Numerical model of aqueous humor drainage: effects of collector channel position

• Published in: Medical engineering & physics 2019-03, Vol.65, p.24-30
• Main Authors: Martínez Sánchez, G.J., Escobar del Pozo, C., Rocha Medina, J.A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anterior chamber; Collector channels; Finite element method; Glaucoma; Intraocular pressure; OpenFOAM
• ISSN: 1350-4533; 1873-4030
• DOI: 10.1016/j.medengphy.2018.12.022

•Numerical simulation to describe the aqueous humor flow in the anterior chamber.•Numerical simulation to describe the aqueous humor flow in Schlemms canal.•Influence of position of the collector channels on the pressure in Schlemms canal.•Relation between intraocular pressure and the number of closed collector channels. Glaucoma is a progressive and a degenerative eye disease that gradually deteriorates the vision. The origin of glaucoma is still under debate. Recent studies report that 50% of the aqueous humor outflow resistance resides on collector channels and Schlemm’s canal (SC). This paper provides a descriptive analysis of the aqueous humor outflow through the anterior chamber, the trabecular meshwork (TM) and the SC. The aim of this work is to determine the influence of the collector channels position on the intraocular pressure (IOP) and its contribution to the development of glaucoma. Pressure and wall shear stress distributions are presented for four cases. The first case has an arrangement of collector channels according to micro CT (Gong and Francis, 2014). The remaining cases have an symmetrical distribution; case 2 has all open quadrants (AOQ), cases 3 have three quadrants completely open and just one quadrant semi closed (SCQ), and finally cases 4 consider that a quadrant is completely closed (CQ). Symmetrical and micro CT cases have 29 collector channels. The results show that the position and the opening of the collector channels have a strong influence on the IOP.