title: New eye phantom for ophthalmic surgery.
abstract: In this work, we designed and realized a new phantom able to mimic the principal mechanical, rheological, and physical cues of the human eye and that can be used as a common benchmark to validate new surgical procedures, innovative vitrectomes, and as a training system for surgeons. This phantom, in particular its synthetic humor vitreous, had the aim of reproducing diffusion properties of the natural eye and can be used as a system to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of drugs and optimization of their dose, limiting animal experiments. The eye phantom was built layer-by-layer starting from the sclera up to the retina, using low cost and easy to process polymers. The validation of the phantom was carried out by mechanical characterization of each layer, by diffusion test with commercial drugs into a purposely developed apparatus, and finally by a team of ophthalmic surgeons. Experiments demonstrated that polycaprolactone, polydimethylsiloxane, and gelatin, properly prepared, are the best materials to mimic the mechanical properties of sclera, choroid, and retina, respectively. A polyvinyl alcohol-gelatin polymeric system is the best for mimicking the viscosity of the human humor vitreous, even if the bevacizumab half-life is lower than in the human eye.
authors.affiliation: University of Pisa, Research Centre "E. Piaggio," Largo Lucio Lazzarino 1, Pisa 56126, Italy.
authors.forename: Gessica
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fogli
authors.affiliation: University of Pisa, Research Centre "E. Piaggio," Largo Lucio Lazzarino 1, Pisa 56126, ItalybUniversity of Pisa, Department of Ingegneria Civile e Industriale, Largo Lucio Lazzarino 1, Pisa 56126, Italy.
authors.forename: Gianni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Orsi
authors.affiliation: University of Pisa, Research Centre "E. Piaggio," Largo Lucio Lazzarino 1, Pisa 56126, ItalycUniversity of Pisa, Department of Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Via G. Caruso 16, Pisa 56126, Italy.
authors.forename: Carmelo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: De Maria
authors.affiliation: University of Pisa, Research Centre "E. Piaggio," Largo Lucio Lazzarino 1, Pisa 56126, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Montemurro
authors.affiliation: Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Pisana-Cisanello, Eye Surgery Clinic, Via Paradisa 2, Pisa 56124, Italy.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Palla
authors.affiliation: Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Pisana-Cisanello, Eye Surgery Clinic, Via Paradisa 2, Pisa 56124, Italy.
authors.forename: Stanislao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rizzo
authors.affiliation: University of Pisa, Research Centre "E. Piaggio," Largo Lucio Lazzarino 1, Pisa 56126, ItalycUniversity of Pisa, Department of Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Via G. Caruso 16, Pisa 56126, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vozzi
mesh_terms: D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / Q000737:chemistry; D000068258:Bevacizumab; D002829:Choroid / Q000473:pathology; D004058:Diffusion; D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes / Q000737:chemistry; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D005123:Eye / Q000473:pathology; D005780:Gelatin / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D013508:Ophthalmologic Surgical Procedures; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D011091:Polyesters / Q000737:chemistry; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry; D011312:Pressure; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012160:Retina / Q000473:pathology; D012212:Rheology; D012590:Sclera / Q000473:pathology; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D014822:Vitreous Body / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes; D011091:Polyesters; D011108:Polymers; C016240:polycaprolactone; D000068258:Bevacizumab; C013830:baysilon; D005780:Gelatin