Date Approved

7-30-2025

Graduate Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Engineering (M.S.E.)

Degree Program

School of Engineering

First Advisor

Dr. Samhita Rhodes

Second Advisor

Dr. Sanjivan Manoharan

Third Advisor

Dr. Lindsay Corneal

Academic Year

2024/2025

Abstract

The leading cause for irreversible blindness and vision loss is glaucoma - an eye condition associated with elevated intraocular pressure (IOP). Increased IOP is also seen during other pathological conditions like spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome (SANS), and non-pathological conditions as when playing a wind instrument. The study aimed to describe the influence of different vitreous cavity size as well as vitreous fluid viscosity on the IOP as measured at the back of the eye on the retina. Improved understanding of eye pressure transmission can aid in a better understanding of eye diseases. The experiment conducted included cavities of varying size and filled with different vitreous fluid substitute viscosities. The same cavity sizes and vitreous fluid viscosities were modeled in a simulation conducted in computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The experiment determined the large size vitreous cavity was preferable at low and medium vitreous fluid viscosities. However, at high viscosity, the small cavity resulted in the lowest pressure difference. In contrast, simulation results indicated that the medium sized cavity was preferable at low vitreous fluid viscosity, while the large cavity was preferable at both medium and high vitreous fluid viscosities. Overall, there were marked discrepancies between the simulation and experimental results. Further improvements must be made to the simulation model and experimental setup for better agreement.

Download

Share

COinS