Purpose Scleral cross-linking (SXL) with a photosensitizer and light is a potential strategy to mechanically reinforce the sclera and prevent progressive axial elongation responsible for severe myopia. Current approaches for light delivery to the sclera are cumbersome, do not provide uniform illumination, and only treat a limited area of sclera. To overcome these challenges, we developed flexib...

PURPOSE To compare the effect of preserving sclera samples in either 95% ethanol or freeze-dried. METHODS Ninety-six samples of human sclera were studied. Half of them were freeze-dried and half preserved in 95% ethanol. Preservation periods of 18, 45, 90 or 174 days were studied. Automated immunostaining was carried out in the Ventana BenchMarkR LT platform using collagen 1 and fibronectin a...

1. The positions of degenerating cells in the mesenchyme of the scleral bone primordia of the chick, and in the fibrous sclera beneath them, have been ascertained. 2. It is shown that the number of cell deaths within the bone primordia, and also beneath them in the fibrous sclera, is markedly higher than, and follows a different pattern from the regions between. 3. A centre of cell destruction ...

AIMS To demonstrate that a sensor, which is inserted through the sclera and placed in intimate contact with the choroid, can reliably detect changes in the intraocular pressure (IOP). METHODS A manometer was used to control the IOP of three cadaver eyes in steps of 7 mm Hg. A piezoresistive pressure sensor was used to measure the pressure at the choroid through a 2.5 mm diameter hole that was...

PURPOSE To investigate a relationship between birefringence and elasticity of porcine sclera ex vivo using polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT). METHODS Elastic parameters and birefringence of 19 porcine eyes were measured. Four pieces of scleral strips which were parallel to the limbus, with a width of 4 mm, were dissected from the optic nerve head to the temporal sid...

PURPOSE To evaluate the use of neoepitope monoclonal antibody BKS-1, which recognizes keratanase-generated keratan sulfate (KS) stubs on keratan sulfate proteoglycans in human cornea, limbus, and sclera. METHODS BKS-1 specifically recognizes a keratanase-generated neoepitope [N-acetyl-glucosamine-6-sulfate (GlcNAc-6-S)] at the nonreducing terminal of corneal and skeletal KS glycosaminoglycan ...

Purpose Posterior scleral remodeling accompanies myopia. In guinea pigs developing myopia, the region around the optic nerve (peripapillary zone, PPZ) rapidly expands followed by inhibition in eye size in the periphery. We studied the differential gene expression in the sclera that accompanies these changes. Methods Guinea pigs were form-deprived (FD) for 2 weeks to induce myopia, while the f...

PURPOSE Muscarinic receptor signaling is involved in ocular development and implicated in myopia. The aims of this study were to identify the presence of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) in normal ocular tissues of guinea pigs and to determine if ocular expression of mRNA and protein changes in guinea pigs with or without form-deprived myopia (FDM). METHODS One- to two-week-old gui...

PURPOSE The development of high myopia is associated with scleral thinning and changes in the diameter of scleral collagen fibrils in humans. In the present study, the association between these scleral changes and the losses in scleral tissue that have previously been reported in animal models were investigated to determine the relationship between changes in collagen fibril architecture and th...