28-10-2020 | Posted by Principia
Numerical simulation is increasingly proving its value for customizing medical treatments, such as digital orthopaedics for treating musculoskeletal pathologies or, as we comment today, refractive corneal surgery.
Surgical techniques are becoming very popular for correcting refractive defects of the eye (near-sightedness, far-sightedness, astigmatism), as they reduce or even eliminate the need for glasses and contact lenses.
The more frequent one is laser surgery, highly safe but still invasive, affecting ocular structures to some degree. The selection of a particular technique depends on an adequate diagnosis, specific for each patient, for minimising side-effects and optimising recovery.
Optoquest has developed SpecifEye, a special-purpose software based on a virtual model of the human eye simply obtained by scanning the patient’s eye and that, using SIMULIA’s finite-element analysis, simulates the effects on the eye of each candidate technique.
The algorithms employed account for the preferred orientation of the collagen fibres in the cornea and their elasticity both before and after surgery.
SpecifEye can simulate the more common laser techniques (LASIK, PRK, SMILE), providing the ophthalmologist detailed information about how the corneal structure of this specific patient will react to each of them. This will allow the specialist to select the best possible treatment.
Thus, the experience of the ophthalmologist combines with the power of simulation, a revolution in corneal surgery, a transition from probabilistic, population-based paradigms to deterministic, personalised ones based on finite-element analysis.
In Principia we are not ophthalmologists, but we firmly believe in the ability of simulation to drive scientific progress, particularly in the area of health and medicine.
