BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
Sec. Biomechanics
This article is part of the Research TopicMechanical Forces in Health and Disease: A Mechanobiological PerspectiveView all 17 articles
Corneal viscoelasticity is associated with intraocular pressure under physiological baseline: insights from the rheological properties of corneal lenticules
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
- 2Department of Ophthalmology, The Second People’s Hospital of Foshan, Foshan, China
- 3State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
- 4Bright Eye Hospital group, Guangzhou, China
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This study aims to investigate the modulation effect of baseline intraocular pressure (IOP) on corneal viscoelastic modulus within physiological ranges. We collected 48 stromal lenticules from 26 healthy myopic patients undergoing SMILE surgery. Based on biomechanically corrected IOP (bIOP), stratifying the samples into a low-pressure group (bIOP < 15 mmHg, n = 15) and a high-pressure group (bIOP ≥ 15 mmHg, n = 33) according to pre-operative measurements. Each fresh lenticule underwent strain-controlled torsional rheometry at 37 °C (shear strain 1%, angular frequency 0.1–100 rad·s⁻¹), recording storage modulus (G′), loss modulus (G″), complex viscosity (η*), and loss factor (tan δ), with elastic modulus (E) calculated from G′. In parallel, in vivo corneal deformation and stiffness parameters were obtained using the Corvis ST. The results showed that viscoelastic parameters increased monotonically with frequency, demonstrating solid-like behavior; in the frequency range of 100 to 101.5 rad·s⁻¹, G′ and E were significantly higher in the high-pressure group compared to the low-pressure group (both p < 0.05), while the log-modulus versus log-frequency slopes showed no significant difference, indicating an upward "stiffness offset" due to elevated bIOP without altering dispersive characteristics. Corvis ST also confirmed that the high-pressure group exhibited smaller deformation amplitudes and higher stiffness parameters. Overall, even within the normal range, elevated baseline IOP results in an upward shift in corneal E without affecting its time-dependent properties, suggesting that corneal stromal rigidity is adaptable to the ocular pressure environment under physiological conditions.
Keywords: Corneal biomechanics, viscoelasticity, Intraocular Pressure, Small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE), CorVis ST, Torsional shear rheometry
Received: 28 Aug 2025; Accepted: 31 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yang, Ren, Kong, Su, Liu, Liu and Wan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Quan Liu, drliuquan@163.com
Pengxia Wan, wanpengx@mail.sysu.edu.cn
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