Developing a multiscale in silico cornea for understanding the role of cell mechanics in corneal pathologies

Multiscale in silico modeling of the cell-tissue-organ units is an emerging area of research with the potential to improve our understanding of various disease pathogenesis. Using a multiscale modeling approach, we developed a computational model of the human cornea to investigate how the application of macroscale loads may alter the micro-mechanical environment of the cells. We then utilized the multiscale model to study the effect of physiological and non-physiological mechanical loading conditions such as intraocular pressure (IOP) loading, IOP spike, and eye-poking on the corneal cells. On comparing the results obtained under increased IOP and eye-poking loading, we observed large differences in the averaged principal stress magnitudes in the immediate vicinity of the cell through the thickness of the cornea. On the other hand, our model predicted that under physiological IOP loading, the average principal strain magnitudes in the immediate vicinity of the cell remained almost constant irrespective of the cell location in the stroma. To our knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the effect of mechanical loading on the corneal cells through a multiscale modeling framework. Our computational multiscale cornea model provides a platform to perform virtual experiments and test hypotheses to further our understanding of the potential mechanical cause of multiple diseases in the cornea.