8th European Postgraduate Fluid Dynamics Conference

6th – 9th July 2016
Warsaw, Poland

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numerical simulations of oxygen-nutrient transport in the anterior chamber with and without a pIOL

Peyman Davvalo Khongar1, Xi Cheng2, Jan O. Pralits1, Rodolfo Repetto1, Paolo Soleri3, Peter M. Pinsky2
1Department of Civil, Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Genoa, Italy.
2Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California, US.
3Ophtec BV, Schweitzerlaan 15, 9728 NR, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Purpose: The reason for the possible corneal endothelial cell loss in the presenceof an iris-fixated intraocular lens (pIOL) is still poorly understood. We postulatethat it is due to changes in the oxygen-nutrient (ON) concentrations in the anterior chamber, associated with variations in the aqueous humor flow.

Methods: We performed numerical simulations to study the ON transport andcorneal metabolism in the anterior chamber for different mechanisms thatgenerate aqueous flow, which correspond to open and closed eyelids, with andwithout the pIOL.

Results: In the case of closed eyelids, and without the pIOL, the ON concentrationsalong the corneal endothelium can be significantly non-uniform. Further, in thepresence of a pIOL a decrease of nutrient availability in the central cornea alsooccurs, although the clinical implications of this finding must be verified. On theother hand when the eyelids are open the ON concentrations are more
Keywords: Biofluids, Computational methods, Intraocular lens