Seminar Schedule
Professor Victor Barocas
DYNAMIC BIOMECHANICS OF THE AQUEOUS HUMOR AND IRIS
The iris, the colored part of the eye that controls the amount of light passing through the pupil, and the clear aqueous humor that flows around it constitute an important coupled bimechanical system. The flow of aqueous humor sets the intraocular pressure, and elevated intraocular pressure can lead to glaucoma. In pigmentary glaucoma and angle closure glaucoma in particular, a pathological iris contour is responsible for the disease state. A particular challenge in analyzing iris mechanics arises because the anterior segment is never static in a waking subject - blinking, changes in focal depth, and changes in available light occur routinely, and understanding the mechanics of the iris contour requires investigation of dynamic phenomena. The seminar will focus on finite-element models of the coupled system, description of dynamic events and their consequences for iris contour, and some experiments on mechanical properties of the iris.