Skip to main content
Menu

Research into Stiffness of the natural lens at the Ophthalmic Engineering lab at the Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford

Stiffness of the natural lens

The mechanical behaviour of the human lens changes with age. It is widely considered that these age-related changes in lens stiffness are significant for the development of presbyopia.

A new spinning lens testing procedure has been developed – based on a technique pioneered by Fisher – to measure the shear modulus of the human lens. Former D.Phil. student Geoff Wilde (supervised by Harvey Burd and Stuart Judge) conducted tests on ex vivo lenses of a range of ages. Data for 71 lenses are reported in Wilde et al. 2012. The tests provide data on the age dependency of shear modulus for the nucleus and cortex; these data are suitable for incorporation in finite element models of the lens.  

Key publications

Wilde, G.S., Burd, H.J. & Judge, S.J. (2012). Shear modulus data for the human lens determined from a spinning lens test.  Experimental Eye Research, 97(1), 36-48

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exer.2012.01.011

Burd, H.J., Wilde, G.S., & Judge, S.J. (2011). An improved spinning lens test to determine the stiffness of the human lens. Experimental Eye Research, 92 (1), 28-39.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exer.2010.10.010