 nm was used, considering a pupil size of 3 mm. In addition, the influence of PSCL in visual function under photopic conditions in terms of high-contrast visual acuity and contrast sensitivity was evaluated. RESULTS: There was statistically significant differences (P<0.05) in ocular aberrations from first to seventh order after fitting PSCL, but only the differences in vertical tilt, horizontal tilt, defocus, vertical astigmatism, and vertical coma were clinically relevant (Strehl ratio <0.8). The mean of vertical coma (µm) was 0.022±0.030 for control, 0.045±0.064 for 1.0 PD (P=0.645), 0.048±0.053 for 1.5 PD (P=0.037), and 0.074±0.047 for 2.0 PD (P<0.001). The changes in visual function under photopic conditions were not clinically relevant. CONCLUSIONS: PSCL induce a magnitude of vertical coma aberration directly proportional to prism value without affecting the rest of ocular high-order aberrations.

Spectral Response of Metallic Optical Antennas Driven by Temperature.

When optical antennas are used as light detectors, temperature changes their spectral response. Using this relation, we determine the spectrum of a light beam from an optical antenna's signal. A numerical evaluation of the temperature-spectral response has been completed with a model for the noise of the device. Using both the response and the noise model, we have established the capabilities of the device by quantifying the error in the spectrum determination both for broadband spectrum and monochromatic radiation.

Wavefront reconstruction from tangential and sagittal curvature.

In a previous contribution [Appl. Opt.51, 8599 (2012)], a coauthor of this work presented a method for reconstructing the wavefront aberration from tangential refractive power data measured using dynamic skiascopy. Here we propose a new regularized least squares method where the wavefront is reconstructed not only using tangential but also sagittal curvature data. We prove that our new method provides improved quality reconstruction for typical and also for highly aberrated wavefronts, under a wide range of experimental error levels. Our method may be applied to any type of wavefront sensor (not only dynamic skiascopy) able to measure either just tangential or tangential plus sagittal curvature data.

Principal components analysis of the photoresponse nonuniformity of a matrix detector.

The principal component analysis is used to identify and quantify spatial distributions of relative photoresponse as a function of the exposure time for a visible CCD array. The analysis shows a simple way to define an invariant photoresponse nonuniformity and compare it with the definition of this invariant pattern as the one obtained for long exposure times. Experimental data of radiant exposure from levels of irradiance obtained in a stable and well-controlled environment are used.

Millimeter wave imaging system for land mine detection.

Applications using millimeter wave (mmW) and THz radiation have increased during the past few years. One of the principal applications of these technologies is the detection and identification of objects buried beneath the soil, in particular land mines and unexploded ordnances. A novel active mmW scanning imaging system was developed for this purpose. It is a hyperspectral system that collects images at different mmW frequencies from 90 to 140 GHz using a vector network analyzer collecting backscattering mmW radiation from the buried sample. A multivariate statistical method, principal components analysis, is applied to extract useful information from these images. This method is applied to images of different objects and experimental conditions.

Uncertainty analysis in the measurement of the spatial responsivity of infrared antennas.

The measurement of a two-dimensional spatial responsivity map of infrared antennas can be accomplished by use of an iterative deconvolution algorithm. The inputs of this algorithm are the spatial distribution of the laser beam irradiance illuminating the antenna-coupled detector and a map of the measured detector response as it moves through the illuminating beam. The beam irradiance distribution is obtained from knife-edge measurements of the beam waist region; this data set is fitted to a model of the beam. The uncertainties, errors, and artifacts of the measurement procedure are analyzed by principal-component analysis. This study has made it possible to refine the measurement protocol and to identify, classify, and filter undesirable sources of noise. The iterative deconvolution algorithm stops when a well-defined threshold is reached. Spatial maps of mean values and uncertainties have been obtained for the beam irradiance distribution, the scanned spatial response data, and the resultant spatial responsivity of the infrared antenna. Signal-to-noise ratios have been defined and compared, and the beam irradiance distribution characterization has been identified as the statistically weakest part of the measurement procedure.

Principal-component characterization of noise for infrared images.

Principal-component decomposition is applied to the analysis of noise for infrared images. It provides a set of eigenimages, the principal components, that represents spatial patterns associated with different types of noise. We provide a method to classify the principal components into processes that explain a given amount of the variance of the images under analysis. Each process can reconstruct the set of data, thus allowing a calculation of the weight of the given process in the total noise. The method is successfully applied to an actual set of infrared images. The extension of the method to images in the visible spectrum is possible and would provide similar results.