Document Type
Article
Original Publication Date
1998
Journal/Book/Conference Title
The Biophysical Journal
Volume
75
Issue
5
First Page
2520
Last Page
2531
DOI of Original Publication
10.1016/S0006-3495(98)77697-0
Date of Submission
February 2015
Abstract
Abstract
The method of photonic band structure is used to calculate the frequencies of light that propagate in lattice models of the cornea and sclera of the mammalian eye, providing an explanation for transparency in the cornea that first properly accounts for multiple scattering of light. Each eye tissue is modeled as an ordered array of collagen rods, and photonic band structure methods are used to solve Maxwell's equations exactly for these models, a procedure that automatically effectively includes all orders of multiple scattering. These calculations show that the dispersion relation for the cornea is linear in the visible range, implying that the cornea is transparent. We show that the transmissivity is ∼97% by using an effective medium approximation derived from the photonic band structure results and applicable in the visible region. In contrast, the dispersion relation for the model in the sclera is not linear in the visible region, and there are band gaps in this region that could play an important role in the transmission of light in the sclera.
Rights
From The Biophysical Journal, Ameen, D.B., Bishop, M.F., McMullen, T., A Lattice Model for Computing the Transmissivity of the Cornea and Sclera, Vol. 75, Page 2520. Copyright © 1998 The Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. Reprinted with permission.
Is Part Of
VCU Physics Publications
Comments
Originally published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0006-3495(98)77697-0
Under an Elsevier user license