Biomechanics is an essential aspect of glaucomatous disease. In all forms of glaucoma, different ocular tissues have some biomechanical role, including the trabecular meshwork (TM), optic nerve papillae (ONH), cornea, and among others. For biomechanical studies of glaucoma, there are several approaches to investigate the role of biomechanics as a risk factor for glaucoma.
The biomechanical properties associated with glaucoma are numerous and the relationships between them are complex. Therefore, further research is needed to determine the use of biomechanics in the prevention and treatment of glaucoma. Ace Therapeutics provides research services to explore the central role of ocular tissue biomechanics in glaucoma, using biomechanical modeling, micromechanical testing and in vivo imaging to assess the mechanical properties of relevant tissues and discuss their future applications in understanding and treating glaucoma.
Services for Biomechanical Analysis in Glaucoma
Glaucoma is a multifactorial disease. Different species of tissues have direct/indirect biomechanical roles as risk factors for glaucoma, including pathological sclerosis of TM. It is essential to understand the biomechanical properties of TM to discover the mechanisms and signaling pathways associated with multiple forms of glaucoma. We help scientists to pay close attention to the biomechanical properties of the TM and understand its role in glaucoma development.
Biomechanical damage to ONH is a key aspect of glaucoma pathophysiology. And the biomechanical environment within the ONH is complex and may be directly related to the loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in glaucoma. We provide researchers with services to characterize the biomechanics of the ONH. This will help us learn more about the link between biomechanics and RGC death in glaucoma, as well as potentially advance the development of new therapies for glaucoma.
Research Objectives
- Use expansion tests to measure the mechanical properties and structure of the tissue in a given eye.
- Determine how the structure of the extracellular matrix affects mechanical properties.
- Compare the effect of elevated IOP on the mechanical properties of ocular tissue damage.
- Compare the effect of tissue sclerosis or softening on the development of glaucoma.
- Develop micromechanical based model geometry for drug evaluation.
Challenges to Help You Overcome
In addition to IOP, a number of biomechanical factors are thought to be associated with the risk of developing glaucoma. Therefore, our focus is on the various biomechanical factors associated with the risk of developing glaucoma, rather than on a single factor.
- We are committed to applying biomechanical theories and methods to glaucoma research to propose new biomechanical indicators for glaucoma assessment and to expand the scope of research.
- We are also committed to applying some new artificial intelligence techniques for glaucoma risk studies and exploring the application of biomechanical factors in glaucoma assessment and treatment.
In the face of the therapeutic challenges of glaucoma, there is an urgent need for a better understanding of the pathophysiology of glaucoma and more effective approaches to better treat and prognosticate this disease. The central role of ocular tissue biomechanics in glaucoma has provided us with new ideas.
Ace Therapeutics provides researchers with biomechanical studies of eye structures to enhance the overall understanding of ocular biomechanics and lead to better prospects for glaucoma treatment.
For more information, please contact us.
References
- Safa B N, et al. Glaucoma and biomechanics. Current Opinion in Ophthalmology, 2022, 33.
- Song H, et al. Review of studies on the application of biomechanical factors in the evaluation of glaucoma. Journal of Biomedical Engineering, 2019, 36(2):315-319.