The influence of intraocular pressure on the damping of a coupled speaker–air–eye system
Although glaucoma is currently the world's most common cause of irreversible blindness, there is no curative therapy available to date. The major risk factor that can be influenced in order to stop disease progression is the eye pressure (IOP). Therefore early diagnosis of an altered IOP is...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2018-03-01
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| Series: | Journal of Sensors and Sensor Systems |
| Online Access: | https://www.j-sens-sens-syst.net/7/123/2018/jsss-7-123-2018.pdf |
| Summary: | Although glaucoma is currently the world's most common cause of irreversible
blindness, there is no curative therapy available to date. The major risk
factor that can be influenced in order to stop disease progression is the eye
pressure (IOP). Therefore early diagnosis of an altered IOP is essential for
the goal of preserving vision. A novel IOP measurement principle for
a handheld noncontact self-tonometer shall be validated.<br><br>The measurement principle uses a pressure pulse generated by a loudspeaker to
cause vibrations of the eye. In order to reach the required sound pressure,
a closed pressure chamber is placed on the human orbit. With a microphone and
a displacement sensor the dynamic behavior of the entire system is detected.
In this article the abovementioned principle is being analyzed on porcine
eyes under laboratory conditions.<br><br>The combination of the loudspeaker, the pressure chamber, and the eye to be
measured can be described as a coupled spring–mass–damper system. It is
demonstrated for enucleated porcine eyes that a defined IOP variation leads
to a change in the system's damping ratio. Considering only stochastic
deviations, the derived standard uncertainty for the determination of the IOP
amounts to < 1 mmHg in the physiological range.<br><br>The in vitro measurements on porcine eyes help the understanding of the
underlying physics and demand for further research on the influence of
biometric parameters on eye vibrations. However, the laboratory results
provide the basis for a gentle noncontact tonometry method with great
applicational prospects. Data is currently being collected on human subjects
in a clinical trial, to corroborate the measurement principle in vivo. |
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| ISSN: | 2194-8771 2194-878X |