A coupled multiscale model of the human cornea accounting for the collagenous microstructure and the extracellular matrix

TL;DR

This paper introduces a detailed finite element model of the human cornea that explicitly incorporates collagen microstructure and extracellular matrix, improving understanding of corneal biomechanics and pathologies like keratoconus.

Contribution

It develops a multiscale finite element model explicitly representing collagen architecture and extracellular matrix, enhancing the realism of corneal tissue simulations.

Findings

Accurately captures localized deformation in keratoconus

Models non-linear properties of corneal tissue

Separates continuum and microstructural phases for better realism

Abstract

We present a micro-structurally based finite element model of the human cornea, where we explicitly describe the collagen-crosslink architecture in terms of a trusswork of non-linear struts, and the extracellular proteoglycan matrix in terms of continuum solid elements. We regard the cornea as a composite material with strongly non-linear properties within a finite kinematics framework. This innovative approach is based on two previously developed models, each of which has some drawbacks in describing stromal tissue degeneration. Separation of the continuum phase from the collagen microstructure allows a more realistic capture of the macroscopic phenomena observed in keratoconus pathologies, such as localized deformation.