This study aims to estimate the reduction in collagen fibril density within the central 6 mm radius of keratoconic corneas through the processing of microstructure and videokeratography data. Collagen fibril distribution maps and topography maps were obtained for seven keratoconic and six healthy corneas, and topographic features were assessed to detect and calculate the area of the cone in each keratoconic eye. The reduction in collagen fibril density within the cone area was estimated with reference to the same region in the characteristic collagen fibril maps of healthy corneas. Together with minimum thickness and mean central corneal refractive power, the cone area was correlated with the reduction in the cone collagen fibrils. For the corneas considered, the mean area of keratoconic cones was 3.30 ± 1.90 mm². Compared with healthy corneas, fibril density in the cones of keratoconic corneas was lower by as much as 35%, and the mean reduction was 17 ± 10%. A linear approximation was developed to relate the magnitude of reduction to the refractive power, minimum corneal thickness and cone area (R² = 0.95, p < 0.001). Outside the cone area, there was no significant difference between fibril arrangement in healthy and keratoconic corneas. The presented method can predict the mean fibril density in the keratoconic eye's cone area. The technique can be applied in microstructure-based finite-element models of the eye to regulate its stiffness level and the stiffness distribution within the areas affected by keratoconus.

本研究旨在通过处理微观结构和视频角膜造影数据来估计圆锥角膜中央 6 mm 半径内胶原原纤维密度的降低。获得了 7 个圆锥角膜和 6 个健康角膜的胶原原纤维分布图和地形图，并评估了地形特征以检测和计算每个圆锥角膜的锥体面积。参考健康角膜的特征性胶原原纤维图中的相同区域估计锥形区域内胶原原纤维密度的降低。连同最小厚度和平均中央角膜屈光力，锥体面积与锥体胶原原纤维的减少相关。对于所考虑的角膜，圆锥角膜的平均面积为 3.30 ± 1.90 mm ². 与健康角膜相比，圆锥角膜锥体中的原纤维密度降低了35%，平均降低了17±10%。开发了一种线性近似，以将减少的幅度与屈光力、最小角膜厚度和锥体面积联系起来（R ² = 0.95，p < 0.001）。在锥体区域外，健康角膜和圆锥角膜的纤维排列没有显着差异。所提出的方法可以预测圆锥角膜区域的平均原纤维密度。该技术可应用于基于微结构的眼睛有限元模型，以调节其刚度水平和受圆锥角膜影响的区域内的刚度分布。