Open AccessCustom built nonlinear optical crosslinking (NLO CXL) device capable of producing mechanical stiffening in ex vivo rabbit corneas
Author(s) -
Samantha Bradford,
Eric Mikula,
Dongyul Chai,
Donald J. Brown,
Tibor Juhász,
James V. Jester
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
biomedical optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.362
H-Index - 86
ISSN - 2156-7085
DOI - 10.1364/boe.8.004788
Subject(s) - cornea , stiffening , materials science , ex vivo , biomedical engineering , riboflavin , optics , femtosecond , keratoconus , laser , in vivo , composite material , chemistry , medicine , biochemistry , physics , microbiology and biotechnology , biology
The purpose of this study was to develop and test a nonlinear optical device to photoactivate riboflavin to produce spatially controlled collagen crosslinking and mechanical stiffening within the cornea. A nonlinear optical device using a variable numerical aperture objective was built and coupled to a Chameleon femtosecond laser. Ex vivo rabbit eyes were then saturated with riboflavin and scanned with various scanning parameters over a 4 mm area in the central cornea. Effectiveness of NLO CXL was assessed by evaluating corneal collagen auto fluorescence (CAF). To determine mechanical stiffening effects, corneas were removed from the eye and subjected to indentation testing using a 1 mm diameter probe and force transducer. NLO CXL was also compared to standard UVA CXL. The NLO CXL delivery device was able to induce a significant increase in corneal stiffness, comparable to the increase produced by standard UVA CXL.