Morphometric, hemodynamic, and biomechanical factors influencing blood flow and oxygen concentration in the human lamina cribrosa

PURPOSE. We developed a combined biomechanical and hemodynamic model of the human eye to estimate blood flow and oxygen concentration within the lamina cribrosa (LC) and rank the factors that influence LC oxygen concentration. METHODS. We generated 5000 finite-element eye models with detailed microcapillary networks of the LC and computed the oxygen concentration of the lamina retinal ganglion cell axons. For each model, we varied the intraocular pressure (IOP) from 10 mm Hg to 55 mm Hg in 5-mm Hg increments, the cerebrospinal fluid pressure (13 ± 2 mm Hg), cup depth (0.2 ± 0.1 mm), scleral stiffness (±20% of the mean values), LC stiffness (0.41 ± 0.2 MPa), LC radius (1.2 ± 0.12 mm), average LC pore size (5400 ± 2400 μm²), the microcapillary arrangement (radial, isotropic, or circumferential), and perfusion pressure (50 ± 9 mm Hg). Blood flow was assumed to originate from the LC periphery and drain via the central retinal vein. Finally, we performed linear regressions to rank the influence of each factor on the LC tissue oxygen concentration. RESULTS. LC radius and perfusion pressure were the most important factors in influencing the oxygen concentration of the LC. IOP was another important parameter, and eyes with higher IOP had higher compressive strain and slightly lower oxygen concentration. In general, superior-inferior regions of the LC had significantly lower oxygen concentration than the nasal-temporal regions, resulting in an hourglass pattern of oxygen deficiency. CONCLUSIONS. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to implement a comprehensive hemodynamical model of the eye that accounts for the biomechanical forces and morphological parameters of the LC. The results provide further insight into the possible relationship of biomechanical and vascular pathways leading to ischemia-induced optic neuropathy.