Title: Porous Media Flow – Analysis and Applications to Ocular Perfusion

Abstract: Fluid flows through deformable porous media are relevant for many applications in biology, medicine and bio-engineering, including tissue perfusion and fluid flow inside cartilages and bones. We are interested in the perfusion of the optic nerve head (ONH) tissue and its connection to the development of glaucoma. The ONH tissue is  described mathematically by a nonlinear poro-visco-elastic system, where the intraocular pressure (IOP) acts as a boundary load in the model. We analyze the hemodynamic response of the coupled system both analytically and computationally. Interestingly, the model shows that sudden, physiological variations in IOP, combined with lack of structural tissue viscoelasticity,  could lead to microstructural damage and disc hemorrhages, which have been closely linked with glaucoma.

Host: Keith Weninger