Premium
Experimental evaluation of ophthalmic devices and solutions using rabbit models
Author(s) -
Werner Liliana,
Chew Jesse,
Mamalis Nick
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
veterinary ophthalmology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.594
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1463-5224
pISSN - 1463-5216
DOI - 10.1111/j.1463-5224.2006.00495.x
Subject(s) - calipers , sulcus , rabbit (cipher) , anterior eye segment , ophthalmology , human eye , ultrasound biomicroscopy , lens (geology) , phakic intraocular lens , ciliary body , vitreous chamber , new zealand white rabbit , anatomy , posterior segment of eyeball , biomedical engineering , medicine , materials science , cornea , glaucoma , optics , eye disease , refractive error , mathematics , biology , geometry , paleontology , statistics , physics
Objective To analyze and compare the geometry of the anterior segment of rabbit and human eyes, with relevance for the evaluation of intraocular lenses, and to review rabbit models used in our laboratory for the evaluation of different ophthalmic devices and solutions. Procedures Fifteen rabbit and 15 human eyes (10 phakic and 5 pseudophakic/group) obtained postmortem were used. Anterior‐posterior length, equatorial diameter, and white‐to‐white (corneal diameter) were measured with calipers. The eyes were then analyzed with a very high‐frequency ultrasound (Artemis, Ultralink) for measurements of the anterior chamber depth, and anterior chamber and ciliary sulcus diameters. The capsular bag diameter was measured with calipers from a posterior view, and the diameter and thickness of the crystalline lenses were measured after their excision from the phakic eyes. Results Although the size of the rabbit eye is overall smaller than the size of the human eye, the dimensions of the anterior segment of rabbit eyes are generally larger. The differences between rabbit and human eyes were statistically significant (Wilcoxon rank sum test) in terms of anterior‐posterior length, equatorial diameter, white‐to‐white measurements ( P < 0.0001), anterior chamber diameter ( P = 0.0004), ciliary sulcus diameter ( P = 0.0012), and crystalline lens diameter and thickness ( P = 0.0003). Conclusions Experimental evaluation of design features of new phakic intraocular lenses in rabbit eyes may be inconclusive without adaptation of their size/design, contrary to the evaluation of new pseudophakic lenses by implantation in the capsular bag. The rabbit is a very valuable model for the experimental evaluation of different ophthalmic devices and solutions.