Biaxial hyperelastic and anisotropic behaviors of the corneal anterior central stroma along the preferential fibril orientations. Part I: Measurement and calibration of personalized stress-strain curves

Lacking specimens is the biggest limitation of studying the mechanical behaviors of human corneal. Extracting stress-strain curves is the crucial step in investigating hyperelastic and anisotropic properties of human cornea. 15 human corneal specimens extracted from the small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) surgery were applied in this study. To accurately measure the personalized true stress-strain curve using corneal lenticules, the digital image correlation (DIC) method and finite element method were used to calibrate the stress and the strain of the biaxial extension test. The hyperelastic load-displacement curves obtained from the biaxial extension test were performed in preferential fibril orientations, which are arranged along the nasal-temporal (NT) and the superior-inferior (SI) directions within the anterior central stroma. The displacement and strain fields were accurately calibrated and calculated using the digital image correlation (DIC) method. A conversion equation was given to convert the effective engineering strain to the true strain. The stress field distribution, which was simulated using the finite element method, was verified. Based on this, the effective nominal stress with personalized characteristics was calibrated. The personalized stress-strain curves containing individual characteristic, like diopter and anterior surface curvature, was accurately measured in this study. These results provide an experimental method using biaxial tensile test with corneal lenticules. It is the foundation for investigating the hyperelasticity and anisotropy of the central anterior stroma of human cornea.