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Abstract
PURPOSE: The authors modeled the normally avascular mammalian cornea response to injury by neovascularization. The nature of this process remains obscure, although diffusion mechanisms are thought to be involved. METHODS: Corneal neovascularization was simulated using fractal stochastic computer models for nonequilibrium diffusion (inverted diffusion limited aggregation) and a stochastic ballistic aggregation. RESULTS: The inverted diffusion limited aggregation model was found to generate patterns strikingly similar to those observed in pathologic neovascularization of the cornea in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: This result supports the role of random diffusion mechanisms modified by environmental factors, such as the release of angiogenic factors in corneal angiogenesis.