Wu Ho-Ting D, Howse Louisa A, Vaghefi Ehsan
School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Auckland Bioengineering Institute, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2017 Dec 1;58(14):6351-6357. doi: 10.1167/iovs.17-22099.
Age-related nuclear cataract is the opacification of the clear ocular lens due to oxidative damage as we age, and is the leading cause of blindness in the world. A lack of antioxidant supply to the core of ever-growing ocular lens could contribute to the cause of this condition. In this project, a computational model was developed to study the sutural fluid inflow of the aging human lens.
Three different SOLIDWORKS computational fluid dynamics models of the human lens (7 years old; 28 years old; 46 years old) were created, based on available literature data. The fluid dynamics of the lens sutures were modelled using the Stokes flow equations, combined with realistic physiological boundary conditions and embedded in COMSOL Multiphysics.
The flow rate, volume, and flow rate per volume of fluid entering the aging lens were examined, and all increased over the 40 years modelled. However, while the volume of the lens grew by ∼300% and the flow rate increased by ∼400%, the flow rate per volume increased only by very moderate ∼38%.
Here, sutural information from humans of 7 to 46 years of age was obtained. In this modelled age range, an increase of flow rate per volume was observed, albeit at very slow rate. We hypothesize that with even further increasing age (60+ years old), the lens volume growth would outpace its flow rate increases, which would eventually lead to malnutrition of the lens nucleus and onset of cataracts.
年龄相关性核性白内障是随着年龄增长，由于氧化损伤导致透明眼晶状体混浊，是全球失明的主要原因。随着晶状体不断生长，其核心部位抗氧化剂供应不足可能是导致这种情况的原因之一。在本项目中，开发了一个计算模型来研究老年人晶状体的缝线液流入情况。
根据现有文献数据，创建了三种不同的人晶状体（7岁、28岁、46岁）的SOLIDWORKS计算流体动力学模型。使用斯托克斯流方程对晶状体缝线的流体动力学进行建模，并结合实际生理边界条件，嵌入到COMSOL Multiphysics中。
研究了进入老化晶状体的流体的流速、流量和单位体积流量，在模拟的40年中，这些参数均有所增加。然而，虽然晶状体体积增长了约300%，流速增加了约400%，但单位体积流量仅适度增加了约38%。
在此，获得了7至46岁人群的缝线信息。在这个模拟的年龄范围内，观察到单位体积流量有所增加，尽管速度非常缓慢。我们推测，随着年龄进一步增长（60岁以上），晶状体体积的增长将超过其流速的增加，最终导致晶状体核营养不良和白内障的发生。
