Enucleated Eye Perfusion

About

Background Glaucoma is usually associated with an elevated fluid pressure in the eye (intraocular pressure, IOP) known as ocular hypertension. An increased IOP is principally caused by elevated outflow resistance and as such measurements of outflow resistance regulation such as enucleated eye perfusion are important for glaucoma research including screening and analysis of therapeutic compounds. In acute perfusion (where the whole globe is used) the experimental period is limited to 8-10 hours as the vascularized eye tissue deteriorates with time. Acute perfusion can be performed in constant flow mode in which the flow of fluid from a syringe is fixed at a defined rate or in constant pressure mode where the flow rate is continually adjusted to maintain a defined pressure. To maximally utilize the limited experimental period, constant pressure is the preferred mode as it is significantly faster to equilibrate the system – tens of minutes compared to several hours for constant flow mode. However, it is difficult to perform as continual pressure measurements and flow adjustments are required to maintain the desired pressure. Technology We have developed an ocular perfusion system that monitors IOP, flow rate, outflow facility and perfused volume as a function of time and outputs data for analysis in Excel®. The flow rate is controlled by a computerized syringe and can be continually adjusted according to an algorithm to maintain the IOP at the desired level allowing the system to run in either constant flow or constant pressure modes. The system has been used to perfuse eyes from human and non-human primates, bovine, porcine and murine eyes. Licensing Opportunity The software in source code form and a manual for the acute perfusion procedure are available for licence. Please note that the software is coded in LabVIEW (National Instruments; Austin, Texas) and a LabVIEW licence will also be required. .When contacting us, please quote reference number 6383.