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

该项目将开发一个计算框架，以改善隐形眼镜的安装和舒适度。自20世纪70年代以来，全世界有数百万人佩戴软性隐形眼镜来矫正视力障碍。最近，硬性隐形眼镜被用作重塑眼表和矫正视力障碍的设备，如儿童近视和圆锥角膜（以圆锥状角膜为特征）。晶状体与眼的配合对于正确矫正视力和减少眼表损伤或感染的风险至关重要。尽管了解眼表与隐形眼镜之间的相互作用对于改善晶状体与眼的配合度很重要，但迄今为止，由于临床仪器的限制，影响这种相互作用的机制仍然未知。本项目将以物理定律为基础，建立一个数学和计算框架，研究眼睛与隐形眼镜之间的相互作用，并预测因佩戴隐形眼镜而导致的眼部重塑。该模型的预测将帮助隐形眼镜制造商从理论上预测配合度，从而预测镜片设计的性能，而无需制造镜片，然后在昂贵的临床试验中测试镜片。该项目将为学生提供模型开发、计算以及眼睛生物力学方面的培训机会。该项目活动将通过与罗切斯特理工学院的包容性卓越倡议和国家聋人技术研究所合作，支持数学和物理科学领域代表性不足群体的学生的代表和保留。将开发眼睛与隐形眼镜之间耦合动力学的数学和计算模型。角膜是眼睛的透明表面，由五层组成，它们对软性和硬性隐形眼镜引起的压力有不同的反应。该模型将通过跟踪每层内部的流体运动来解释角膜的非均匀粘弹性响应和不同层的孔隙度。对眼球重塑和隐形眼镜下吸压的预测将是耦合问题的紧急性质，而不是先验的。该项目将开发计算算法来处理来自眼组织的孔粘弹性描述和眼睛与隐形眼镜之间耦合的非线性。对于不同形状的眼睛所佩戴的软性和硬性晶状体，该模型可以预测晶状体在眼睛上和从眼睛上加载和卸载晶状体时的眼组织变形和眼应力。该项目将为隐形眼镜与眼睛相互作用的机制提供新的见解，特别是在角膜塑形术治疗儿童近视和圆锥角膜方面的应用。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.