Simulation of fluid flow inside human eye based on a porous medium approach

Correct circulation of aqueous humor (AH) in the eye brings essential nutrients to the components of the eye. Any problem in AH outflow can increase the eye’s pressure and it may lead to a disease called Glaucoma.Glaucoma can cause blindness in advanced stages.Therefore, simulation of AH flow in the eye and investigation of the effective parameters are important. Trabecular meshwork (TM) has special prominence due to its effect on AH outflow. Also permeability of TM has a significant role in eye’s pressure so that bydecreasing the permeability, eye pressure increases. In this study, AH outflow is studied under different operating conditions. To this end, a three-dimensional model based on actual eye geometry is used. The effect of the inlet mass flow rate and TM’s properties isstudied. It is observed that by increasing permeability more than 1012 times causes disappearance of pressure gradient in the eye. Also increasing inlet mass flow rate more than the critical amount of 10E-5 kg/s, causes vortex formation in the eye and postpones AH outflow. These factors bring the possibility of occurring glaucoma.

Keywords:

Aqueous humor , Glaucoma , Porous medium , Permeability , Finite element method