HUMAN CORNEA MODELING USING ARTIFICIAL COLLAGEN

At least 12 million people all over the world are blind because of the damaged or diseased corneas. Till recently keratoplastics was the only way to help these people. This is a surgical procedure where a damaged cornea is replaced by donated corneal tissue. The main problem of this approach is dficiency of donor tissue. More universal method which allows obviating necessity for donors is keratoprosthesis. The main problems of existing plastic keratoprosthesis are high percent of rejection of an artfcial cornea, its keratomalacia and opacity. So with reference to an artificial cornea of an eye collagen is the most perspective material. Merits of collagen keratoprosthesis are: almost absolute biological compatibility; reduction terms of the operations performing and postoperative rehabilitation to a minimum; reproduction biomechanical characteristics of natural cornea; wider patients base. The main problem is that thin membranes made of collagen are optically transparent, but the single-layered samples approached on a thickness to a normal cornea, practically lose this property. This problem can be solved by modeling of a cornea as multilayered structure. Within the limits of this project problems of selection of necessary quantity of lamellas, corners under which collagen lamellas are turned to each other and a number of other parameters. Restoration of complex refraction index was carried out using MorphoVision software, created in laboratory Optics of nanostructures, PFUR. Obtained refractive indices were used in the designing of multilayer model of human cornea, having sufficient transparency