A Mechanical Model of Excimer Laser Surgery

엑시머 레이저 수술의 역학적 모델

A finite element-based computer simulation of excimer laser susery was conducted to study some factors on the surgery. In particular, the radius of curvature at the apex of the cornea was examined under various surgical conditions. Corneal tissue was assumed to be a nearly incompressible, linear elastic, homogeneous, isotropic material under very small deformation. The geometry of the human cornea was taken from the experimental data[1]. The simulation utilized ANSYS(Swanson Analysis System Inc.Rev.4.4A). In this study, the major factors which affect the outcomes of the excimer laser surgery were investigated. First, two patterns of surgery with various surgery thickness(40-70micrometers) were examind. The pattern#1 describes the meridian from the apex to the edge of the surgery area to be straight. And the corresponding meridian of the pattern 2 can be expressed as a quardratic function. The results show that the pattern #2 is more realistic and effective. Then, the effects of other factors were investigated based on the pattern #2. Other factors are:various diameters of the surgical area (3-8 milimeters), Young's modules(3.5-4.5MPa), and depth of surgery at the apex(40-70micrometers). Compared with the computer simulation of the radial keratotomy surgery[2], the excimer laser surgery was proven to be more effective in treating myopia patients. In conculusion, the results of the simulation are qualitative agreement with clinical experience[3] indicating the potential of the finite element model of the surgery as a guideline to the surgeon before actual surgery.