Abstract
Purpose :
To determine hydration effects on mechanical properties of porcine sclera by performing uniaxial tensile experiments
Methods :
Sclera strips in the superior-inferior direction were dissected from the posterior part of pig eyes. The strips were first dried and then soaking in PBS in order to divide them into four hydration groups of 75%, 100%, 150%, and 200%. Then, their tensile response was determined by subjecting them to ten cycles of loading and unloading. The tangent modulus, maximum strain, and hysteresis at the tenth cycle were used to compare the mechanical response of different hydration groups. The experiments were done in oil and the tensile behavior of strips right after dissection was also found.
Results :
A significant increase in the tensile response of posterior sclera strips was found with decreasing the hydration. In particular, for samples with hydration 75%, 100%, 150%, and 200%, the maximum tensile strain was 5.1% ± 0.6%, 6.9% ± 0.5%, 7.9% ± 0.3%, and 9.3% ± 0.9%, the tangent modulus at 0.05 MPa was 4.8 ± 0.6, 3.5 ± 0.4, 2.9 ± 0.2, and 2.6 ± 0.3 MPa, the tangent modulus at 1.00 MPa was 52.6 ± 5.9, 46.5 ± 3.2, 40.7 ± 2.3, and 32.9 ± 3.9 MPa, and hysteresis was 5.1 ± 0.4, 5.5 ± 0.6, 6.0 ± 0.3, and 8.5 ± 1.8 kJ/m3, respectively.
Conclusions :
Since the tensile property of posterior sclera was found to be hydration dependent, the hydration variation during the experimental measurements could significantly affect the measured sclera biomechanical properties.
This is a 2020 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.