Measurement of elastic modulus of the bovine cornea by means of holographic interferometry. Part 1. Method and experiment.

Holographic interferometry of the cornea of fresh, enucleated bovine eyes placed in air was used for determination of the elastic modulus of the central part of the cornea. The high sensitivity of the method enables measurement of the radial distension of the cornea even for intraocular pressure (IOP) changes equal to 5 Pa (0.05 mbar or approximately 0.0375 mm Hg). The method of calculation of the tangent Young's modulus of the cornea Et, based on data obtained from double exposure as well as real-time holographic interferograms and on some geometrical data describing the form of the cornea are presented. The average value of Et amounting to 1.42.10(5) Pa was calculated from 2 interferograms of the same eye.