Investigating the micro-rheology of the vitreous humor using an optically trapped local probe

Watts, Fiona; Tan, Lay Ean; Wilson, Clive G.; Girkin, John M.; Tassieri, Manlio; Wright, Amanda Jane

Abstract

We demonstrate that an optically trapped silica bead can be used as a local probe to measure the micro-rheology of the vitreous humor. The Brownian motion of the bead was observed using a fast camera and the micro-rheology determined by analysis of the time-dependent mean-square displacement of the bead. We observed regions of the vitreous that showed different degrees of viscoelasticity, along with the homogeneous and inhomogeneous nature of different regions. The motivation behind this study is to understand the vitreous structure, in particular changes due to aging, allowing more confident prediction of pharmaceutical drug behavior and delivery within the vitreous humor.

Citation

Watts, F., Tan, L. E., Wilson, C. G., Girkin, J. M., Tassieri, M., & Wright, A. J. (2014). Investigating the micro-rheology of the vitreous humor using an optically trapped local probe. Journal of Optics, 16(1), https://doi.org/10.1088/2040-8978/16/1/015301

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2014
• Deposit Date: May 22, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: May 26, 2014
• Journal: Journal of Optics
• Print ISSN: 2040-8978
• Electronic ISSN: 2040-8986
• Publisher: IOP Publishing
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 16
• Issue: 1
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/2040-8978/16/1/015301
• Keywords: Optical trapping, Micro-rheology, Vitreous humor.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1432578