Experimental Surface Strain Mapping of Porcine Peripapillary Sclera Due to Elevations of Intraocular Pressure

To experimentally characterize 2D surface mapping of the deformation pattern of porcine peripapillary sclera following acute elevations of intraocular pressure (IOP) from $5mmHgto45mmHg$⁠. Four porcine eyes were obtained within $48h$ postmortem and dissected to the sclera. After the anterior chamber was removed, each posterior scleral shell was individually mounted at the equator on a custom-built pressurization device, which internally pressurized the scleral samples with isotonic saline at $22°C$⁠. Black polystyrene microspheres (⁠ $10μm$ in diameter) were randomly scattered and attached to the scleral surface. IOP was incrementally increased from $5mmHgto45mmHg$ $(±0.15mmHg)$⁠, and the surface deformation of the peripapillary sclera immediately adjacent to the dural insertion was optically tracked at a resolution of $2μm∕pixel$ one quadrant at a time, for each of four quadrants (superior, nasal, inferior, and temporal). The 2D displacement data of the microsphere markers were extracted using the optical flow equation, smoothed by weighting function interpolation, and converted to the corresponding Lagrangian finite surface strain. In all four quadrants of each eye, the principal strain was highest and primarily circumferential immediately adjacent to the scleral canal. Average maximum Lagrangian strain across all quadrants for all eyes was $0.013±0.005$ from $5mmHgto10mmHg$⁠, $0.014±0.004$ from $10mmHgto30mmHg$ and $0.004±0.001$ from $30mmHgto45mmHg$⁠, demonstrating the nonlinearity in the IOP-strain relationship. For each scleral shell, the observed surface strain mapping implied that the scleral stiffness was relatively low between $5mmHg$ and $10mmHg$⁠, but dramatically increased for each IOP elevation increment beyond $10mmHg$⁠. Peripapillary deformation following an acute IOP elevation may be governed by the underlying scleral collagen microstructure and is likely in the high-stiffness region of the scleral stress-strain curve when IOP is above $10mmHg$⁠.