Publication "Investigation of corneal hydration and the impact of cross-linking therapy on water retention..."

Publication "Investigation of corneal hydration and the impact of cross-linking therapy on water retention using Brillouin spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography"

Together with Dr.Robert Herber of the Department of Ophthalmology, the latest findings on corneal cross-linking therapy have been published in Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, showing that mechanical stiffening is based on fiber alignment and hydration, but not on changes in molecular structure.
The publication first quantifies the influence of corneal hydration on Brillouin displacement and shows that reliable measurements are only possible under constant hydration conditions, which were subsequently achieved by immersing porcine eyes in a solution and waiting until an equilibrium state was reached. Investigations showed that Brillouin spectroscopy evaluates the corneal crosslinking effect mainly indirectly via reduced water uptake, whereas polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography reveals the corneal crosslinking effect directly via changes in the alignment of collagen fibres and is therefore insensitive to corneal hydration. Raman spectroscopy shows no changes in the molecular structure, indicating that no new cross-links are created by the corneal crosslinking procedure.

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/bioengineering-and-biotechnology/articles/10.3389/fbioe.2025.1576809/full

© Jan Rix