LEAPS-MPS: Computational Modeling of the Interaction between the Eye and a Contact Lens

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The project will develop a computational framework to improve contact lens fitting and comfort. Since the 1970s, soft contact lenses have been worn by millions of people worldwide to correct vision impairment. More recently, stiff contact lenses have been used as devices to reshape the ocular surface and correct vision disorders such as myopia (nearsightedness) in children and keratoconus (characterized by a cone-shaped cornea). The lens-to-eye fitting is crucial for proper vision corrections and to reduce the risk of ocular surface damages or infections. Despite the importance of understanding the interactions between the ocular surface and a contact lens to improve lens-to-eye fitting, to date, the mechanisms affecting such interactions remain unknown due to limitations in the clinical instrumentation. This project will develop a mathematical and computational framework, based on the laws of physics, to study the interactions between the eye and a contact lens, and to predict the ocular reshaping due to contact lens wear. The model’s predictions will help contact lens manufacturers to theoretically predict the fitting, and consequently the performance of a lens design, without having to manufacture the lens and then test the lens in an expensive clinical trial. The project will provide training opportunities for students in model development, in computation, as well as in biomechanics of the eye. The project activities will support the representation and retention of students from underrepresented groups in Mathematical and Physical Sciences by collaborating with the Rochester Institute of Technology’s Inclusive Excellence initiative and National Technical Institute for the Deaf. Mathematical and computational models of the coupled dynamics between the eye and a contact lens will be developed. The cornea, the clear front surface of the eye, is made of five layers that respond differently to the stresses induced by soft and stiff contact lenses. The model will account for the heterogenous viscoelastic response of the cornea and for the porosity of the different layers by tracking the fluid movement inside each layer. The predictions of ocular reshaping and the suction pressure under the contact lens will be emergent properties of the coupled problem and not imposed a priori. The project will develop computational algorithms to treat the nonlinearities coming from the poro-viscoelastic description of the ocular tissue and the coupling between the eye and the contact lens. The model will predict ocular tissue deformation and the ocular stresses while loading and unloading the lens on and from the eye, for soft and stiff lenses worn on different shaped eyes. This project will provide new insights into the mechanisms driving the interaction between the contact lenses and the eye, especially in orthokeratology applications to treat childhood myopia and in eyes with keratoconus.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.