title: In vivo characterization of corneal biomechanics.
abstract: Interest in corneal biomechanics has increased with the development of new refractive surgery techniques aimed at modifying corneal properties and a variety of surgical options for corneal ectasia management. The human cornea behaves as soft biological material. It is a viscoelastic tissue and its response to a force applied to it depends not only on the magnitude of the force, but also on the velocity of the application. There are concerns about the limitations to measuring corneal biomechanical properties in vivo. To date, 2 systems are available for clinical use: the Ocular Response Analyzer, a dynamic bidirectional applanation device, and the Corvis ST, a dynamic Scheimpflug analyzer device. These devices are useful in clinical practice, especially for planning some surgical procedures and earlier detection of ectatic conditions, but further research is needed to connect the clinical measurements obtained with these devices to the standard mechanical properties.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Neither author has a financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Ophthalmology (Oftalmar) (Piñero), Medimar International Hospital, the Fundación para la Calidad Visual (Piñero), the Departament of Optics (Piñero), Pharmacology and Anatomy, University of Alicante, Alicante, and the Instituto Tecnológico de Óptica (Alcón), Color e Imagen (AIDO), Valencia, Spain. Electronic address: dpinero@oftalmar.es.
authors.forename: David P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Piñero
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Ophthalmology (Oftalmar) (Piñero), Medimar International Hospital, the Fundación para la Calidad Visual (Piñero), the Departament of Optics (Piñero), Pharmacology and Anatomy, University of Alicante, Alicante, and the Instituto Tecnológico de Óptica (Alcón), Color e Imagen (AIDO), Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Natividad
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Alcón
mesh_terms: D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena / Q000502:physiology*; D003315:Cornea / Q000502:physiology*; D003941:Diagnostic Techniques, Ophthalmological; D004548:Elasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D005128:Eye Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans