EFFECT OF GEOMETRICAL PARAMETERS ON THE DEFORMATIONS OF THE HUMAN OPTIC NERVE HEAD BASED ON INDIVIDUAL-SPECIFIC MODELS

Abstract

The elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) is one of the important risk factors of glaucomatous optic nerve damage. The deformations of glaucomatous optic nerve head (ONH) due to the elevated IOP might lead to further damage to the optic nerve. The ONH deformations due to the elevated IOP depend on their geometry. Therefore, it is meaningful to investigate the relationship between geometrical parameters and the deformation of ONH. Firstly, the geometrical parameters of ONH were obtained by in vivo using spectral domain optical coherence tomography. Then, individual-specific three-dimensional (3D) models of ONH for glaucoma and normal subjects were established and the deformations of ONH were acquired by using finite element method. Furthermore, the thickness changes of retina and lamina cribrosa were calculated under different IOPs. Finally, correlations between geometrical parameters and the relative deformations of the human ONH were researched by using Spearman correlation. It was found that the relative thickness change of patient’s retina was larger than that of normal subjects under the same condition. The correlation of several parameters, including cup area, and lamina cribrosa depth, with relative deformations of ONH had statistical significance.