Continuous Measurement and Control of Intraocular Pressure in Normal and Glaucomatous Eyes

项目总结 青光眼是世界上导致失明的主要原因，影响着6000多万人。广泛的研究 已经证明，眼压升高会导致神经节细胞进行性丧失。 这随后表现为视力丧失。慢性动力学之间的确切关系 眼压和眼睛所经历的损害仍然未知，是青光眼研究的中心焦点 在世界各地。多年来，科学家们已经开发出几种动物模型，在这些模型中， 一种方法是破坏眼睛的引流通道，使液体不能轻易流出。是这样的 这些技术往往很耗时，成功率低，持续时间长，而且无法控制 超过眼压幅度或动态。所有这些问题都大大阻碍了我们继续研究 疾病的原因和后果。目前监测眼压的技术也是一个限制因素。眼压计， 最常用的眼压测量技术产生的数据不足，需要熟练的操作员随时进行操作。 商业上已经开发出植入式传感器来解决这个问题，但它们依赖电池供电。 这限制了它们的使用寿命和收集的数据的准确性。 该项目描述了一种能够连续测量的无线植入式设备 调整眼压，精确度高，故障率接近于零，操作几乎不受限制 一辈子。他们第一次让实验者完全控制眼睛看到的眼压历史 都被曝光了。该项目建议使用该技术来调查 当液体排出途径不像所有其他动物模型那样明显受损时，注意高眼压 这种疾病的危害。具体目标是系统地、定量地评价实验的效果。 青光眼和这一新的灌注性高血压模型：i)眼压变异性，ii)眼液动力学， 3)视网膜结构和功能；4)大鼠视觉敏感度。

PROJECT SUMMARY Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness in the world, affecting over 60 million people. Extensive research has demonstrated that increased intraocular pressure (IOP) results in a progressive loss of ganglion cells that is subsequently expressed as a loss of vision. The exact relationship between the chronic dynamics of IOP and the damage experienced by the eye is still unknown and is the central focus of glaucoma studies across the world. Over the years, scientists have developed several animal models in which a wide variety of methods is used to damage the drainage pathways of the eye so that fluid cannot get out as easily. Such techniques tend to be time consuming, present a low success rate, last permanently, and offer no control over IOP amplitude or dynamics. All of these issues significantly hamper our continued ability to study the causes and effects of the disease. Current technology to monitor IOP is also a limiting factor. Tonometry, the most used technique to measure IOP, yields insufficient data and requires a skilled operator at all times. Implantable sensors have been commercially developed to address the issue but they rely on battery power to function, which limits their operating lifetime and the accuracy of the data collected. This project describes one-of-a-kind wireless implantable devices that are capable of continually measuring and regulating IOP, doing so with high accuracy, near-zero failure rate, and virtually unlimited operational lifetime. For the first time they give the experimenter complete control over the IOP history to which an eye is exposed. This project proposes to use the technology to investigate the response and resiliency of the eye to elevated IOP when fluid drainage pathways are not overtly damaged like in all other animal models of the disease. The specific aims are to systematically and quantitatively assess the effects of experimental glaucoma and this new perfusion-induced hypertension model on: i) IOP variability, ii) ocular fluid dynamics, iii) retinal structure and function, and iv) visual sensitivity of rats.