Glaucoma is a major cause of blindness, and IOP reduction remains the only clinically-validated therapy. In this study, we analyze a novel IOP-lowering strategy that uses a modest negative pressure (vacuum) applied locally to the periorbital region by a pair of goggles with each lens individually connected to a programmable pump. Motivated by clinical data showing an IOP reduction, we used an existing validated lumped-parameter model of the eye to understand the putative mechanism of this treatment. The model considers aqueous humor dynamics, episcleral venous pressure, and changes in ocular blood volume to describe how IOP changes with time in response to an external perturbation. We find that clinical data are qualitatively and quantitatively consistent with model predictions if we include two primary mechanisms in the model: first, negative pressure application causes a relatively rapid increase in globe volume accompanied by increased blood volume in the eye. Second, negative pressure application reduces episcleral venous pressure, causing a slower adjustment of IOP due to altered aqueous humor dynamics. These results provide testable hypotheses that hopefully will lead to a fuller experimentally-driven understanding of how negative periocular pressure influences IOP. Evaluating the long-term effects of such treatments on glaucoma patients requires further clinical study.

中文翻译：

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眼周负压对眼压的影响。

青光眼是失明的主要原因，降低眼压仍然是唯一经过临床验证的疗法。在这项研究中，我们分析了一种新颖的降低IOP的策略，该策略使用了由一对护目镜局部施加到眶周区域的适度负压（真空），每个透镜分别连接至可编程泵。根据显示IOP降低的临床数据，我们使用现有的经过验证的眼睛集总参数模型来了解这种治疗的推定机制。该模型考虑房水动力学，巩膜静脉压和眼部血容量的变化，以描述眼压随时间的变化如何响应外部扰动。如果我们在模型中包含两个主要机制，我们发现临床数据在质量和数量上与模型预测一致：施加负压会导致眼球量相对快速增加，同时眼睛的血量增加。其次，负压的施加降低了巩膜静脉压，由于房水动力学的改变，导致眼压的调节较慢。这些结果提供了可检验的假设，有望使人们对负眼周压如何影响IOP进行更全面的实验驱动的理解。评估此类治疗对青光眼患者的长期效果需要进一步的临床研究。这些结果提供了可检验的假设，有望使人们对负眼周压如何影响IOP进行更全面的实验驱动的理解。评估此类治疗对青光眼患者的长期效果需要进一步的临床研究。这些结果提供了可检验的假设，有望使人们对负眼周压如何影响IOP进行更全面的实验驱动的理解。评估此类治疗对青光眼患者的长期效果需要进一步的临床研究。