The adhesion behavior of the retina

• Published in: Experimental eye research Vol. 233; p. 109541
• Main Authors: Zhang, Chenxi, Lan, Yunfei, Guo, Hongmei, Gao, Zhipeng, Song, Jie, Chen, Weiyi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.08.2023
• Subjects: Adhesion behavior; Animals; FEM; Peeling test; Pull-off test; Retina - pathology; Retinal detachment; Retinal Detachment - pathology; Retinal Detachment - surgery; Retinal Diseases - pathology; Swine; Tissue Adhesions; Vitrectomy - methods; Vitreous Body - pathology; Adhesion behavior; Retinal detachment; Pull-off test; Peeling test; FEM
• ISSN: 0014-4835; 1096-0007
• DOI: 10.1016/j.exer.2023.109541

Ocular diseases and treatment related to rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) are highly correlated with retinal adhesion behavior. Therefore, this paper proposes to study the adhesion behavior of the intact retina. This can provide theoretical guidance for the treatment and research of retinal detachment (RD) related diseases. To systematically analyze this aspect, two experiments were performed on the porcine retina. The pull-off test combined with the modified JKR theory was used to study the adhesion behavior of the vitreoretinal interface, while the peeling test was used to study the adhesion behavior of the chorioretinal interface. In addition, the adhesion phase involved in the pull-off test was simulated and analyzed by building the corresponding finite element method (FEM). The experimental results of adhesion force on the vitreoretinal interface were obtained by pull-off test with five sizes of rigid punch. The experimental value of the pull-off force FPO tends to increase gradually with increasing punch radius in the range of 0.5–4 mm. A comparison of the experimental results with the simulation results shows that they are in a well agreement. And there is no statistical difference between the experimental and theoretical values of the pull-off force FPO. In addition, the values of retinal adhesion work were also obtained by pull-off test. Interestingly, there is a significant scale effect of the retinal work of adhesion. Finally, the peeling test gave a maximum peeling strength TMax of about 13 mN/mm and a stable peeling strength TD of about 11 mN/mm between the retina and the choroid. The pull-off test well shows the process of retinal traction by the diseased vitreous at the beginning of RRD. A comparison of the experimental results with the finite element results verifies the accuracy of the simulation. The peeling test well investigated the adhesion behavior between the retina and the choroid and obtained key biomechanical data (peeling strength, etc.). The combination of the two experiments allows a more systematic study of the whole retina. This research can provide more complete material parameters for finite element modeling of retina-related diseases, and it also can provide the theoretical guidance for individualized design of retinal repair surgery. •The adhesion behavior of the vitreoretinal interface was obtained by the pull-off test, which well simulates traction of the retinal causing by the vitreous.•The adhesion behavior of the chorioretinal interface was obtained by the peeling test.•This research can provide material parameters for FEM of the eye. And it also can provide the theoretical guidance for retinal repair.