3D Dynamic Sensing of Human Eye Toward Evaluation of Cornea Stiffness

In early diagnosis of glaucoma, intraocular pressure measurement is one of an important method. Non-contact method has measured eye pressure through the deformation of cornea during the increase of the force due to air puff. The deformation is influenced by the cornea stiffness as well as the eye internal pressure. Since the cornea stiffness is unknown in general, it is difficult to evaluate the true eye pressure. The dynamic behavior of cornea under air puff may provide us with a good hint for evaluating the cornea stiffness appropriately. For this purpose, we develop the sensing system composed of a high speed camera, a mirror for producing a virtual camera, a non-contact tonometer and a slit light source. This system enables us to measure the cornea deformation under concave shape. We show the experimental data for human eyes as well as an artificial eye made by transparent material.