Abstract
Purpose :
With the rapid rise in the popularity of badminton, the sport's inherent risk of eye injuries has become a growing concern. Instead of a ball, badminton uses a birdie (AKA shuttlecock) as their object when playing a game. The birdie, despite its seemingly small size, induces considerable trauma due to its rapid velocity, with an average speed of 168-217 km/h and a world record speed of 493 km/hour. This study aims to quantify the stresses the eye experiences during a badminton injury, specifically when struck by a birdie, using a finite element (FE) computer simulation.
Methods :
A comprehensive FE model was developed to simulate badminton trauma caused by a birdie impact on the eyeball. The FE aimed to simulate the biomechanical response of distinct ocular structures such as the lens, sclera, cornea, ciliary body, etc. The size of a birdie allows it to fit within the bony orbit of an average eyeball, therefore, the skull was excluded from the FE model. The birdie directly impacted the eye at a speed of 129 km/h (80 mph) along its optical axis. Intraocular pressure (IOP), ciliary stress, lens displacement, retina stress, vitreous pressure, and optic nerve head deformation were quantified by the FE model.
Results :
Our findings revealed a significant increase in all measured parameters, suggesting a substantial risk of common eye impact injuries, including traumatic uveitis, hyphema, angle recession, vitreous detachment, retinoschisis, lens dislocation, secondary glaucoma, and globe rupture. Although these injuries are highly probable during impact, they cannot be determined from just FE results. Pressure was found to build up within the optic nerve; pressure waves travel faster in stiffer materials, such as the sclera. 7 MPa of ciliary stress was measured with a maximum lens displacement of 1.5 mm upon impact.
Conclusions :
The findings suggest that badminton-related eye injuries pose a serious threat, as evidenced by the increased stresses on ocular structures during a simulated birdie impact. With 55% of such injuries resulting in a permanent decrease in vision, the lack of eye protection emerges as a major risk factor in the sport. Future work is focusing on researching the efficacy of eye protection in reducing badminton-related eye injuries and promoting safer gameplay. As badminton continues to gain popularity, addressing these risks becomes crucial for ensuring the long-term visual health and safety of players.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.