Abstract
Purpose :
To identify and compare focal in vivo changes in corneal biomechanical properties after PRK, LASIK, and SMILE using Brillouin microscopy.
Methods :
Ongoing prospective, cross-sectional study comparing Brillouin scan data from patients with normal corneas as determined by routine clinical evaluation before and after undergoing PRK, LASIK, or SMILE. The primary endpoint was regional change in Brillouin longitudinal modulus after surgery.
Results :
All eyes having PRK, LASIK, and SMILE showed relatively uniform Brillouin modulus preoperatively across the central 6mm of their corneas. All normal corneas had slightly lower Brillouin modulus centrally of 20-50MHz. Following laser vision correction by all three methods, central longitudinal modulus decreased by 30-50 MHz, while there were no significant changes in peripheral modulus. There were no significant differences between procedure centrally or peripherally.
Conclusions :
Brillouin microscopy was able to successfully identify a focal reduction in corneal stiffness for all three laser vision correction procedures and thereby provide novel highly specific localized corneal biomechanical data in vivo.
This abstract was presented at the 2022 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Denver, CO, May 1-4, 2022, and virtually.