Optical Measurement of Deformation Distribution on Retinal Model for Vitreoretinal Surgery Training

Training of vitreoretinal surgeries such as peeling of inner limiting membrane (ILM) requires elaborate retina model having contact measurement function since human retina is the delicate tissue. Fabrication of the retina model having measurement function without impairing the physical properties of the human retina is challenging issue. This paper reports the development of a retina model for optical measurement of deformation distribution using digital image correlation (DIC). The retinal model consists of the retina part and the sclera part. Both parts reproduce Young’s modulus of human retina and sclera, respectively. The deformation distribution on the surface of retinal model was measured by the non-contact measurement using DIC. The Young’s modulus of the retina part and sclera part were 30 kPa and 1.9 MPa, respectively. We demonstrated the optical measurement of deformation distribution on the surface of retinal model during the pushing with ILM forceps.